To Seduce a Bride (Courtship Wars 3)

Arabella looked beautiful and sophisticated as usual, Lily thought, but Roslyn’s pale golden beauty was even more exquisite since she was positively glowing.

“Are you certain you have made the right choice about marrying Arden, Rose?” Lily asked once the elementary details had been recounted. “You still have time to change your mind. There are ten more days before your wedding, when your decision becomes irreversible.”

Roslyn smiled wryly while Arabella laughed.

“That is exactly the attitude we expected from you, dearest Lily,” Arabella said. “We know how much you despise the very thought of marriage. But Roslyn has always been more open to the idea than either you or I.”

Because Roslyn had not been witness to their father’s physical brutality as she had, Lily thought to herself. Nor had Roslyn been forsaken by a fiance who professed to love her, as Arabella had been during her first betrothal.

“I must say you seem happy, Rose,” Lily admitted.

Roslyn’s smile softened. “Ecstatically so. What about you, Lily? Are you happy, living in London with Fanny’s friends and boarders?”

“Yes, indeed,” she answered truthfully. “It is extremely fulfilling, being able to teach those women and improve their self-esteem. I can actually see them blossom day by day. They are far more eager to learn than our students at the Freemantle Academy ever were. Possibly because they know how hard life can be, having to earn their own livings instead of being born to wealth and comfort.”

“So what about Lord Claybourne?” Arabella wanted to know.

“What about him?” she hedged.

“How is your courtship progressing? I doubt you welcomed his romantic attentions.”

“Of course not. I am only enduring him so he will bring some suitable gentlemen to the soiree on Monday evening.”

“But Claybourne is a delightfully charming man,” Roslyn pointed out. “Clever and quick-witted and charismatic. I should think you would find the challenge he presents at least a little exciting.”

Lily couldn’t deny that Heath was dynamic and exciting. Around him she felt exhilarated, her wits and senses alive and on full alert. And since he’d begun his pursuit, her life was far livelier than it had ever been.

Which was what made him so dangerous. If she felt this way about him after less than a week, how could she fight her deplorable attraction to him if he actually won their game?

“Perhaps, but I won’t even consider accepting his proposal. I am perfectly content as I am. Especially now that I’ve begun to reconsider my future. I want to find a way to aid women like our boarders. To help them seek better lives.”

“That is certainly an admirable goal,” Roslyn remarked, “but helping indigent women and having a husband are not mutually exclusive.”

Lily eyed her sisters with growing impatience. “If you mean to quiz me so relentlessly about Lord Claybourne, I think I will leave.”

“Don’t be absurd,” Arabella chided amiably. “It is just that we both fell in love with our ideal mates, and we want you to have the same chance at happiness. You should at least give Claybourne’s courtship a chance.”

Lily shook her head adamantly. She never wanted to fall in love, and she never wanted to marry. She had vowed never to let any man have such irrevocable power over her, and she wouldn’t change her long-held beliefs simply because one possessed a nearly irresistible charm.

“I cannot trust him enough,” Lily said simply.

“He may be nothing like our father. Marcus certainly isn’t.”

“Nor is Drew,” Roslyn chimed in. “Lord Claybourne seems nothing like Papa, Lily.”

No, Heath seemed very different, Lily acknowledged. She could see the kindness in him, the gentleness, the humor. And he hadn’t tried to control her or dictate to her, the way their father had ruthlessly done their mother. Nor had he physically threatened her. Instead he had protected and defended her-

“I cannot imagine that you are afraid of him, Lily,” Arabella commented thoughtfully.

No, it was her response to him that made her afraid. She was frightened of the desire he made her feel. She had never wanted that kind of intimacy with a man, but now she found herself thinking of it constantly.

The irony was almost amusing. Just a few short months ago, she had warned Arabella about giving in to Marcus’s masculine allure. But now she understood the powerful temptation her sister had faced.

“You really should not condemn all men simply because of what Papa did”-Arabella smiled ruefully-“even though I felt exactly that way before I fell in love with Marcus. I know many noblemen have been raised to be selfish and uncaring, and such men are not even capable of love, but Claybourne could prove to be another exception.”

Lily had no idea if Heath was capable of love. She had seen glimpses of his magnanimity in the past few days-although that could be merely because he was trying to win their game.

But the state of his heart didn’t matter to her in the least, she reminded herself, stiffening her spine. “Belle, I truly don’t wish to discuss this any further.”