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Authors: Victoria Alexander

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BOOK: The Scandalous Adventures of the Sister of the Bride
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No, Camille was right. There was no hurry at all. Besides, this claim on Phillip’s
estate was more than likely bogus and would be settled any day now. Once the sense
of imminent disaster hanging over her like a black cloud had abated she could look
for a new husband unfettered by the slightest doubt. Nonetheless, she fully intended
to take advantage of the opportunity afforded by Camille’s wedding and accompanying
social events to inspect suitable candidates. It would be foolish to let this opportunity
slip away. She would engage them in intelligent conversation. She would be charming
and flirtatious, she had long enjoyed being flirtatious, and by the time Camille was
wed, Delilah would be headed in the direction of the altar as well.

All things considered, and barring any unforeseen complications, it was an excellent
plan.

“There you are, Camille,” Grayson’s voice sounded in the doorway behind Delilah. “Clement
said I would find you on the terrace.”

Her sister’s eyes lit with pleasure at the sight of her fiancé and the slightest twinge
of what might have been envy stabbed Delilah. She ignored it. It was all well and
good that Camille and Grayson had found love, and Delilah wished them nothing but
happiness, but she had no interest in love. Not this time.

“It’s such a lovely day, it was a shame to stay indoors.” Camille stood and moved
toward him.

Delilah twisted in her chair to get a look at the newcomer. But he stood in the shadows
of the doorway, a step behind Grayson. He was tall, Delilah could tell that much.
But then it did seem that all of Grayson’s Americans were tall. Apparently, they grew
them that way.

Grayson raised Camille’s hand to his lips and gazed into her eyes in that manner he
had that made Teddy and even Delilah want to sigh with the sheer romance of it. “And
do you remember my good friend—”

“Of course I do.” Camille pulled her hand from her fiancé’s and stepped around him.
“It hasn’t been that long.”

“Delighted to see you again, Lady Lydingham,” the American said smoothly. Camille
blocked her view and it was impossible to get a good look at him. His voice was vaguely
familiar but then Americans did sound alike. “I must apologize for my early arrival.
I hope it won’t be too much of an inconvenience.”

Delilah and Teddy exchanged skeptical looks.

“Not at all. Millworth is huge and there is more than enough room to spare,” Camille
said in her best gracious hostess voice. “But you must be famished from your travels.
Do join us and I will ring for something for you to eat.”

Delilah reached for her cup and drained the last of her tea.

“If it’s no trouble,” the American said.

“None whatsoever.” Camille returned to the table. “Allow me to introduce Lady Theodosia
Winslow. She is coordinating the wedding plans. And I’m not sure if you met my sister
when we were in New York.”

Delilah affixed a pleasant smile, turned her head, and looked up.

And stared into the dark brown eyes of her grand adventure.

And worst nightmare.

Chapter Three

Her breath caught.

Her stomach lurched.

Her cup slipped from her hand.

“Dee!” Teddy jumped to her feet.

Delilah’s gaze jerked from Mr. Russell—
Mr. Samuel Russell
—to the tabletop.

“Damnation,” she muttered then winced. She never cursed. Never in front of others
and rarely to herself. But if ever anything called for a reaction stronger than an
oh my
this was definitely it.

“Goodness, Delilah!” Camille gasped, whether at her sister’s blasphemy or the dropped
cup Delilah didn’t know and didn’t care. “It’s a good thing your cup was empty or
you would have drenched us all.”

“Yes, of course. My apologies,” Delilah said with a weak smile and was grateful she
could manage that.

A footman hurried forward to tidy the table. In the back of her mind, Delilah noted
how fortunate dropping her cup was as it gave her time to compose herself. Unfortunately,
not nearly enough.

This
was Grayson’s friend? His
good
friend and occasional partner? Not the employee of one of his business associates?
Obviously she was not the only one who had not been completely honest in New York.
Why, the beast had practically lied to her!

“Delilah,” Grayson said. “This is my good friend Mr. Samuel Russell. You might have
met him in New York.”

“One meets so many people.” She could manage no more than a half-hearted smile. What
in the name of all that was holy was he doing here?
Here?
In England? At Millworth Manor? Her family’s home?
In her world?
Precisely where he didn’t belong. Where she had never wanted to see him. Where she
had never
expected
to see him. She drew a deep breath. “When one travels that is.”

“And it is hard to remember one among so many,” Mr. Russell said in an altogether
too smooth manner.

“Indeed and I must apologize, I’m afraid I don’t recall meeting you.” Delilah adopted
a pleasant tone and struggled to appear calm. The worst thing about lies and deception,
no matter how relatively innocent, was that inevitably they returned to bite you when
you were least prepared for them. And she certainly wasn’t prepared for this. For
him
.

“But I believe we did meet. Briefly. At the ball if I remember correctly.” He cast
her an innocent smile that would have been most convincing to anyone watching but
nonetheless spoke volumes to her. “
Lady
Hargate, isn’t it?”

“It is.” Delilah nodded, a million thoughts running through her mind, most of them
dire and dreadful and quite beneath her.

Yes indeed, it would be best if she acted as if they had never met. Then there would
be no speculation as to why she hadn’t mentioned him before. It was highly suspicious
when one thought about it. She raised her chin slightly. She could do this. Why, already
the shock of Mr. Russell’s appearance was shifting to irritation at his unexpected
and unwanted presence. The man would ruin everything.

“Oh, you needn’t stand on formality,” Camille said. “We are all friends and family
here. It would be most awkward if you were to refer to us all by our titles.”

“And yet completely proper,” Delilah said.

“Don’t be silly.” Camille shot her a sharp look then smiled at Mr. Russell. “You must
forgive my sister. While she is the youngest in the family she is oddly enough rather
stuffy when it comes to things like propriety.”

“Someone has to be,” Delilah murmured. It was at moments like this that she quite
valued the importance of propriety, the barriers and the protection it provided.

Camille ignored her. “So please do call me Camille and this is Teddy.”

“How delightful to meet you, Mr. Russell.” Teddy extended a graceful hand to him.
“I have always been fascinated by Americans, although I’m afraid you’re the first
that I have met.”

Mr. Russell took her hand and gazed into Teddy’s green eyes as if she was the only
person present. “I hope you won’t be disappointed then.”

The man was obviously an outrageous and well-practiced flirt. Not at all surprising.
He had certainly flirted in New York. Still, it was most annoying and could be added
to a fast-growing list of complaints against him, although admittedly the most significant
was simply that he was here. Nonetheless, Delilah had the absurd impulse to smack
his hand away from her friend’s.

Teddy tilted her head to one side in a flirtatious manner of her own. “I can’t imagine
that I would be.”

He laughed, that deep, overly amused laugh that had burned itself into Delilah’s memory.
“I will do everything in my power to make certain of that. And my friends call me
Sam.”

“Sam it is then.” Teddy smiled up at him.

Delilah’s urge to smack Mr. Russell shifted to her friend. Which made no sense whatsoever.
Teddy could certainly flirt with whomever she chose.

“As I do hope we will be friends.” Did Teddy really just flutter her eyelashes?

“And apparently you remember Delilah,” Grayson said.

Mr. Russell released Teddy’s hand and turned to Delilah. Without thinking, she offered
her hand. It would have drawn attention had she not. “Mr. Russell.”

He took her hand and gazed into her eyes. But then he would, wouldn’t he? “Sam.”

“Are we to be friends then as well?” she said in a tone sharper than she had intended.

“I do hope so.” A slow, wicked smile curved his lips, although she might have been
the only one who thought it wicked. But then she was the only one who knew just how
wicked this man could be. And he was the only one who knew of her own wicked tendencies.
“One can always use another friend.”

“Yes, well, I suppose.” She tugged surreptitiously at her hand but he held it fast.
The man was not going to make this easy for her.

Laughter danced in his eyes. “I have to admit, I am disappointed that you do not remember
our meeting. As I said, it was at the ball. But admittedly it was little more than
an introduction.”

“Was it?” she said lightly and tried again to pull her hand from his. “Surely you
can forgive me for failing to remember. Everyone was in costume after all.” She drew
her brows together. “You were dressed as . . .”

“A pirate.” His amused gaze bored into hers as if daring her to deny their meeting.
The blasted man was playing some sort of game with her. Well, two could play at this
game.

“A pirate, let me think.” She paused as if trying to remember. Not that she had forgotten
for a moment. Samuel Russell had worn the guise of a pirate as naturally as if he
had just stepped off the deck of a marauding ship. Dashing and dangerous and altogether
irresistible. Teddy wasn’t the only one who read the occasional romantic novel. She
shook her head regretfully. “There were so many pirates. It did seem there was a pirate
lurking in every corner. So appropriate for Americans really.”

His brow rose. “A compliment, Lady Hargate?”


Delilah,
” Camille said.

“Yes, of course, you must call me Delilah.” She forced a pleasant note to her voice.
“I should think only an American would take being a pirate as a compliment. However”—she
shrugged—“you may take it as you wish.”

“And only a fool would prefer an insult to a compliment and I am no fool.” The warning
in his voice was so subtle again she was probably the only one to notice.

No, he might well be an annoying, deceitful beast of a man but he was definitely no
fool. She wasn’t sure she could say the same about herself.

“And so I thank you,
Delilah.

There was something about the way he said her name that was at once sensual and irritating.
And unnerving. She tugged again at her hand.

“There were a number of Dresden shepherdesses as well,” he added. “And yet I’m fairly
sure I remember you.”

“A shepherdess?” Teddy’s eyes widened with disbelief. “Dee?”

“I can’t imagine anyone
not
remembering.” Grayson chuckled.

“It wasn’t the sort of thing I ever imagined my younger sister wearing. Beryl perhaps
but not Delilah.” Camille leaned toward Teddy and lowered her voice. “I daresay there
were gentlemen who, upon seeing Delilah as a shepherdess, would have willingly volunteered
to be sheep.”

Delilah gasped. “Camille!”

“The bodice was exceptionally low in cut and the hem scandalously high,” Camille said
to Teddy. “Why, one could see her ankles.”

“It was a costume.” Delilah yanked her hand from Mr. Russell’s. It wasn’t bad enough
that her mistake had appeared from out of nowhere but now her sister had to chastise
her as well for her choice of costume. This day was not getting any better. “And as
such, not the least bit inappropriate.”

“But no less shocking,” Camille added.

“And entirely out of character.” Teddy studied her friend curiously.

“Perhaps you have forgotten, but it was a
masked
ball. Those attending were expected to remain anonymous, for the most part. It was,
as well, in a country where I knew no one, a country I do not expect to ever see again.
Besides . . .” She considered the other women for a moment then drew a deep breath.
“It does seem to me that on occasion in one’s life, one should throw caution to the
winds and do something completely unexpected.”

Camille’s eyes widened in surprise. “Well, yes, perhaps. I simply never expected you
to throw caution anywhere.”

“But you really don’t know her very well,” Grayson said. Camille turned an annoyed
eye on him. “Although, you have been giving it a great deal of effort,” he added quickly.

“She’s right, of course.” Teddy nodded. “It was a costume and perhaps if one has never
thrown caution to the winds in any manner, starting with something as innocuous as
a costume is the way to go about it.” She cast Delilah a supportive smile. “A rather
restrained way really.”

Camille nodded. “Like dipping no more than one’s toes in the pool of impropriety.”

“It’s not as if you did something truly scandalous like oh, dancing naked in a fountain,”
Teddy said.

A faint hint of discomfort washed across Camille’s face. She or Beryl or perhaps both
had probably done far worse. There were any number of things about her sisters’ lives
that Delilah didn’t know and wasn’t sure she wished to.

Teddy continued. “It was only a costume after all, and not as if Dee’s flinging of
caution resulted in scandal.”

“Or an untoward incident.” Grayson nodded.

“Or an adventure,” Mr. Russell offered, again in a deceptively innocent manner and
again she wanted to smack him. The man was obviously intending to make a habit of
twisting everything that was said into a reminder of their
adventure
.

“And well worth it, I’d say. She did make an exquisite Dresden shepherdess.” Grayson
grinned at her and gratitude toward her future brother-in-law washed through her.
But then, even when her sisters had barely acknowledged her existence, Grayson had
always been nice to her. There was a time when she had thought he was entirely too
good for Camille. And not all that long ago.

“You did look lovely.” Camille smiled.

“Even, dare I say . . .” Mr. Russell—Samuel—paused. She absolutely refused to think
of him as
Sam
. “Unforgettable?”

Unforgettable? Ha!

“How very kind of you to say so,” Delilah said politely. “Which makes it all the worse
that I don’t remember you. At all.”

He gasped and clasped his hand over his heart in a dramatic manner. “I am wounded
to the quick to have slipped the memory of so lovely a shepherdess. And yet”—he grinned—“I
am certain I shall recover and bravely carry on.” He paused for a moment. “Yes, yes,
there you have it. Completely recovered now and wondering if perhaps I mistook you
for one of the other shepherdesses in attendance.”

Delilah’s jaw clenched but she managed a smile. “Perhaps.”

“No, no. I’m certain of it now.” Samuel nodded. “It was definitely another shepherdess
I met. I never met you at all.”

Grayson frowned at his friend. “But I thought you said—”

“My mistake, Gray.” Samuel’s voice was firm. “It must have been some other shepherdess.
Someone who was indeed . . .” His gaze locked with Delilah’s. “Unforgettable.”

“No doubt,” she said and pointedly looked away.

Camille’s curious gaze slid between Samuel and her sister. “Well then, as we have
this settled, do sit down, gentlemen, and join us.”

The ladies retook their seats; Grayson pulled up a chair to sit beside Camille, Samuel
selected another and seated himself between Grayson and Teddy. Delilah breathed a
sigh of relief that he did not choose to sit beside her. Unfortunately, he was directly
across the table where it was impossible to avoid his gaze. Blasted man. Why hadn’t
he stayed in America where he belonged?

Camille signaled to the butler and requested more cakes and tea and sandwiches for
the gentlemen.

“Do tell me, Sam.” Camille turned to the American. “We are delighted to have you here
but I was under the impression you would not be able to join us for the wedding.”

“I must confess, I did not plan on coming but business brought me to Europe and, as
I have business in England as well, it seemed the hand of fate insisting that I attend
your wedding.” Samuel chuckled. “And I would hate to defy fate.” His gaze met Delilah’s
briefly then moved on.

“Wouldn’t we all,” Teddy said.

“Then I am most grateful to fate.” Grayson nodded. “I should hate to have one of my
closest friends not be by my side on the most important day of my life.” He cast an
affectionate smile at his fiancée then returned his attention to his friend. “Besides,
regardless of any plans I might have,
I
would never miss your wedding, should you venture down that path again.”

“Again?” Teddy asked.

“Sorry.” Grayson grimaced. “My apologies. I wasn’t thinking. I shouldn’t have brought
it up.”

BOOK: The Scandalous Adventures of the Sister of the Bride
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