Read Amberley Chronicles Boxset I: The Impostor Debutante My Last Marchioness the Sister Quest (Amberley Chronicles Boxsets Book 1) for Free Online

chance. Delicate pearls (on loan from his mother) drew attention to her magnificent bosom. You simply could not overlook those white twin spheres, even though nobody could call the gown immodest. James, suddenly strangling in his elegantly tied cravat, was conscious of a desire to gather the girl in his arms and lick those delicious bosoms, slowly, carefully….
    “Good evening, Mother, Cousin. You both look delightful tonight,” he managed to say with an outward appearance of decorum.
    His mother merely sniffed, but his cousin replied, “You yourself look very handsome tonight, James.” He was gratified by the appreciation he saw in her eyes. A fellow might become all puffed up if she regularly looked at him like that.
    After the ladies had donned their evening capes, light ones in view of the season, he escorted them to the coach waiting outside and handed them in carefully, before entering and seating himself on the opposite side. James hated travelling backwards, but good manners left him no choice; fortunately their destination was only a few streets away.
    “While I have you to myself, cousin, may I ask for the first dance and the supper dance?”
    His mother intervened before his cousin could assent. “The supper dance?” she said, frowning. “By then she should have met somebody else. I suggest you merely keep James in reserve for the supper dance, Belinda.”
    “But that would be discourteous towards my cousin, Aunt. You yourself told me that I must accept any gentleman’s offer to dance as long as we have been properly introduced, and it is not more than twice.”
    “Oh, well then, but don’t make a habit of it. We don’t want to give people the wrong impression.” Lady Amberley did not elaborate what impression she meant, and neither of the two young people made any further comment on the matter.
    Charlotte had looked forward to the ball with mixed feelings. It was a much more elegant affair than the few assemblies she had attended in York, years ago, before Belinda’s blindness and her own marriage. She planned to discreetly observe the decorations and company, and in her mind was already drafting her next letter to Belinda, whom she was representing here. It rankled to reflect that as herself, the daughter of an actress and Sir Rudolph Yardley, she would never have been given entrance into these exclusive circles of the ton . Even though she was doing it for Belinda, she felt uneasy at this abuse of hospitality.
    When Charlotte saw that their harried hostess greeted them only perfunctorily, and the place was so crowded that they could only with difficulty advance into the rooms, her conscience eased. One more person more or less was not going to make the slightest difference in this crush. She was grateful for the strength and bulk of James at her side.
    The main ballroom was slightly less crowded. When the orchestra struck up the first number, James and Charlotte danced a country dance together. Though she had not had much practice in the latter years, Charlotte found it easy to keep step with her energetic partner. As soon as this dance ended Lady Amberley presented another young gentleman to her, and she was off again.
    Her new partner had bright red hair and freckles, and looked even younger than James. Charlotte had not quite caught his name but engaged him in light banter without difficulty. Despite his youth he proved to be an excellent dancer.
    A waltz followed, and she had to stay by Lady Amberley, as she had not yet received permission to waltz. She saw James whirl over the floor with a dark-haired girl in pale pink, and felt an unreasonable stab of annoyance that he was not dancing the waltz with her. Good heavens, was she getting possessive about him? That was folly indeed, and completely unreasonable. He could be only a friend, and considering all that she was keeping from him, not even that in truth.
    The strong candlelight, close air and heat of several hundred bodies pressed together