Three Graces by Victoria Connelly Read Free Book Online

fear. He was born on the thirteenth of July which, she’d worked out made him a Cancerian. He liked marshmallows, copper beaches, mullioned windows and, she’d just discovered, cracking the spines of new paperbacks whilst in the bath.
    Was it enough?
    ‘You don’t know anything about me,’ she said.
    ‘But I do,’ he said. ‘you’re unhappy in your job-’
    ‘I never said that!’
    ‘But you are, aren’t you?’
    Carys frowned again. How had he worked that out? What had she said? She couldn’t quite remember.
    ‘You love beautiful things but don’t think you have a right to them.’
    ‘What do you mean?’
    ‘You’re well-versed in literature but haven’t read much modern fiction.’
    ‘I never-’
    ‘And you’re beginning to think more kindly of my way of life.’
    Carys’s hands were on her hips and her brow was furrowed with consternation.
    ‘I never said anything-’
    He kissed her and the rest of her protestation was silenced.
    ‘Marry me,’ he said once he’d let her go.

    ‘And I said yes,’ Carys told Louise. ‘That was it. He asked me and I said yes.’
    Louise’s face was a picture of puzzlement. ‘Nothing like that’s ever happened to me.’ And then something occurred to her. ‘My God! You’ll be a duchess .’
    ‘Not at first. A marchioness to begin with.’
    ‘A marchioness?’ Louise’s tongue stumbled over the foreign word. ‘But you hate the aristocracy. How can you suddenly become a recruit?’
    Carys sighed. ‘I might have hated most of them at one point but I think, now, that I’m rather in love with one specific member.’
    Louise rubbed her head in her hands. ‘My brain aches. I can’t take all this in. Are you sure you’re not winding me up?’
    Carys shook her head. ‘You’ll be my bridesmaid, won’t you?’
    Suddenly, Louise’s face lit up with joy. ‘Oh, yes! Oh wow! Where will you be getting married? Will it be in the cathedral? Just imagine! It will be in all the glossy mags, won’t it? When will the wedding be? Have you bought any bridal magazines yet? Oh, this is so exciting!’
    Carys grinned. It hadn’t taken long to win her friend over.

Chapter 6
     
    It was only after Carys had accepted Richard’s proposal of marriage that he introduced her to Cecily and Evelyn - his two daughters.
    She’d driven out to Amberley to be officially introduced to Richard’s parents, the duke and duchess. As though that wasn’t enough of a nerve-wracking experience for one day, he’d taken her into the private drawing room and sat her down.
    ‘There’s something I should have told you,’ he said.
    ‘It’s all right,’ Carys said. ‘I know you’ve been married before.’
    ‘You do?’
    ‘You don’t live in a complete bubble here, you know.’
    A look of enormous relief passed across his face.
    ‘Then you’ll know about Cecily and Evelyn?’ he said. ‘Girls! You can come in now.’ The drawing room door opened and two young girls, aged about eight and ten, walked in. They were a pair of perfect blonde bookends and had the kind of complexions which made them ripe for creamy soap commercials.
    ‘These are my two beautiful daughters,’ he announced proudly.
    Carys’s eyes stretched in surprise. She had known about the wife but she hadn’t known about the two children. How had he managed to keep them a secret, she wondered? And then she realised, once again, that they really hadn’t known each other very long and that such things as children could be hidden away and forgotten about.
    ‘Hello,’ Carys said, standing up as the two girls approached. ‘I’m Carys.’ She wondered whether to shake their hands but they were a bit young for that, weren’t they?
    ‘Are you going to be our new mama?’ the younger girl asked.
    Carys blushed and Richard cleared his throat in obvious embarrassment.
    ‘Don’t be silly,’ the elder girl said. ‘Nobody can replace mama.’
    There was a very awkward silence as Carys began to realise the enormity of