Read The Seduction of Miss Amelia Bell for Free Online Page B

concerns me, but tonight,” Millicent said out of the corner
     of her mouth. “Tonight the betrothal was to be announced.”
    “By the saints, woman! Have ye no bloody…?” His half whispered oath was cut off when
     his son-in-law the Earl of Bedford stepped up to his chair and tugged his sleeve.
    “What?” John asked and lifted his ear from Bedford’s lips. “Where?”
    His son-in-law pointed and Amelia’s father rose to his feet to peer at a man standing
     at the far end of the hall engaged in quiet conversation with another man he’d never
     seen before. “Ye are certain he was introduced as Lord Huntley?”
    “I heard the introduction myself. Malcolm Gordon, Earl of Huntley.”
    “And the man with him?”
    “Edmund Dearly, Viscount of Essex. They travel with a Campbell and a Drummond, as
     well.”
    John cast a glance at his wife. He didn’t recall seeing their names on the invitation
     list. Lord, he hoped no one had insulted them by forgetting to add them.
    “They are coming this way.” John straightened his shoulders and smoothed his coat,
     readying himself for an introduction.
    “Ye do know that Huntley’s family is distantly related to the queen, do ye not?” Millicent
     asked, fixing her hair.
    Adjusting his wig, John offered his guests an amiable smile, but the Viscount of Essex
     flicked his eyes to the only person still seated in her chair at the dais.
    Suddenly, sickeningly, John peered down at the top of Amelia’s head. He visibly cringed
     when a small snore escaped her lips. Struggling to retain his pleasant demeanor while
     his guests stared at her, he yanked her to her feet.
      
    Amelia came awake rather sharply, but it took a moment for her head to clear completely,
     and for her to realize she’d been asleep in her chair. But even that mortification
     was nothing compared to what she felt when she looked at the men standing before her.
    “Lord Huntley, Lord Essex,” her father’s voice cracked when he called out. “Welcome
     to Queensberry House. We were not expecting ye.”
    Forgetting her drooping curl, Amelia’s eyes opened wider. Her Edmund was Lord Essex?
     His friend was Lord Huntley? And she’d fallen asleep in her supper? She ached to peek
     up at her father, to somehow beg his forgiveness.
    “Perhaps if we had been invited…” Edmund’s…Lord Essex’s voice was a deep, sensual
     blend belonging to both England and Scotland. The smooth and steady sound of it danced
     across her ears, invading her thoughts.
    “An oversight fer which I would beg fergiveness.” Her father bowed.
    Amelia flicked her gaze to Edmund as he strode forward. This was twice now she’d awakened
     from her dreams to find him in her world.
    He was real. But whatever she had found enticing about him before had vanished with
     the dawn. He stood now, with full authority squaring his shoulders, and cool unyielding
     indifference hardening his features. Was he just another power-hungry nobleman then?
     Would he punish her father for his error?
    He lifted his palm to her father. “No need fer apologies. Lord Huntley and I prefer
     to remain discreet. Isn’t that correct, Huntley?”
    “’Tis,” his friend agreed, smiling at Sarah when she appeared with a tray of wine.
     Heavens but he was so roguishly handsome Sarah almost dropped her tray. With eyes
     dipped in fathomless shades of blue and green and a dimpled grin that could make an
     angel fall from heaven, he was temptation incarnate. Like a wolf on the hunt, his
     eyes followed Sarah’s departure, forgetting, or not caring about, the conversation
     going on in front of him.
    Remembering that Sarah was no angel, Amelia returned her attention to Edmund.
    He’d been discreet all right—a shadow skulking about the garden between night and
     day. Amelia’s eyes widened with alarm. The garden! She swallowed suddenly. Her gaze
     darted to her father. Would the viscount tell her father that he’d found his willful
     daughter sleeping