The Wedding Affair (Rebel Hearts series Book 1) by Heather Boyd Read Free Book Online

did not want to be reminded of the past or their engagement. Just like everyone else in her family. “Indeed, I do command him. He is a fine officer and a good man.”
    Sally wore a smile that lacked warmth despite her next words. “Welcome to Newberry Park.”
    “Thank you. It is a dream come true to be here.”
    That startled her enough that she licked her lips, a sure sign of nervousness. “I hope you enjoy your brief respite and can return to your ship soon to continue the war against the French.”
    Felix wanted her nervous. He wanted to get her alone too and rail at her, but not when there were witnesses, and most of them her relations.
    When she linked arms with Lady Duckworth and smiled dismissively, he saw it as a sign he had gotten under her skin. She wanted him to go away, and he would eventually because his yearning for her had been hopeless then and still was. But first he would set the record straight about his intentions six years ago. “As soon as the admiral gives me leave I will go,” he assured her. “I keep my promises.”
    She glanced away at his words and Felix took the time to drink in her profile, her elegance. Something he had known deep in his heart from the beginning that he had not deserved. A sudden smile lit up her face, and he turned to see what had pleased her.
    Lord Ellicott.
    He had noticed the man in London. In the few weeks he’d managed to come ashore they had attended some of the same society events. A popular fellow, he had a wide circle of friends who did very little with their time and wasted their funds on all sorts of gambling. Ellicott had danced with Sally often and an acquaintance—a woman who had not known their tangled history—had remarked that the pair was made for each other. Felix had trouble believing the overdressed popinjay sauntering toward them could possibly be accepted by a family of rough-and-tumble naval men.
    When introduced, Ellicott exclaimed rudely, “Good God, I had heard you were dead.”
    “Now where might that rumor have started?” He glanced at Sally for an answer, and she blushed. “Not yet, my lord, but the French are a determined lot, so who knows when my time on Earth will end.”
    Sally laughed, a brittle false laugh he did not recognize or like. He looked her over again, noticing her elegance was as restrained as her laughter. She was entirely proper, and it hurt his eyes to see her gloriously curly hair had been tamed.
    She only had eyes for Ellicott though as he stopped at her side. As if to prove her point that she had forgotten him, she claimed Ellicott’s arm too and drew him and Lady Duckworth away as if he were unworthy of standing in her presence.
    Chastened by her indifference to a time that was still important to him, he turned his attention back to his commander. “Your message said it was urgent.”
    “Later Hastings,” Templeton insisted, waving aside the matter as the duke had done earlier that day. His eyes narrowed on his daughter. “Tomorrow is soon enough for what we have to talk about. Perhaps the day after.”
    The duke cleared his throat and Templeton hurried off. “Now then, Captain, who do you not know?”

Chapter Six

    R utherford reacquainted Felix with those closest as if the genial host of a long-lost friend, but then a gong sounded and dinner was announced.
    Lady Templeton drew close, her expression openly curious and transparently delighted to see him. “You are with me tonight, Captain.”
    The duke raised a brow. “I trust you recall Lady Templeton, my daughter by marriage.”
    “How could I forget?” He bowed deeply to Sally’s mother, a woman he had genuinely liked. Lady Templeton was nothing like her husband. She was warm and jolly and very quick with a laugh at no one’s expense. “A pleasure to see you again, my lady. You are as radiant as ever.”
    “I see you have become even more handsome and incorrigible than ever before.” She smiled fondly, and he caught a glimpse of that former