Read The Cheer in Charming an Earl (The Naughty Girls) for Free Online Page A

indicated to the blonde, the brunette, and a freckled-faced young woman with golden-red hair, respectively.
    “Cousin Fanny?” Grantham asked skeptically. He was never going to remember their names.
    She beamed at him. “I thot, wot, that’d be fun, being related to an eyrl for once.” Her cockney patois ruined the effect of her perfect posture and bejeweled gown.
    He shuddered as a sweeping feeling of misgiving swept over him. “Just so, cousin.”
    At last, Miss Conley arrived, shown in by Smithers. The men who were seated came to their feet. The women craned their long, pale necks around their fans. Grantham strode toward Miss Conley and extended his hands to take hers. “Welcome to my dinner party.”
    Her hands were cold through her gloves. If she was otherwise nervous, he couldn’t tell. Her blue eyes reflected the sparkle of candlelight and Christmas wishes. “Thank you for allowing me to join you, Lord Chelford. I thought I might chew my way through my walls, it smells so delicious from my room.”
    “Like a rodent?” Mariah’s voice grated even when she wasn’t finding fault.
    Miss Conley looked around him for the speaker. Her hands slipped from his and she stepped farther into the room. “If you had endured the entire afternoon smelling what is sure to be a scrumptious dinner, you might have considered it, too. My bedchamber is just to the right of the kitchens, you see.”
    Grantham turned in time to glimpse Mariah blanch. “Our guest is a delight, isn’t she, Mrs. Fawcett?” he warned in a tone only his close friends would recognize as caustic.
    “Precisely my thought,” Mariah drawled. “Like a breath of fresh air.”
    Lord Scotherby approached Miss Conley and gave her a courtly bow. “Lord Scotherby here. Glad to see we’ve been spared both your demise and the forfeiture of our dinner.”
    She smiled and curtseyed back. “That makes two of us, my lord.”
    Mr. Tewseybury came forward next. “Edward Tewseybury, of nowhere in particular. A pleasure to meet you. Tell me, are you one of the Pearson girls?”
    She shook her head. “My family name is—”
    “Tewsey, none of that,” Grantham cut in. He turned to her and softened his expression. “You’ve no chaperone. Should word of your being here escape, I might find my skull flattened between a hammer and an anvil.”
    She paled enough to make him think she wouldn’t risk his head on purpose. “I’ll just be Miss Pearson, then.”
    “Good.” He offered his arm to her so that he might escort her around to meet the women. As he’d expected, Mariah and Becky did their best to make her uncomfortable, he forgot the two middle girls’ names, and “Cousin Fanny” rattled off some unintelligible cockney greeting that Miss Conley politely smiled through.
    When he had her alone again, he leaned in so he wouldn’t be overheard. “I’d excuse their oddness by saying they’re kindhearted people, but I’m afraid that doesn’t apply in this case. Are you overwhelmed?”
    Her eyes shined up at him. “I’ve never met such fine ladies before. And you gentlemen! So handsome, I feel prettier just standing next to you.”
    “You are. Quite pretty, actually.” He bit his tongue and turned away. Fell right into that trap, hadn’t he?
    She ducked her head, and he couldn’t help but be enthralled by the way her ivory skin glowed beneath the candlelight. He’d guessed correctly about her bosom. It pressed against the tight, low bodice of her gown and—
    A quick glance around the room confirmed what he’d just realized. She was the only woman with a plunging neckline. In fact, now that he looked closer, his Cyprian friends had overdone their fichus into comical billows that vied with the starched waterfall cravats the men sported.
    He coughed into the side of one fist and tried not to stare at the brimming décolletage of Miss Conley’s otherwise proper frock. There was nothing he could do about it. He couldn’t very well call out her