Too Wicked to Love by Debra Mullins Read Free Book Online

hand.
    Setting aside the memories of the past, she made her way downstairs to the drawing room, where everyone awaited the summons to dinner. Near the fireplace, their host, Virgil Bailey, held a low-voiced private conversation with Genny’s father, the admiral. Everyone else clustered around their hostess, Annabelle’s mother, Dolly Bailey, where she held court from her wheeled chair.
    John normally joined them for dinner, but he was nowhere to be seen.
    “Genny, dear! There you are!” Dolly, blond, buxom, and perpetually cheerful, waved Genny over. “We have the most marvelous afternoon planned for tomorrow.”
    Genny joined the group surrounding Dolly, careful to avoid her blanket-covered leg, which was elevated in an extended position by the adjustable footrest of the chair. Dolly had broken her leg nearly a month ago, but like any lady of a fashionable bent, she sought to keep her infirmity from sight at all times. Seated around her were Annabelle, Genny’s mother Helen, and an eligible bachelor Dolly had invited to balance out the party, Sir Harry Archer.
    Sir Harry was a baronet with a small holding nearby. Genny did not know him particularly well. Brown-haired and hazel-eyed, he wore spectacles and had a jovial personality that never seemed to dim. He did not appear particularly old, in his thirties perhaps, but he walked with a cane due to a leg injured in a hunting accident.
    “It is the most wonderful thing,” Helen said after Genny had greeted everyone and taken a seat on the settee beside her. “Sir Harry has written a play for us to perform. Won’t that be amusing?”
    “He has?” Genny fixed the baronet with what she hoped was a polite smile even as she groaned inside. “How clever, Sir Harry!”
    “Not at all, not at all.” He smiled, pushing up his spectacles. “I have written roles for all of you, even Mrs. Bailey. I shall direct.”
    “Me?” Dolly exclaimed. “Well, I’m afraid I can’t do much with this leg of mine, Sir Harry. But wasn’t that sweet of you?”
    Like the gentleman he was, Sir Harry ignored the American’s scandalous use of the word “leg.” “Now, Mrs. Bailey, I have considered the situation of your mobility and taken that into account. You will be playing the queen of the fairies and only need to sit on your throne. So you see? No problem at all.”
    “The queen of the fairies? Oh how lovely!” Dolly clapped her hands.
    “Naturally your husband will play the king,” Sir Harry continued.
    “Who am I going to play?” Annabelle asked, leaning forward in her chair.
    “You are Bella, daughter of the queen, who has found her true love despite the jealous plotting of her evil sister.”
    “Oh, my! And who is my true love?”
    “That will be played by Mr. Ready.” Sir Harry adjusted his spectacles again and looked around. “Will he be joining us this evening?”
    “Our head groom asked him to look at a horse’s leg,” Dolly said. “Something about a poultice. I don’t think he’ll be dining with us tonight.”
    “Ah, yes. I suppose a man who used to be a coachman would know a bit about horses. Very well.” Sir Harry frowned down at the small list in his hand. “Well, I have him set to play Frederick, a farm lad who is secretly a prince and has fallen in love with the beautiful Bella.”
    “I’m sure he’ll be tickled at the part,” Dolly said.
    “The admiral and Mrs. Wallington-Willis play Prince Frederick’s real parents, the king and queen, who hid him with a farmer’s family to protect him from the fairies.”
    “Sounds like they found him anyway,” Annabelle said.
    “You are correct, Miss Bailey.”
    “Annabelle,” she insisted with a sweet smile.
    Sir Harry fumbled his list, appearing a bit undone by Annabelle’s flirtatious tone. Then he cleared his throat, straightened his spectacles (again), and returned his focus with visible effort to the piece of paper. “The . . . that is, Malevita, the other daughter of the queen of the