Read Undressed by the Earl for Free Online

started on the Appropriate Men list, he paused. While there were many gentlemen who were responsible and had strong fortunes, none were what Amelia would consider appealing. Even so, he wrote down their names and sealed the note with a bit of wax.
    Her open letter seemed to taunt him, and he folded it up. Who was he trying to fool? He hadn’t been able to even enter his wife’s room within this town house since she’d died so long ago. Presumably the servants had gone inside to clean it.
    He had to stop living like a recluse and face the truth. This had gone on long enough.
    David left the study and climbed the staircase leading to the bedchambers. His wife’s room was beside his, but he’d kept the adjoining door securely locked. This time, he stood in front of her door, in the hallway. The knob was cool beneath his fingers, but it turned easily.
    Inside, the room was shadowed and dark from the closed shutters. David crossed over to the window and opened it, letting the sunlight stream over the dusty furnishings. Katherine hadn’t come to London often, but sometimes he’d cajoled her into a visit.
    Her bed had the same rose coverlet he’d teased her about—a little girl’s covers, not those of a grown woman. The chair closest to the hearth was where she’d spent hours reading. Upon the floor rested a familiar stack of books. He picked up the first title, remembering the way she had loved to curl up with a blanket and read late at night.
    She’d been reading The Life and Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe . A folded piece of paper marked the place where she’d left off. David opened it, and saw the shaky handwriting of Christine. His daughter had written: I LUV MAMA in large block print letters. Below it, she’d drawn a picture of herself with an enormous head and a body that resembled a potato.
    The rush of emotion caught him low in the gut. His daughter had lived the past six years without a mother. She likely had very few memories of Katherine. David fingered the childish drawing and let out a deep breath.
    “What should I do, Katherine?” he murmured. “Christine needs a new mother.”
    The thought of replacing his wife was impossible to consider. He tried to imagine what sensible Katherine would say.
    Think of our daughter, not yourself.
    He set the book down on the stack and folded the drawing to put in his waistcoat pocket. You can do this , he told himself. Just choose a name from the list of women. Pick someone who would be good for Christine.
    His own needs didn’t matter.
    In that light, he returned to the list Amelia had sent. Surely some of them would fit his requirements for a mother for Christine. As for himself, he had a prosperous estate and a title. Wasn’t that enough to win the heart of one of them?
    He walked to the door and glanced back at Katherine’s chair. For a time he studied it, trying to imagine her sitting with a book. But the image of her face was blurred from the years that had passed. It was harder to conjure the memory without a miniature before him.
    “No one will replace you in my life,” he promised her ghost. “I swear it.”

    When Amelia and Margaret arrived at their aunt Charlotte’s town house later that morning, Amelia was troubled by what she’d learned of Lady Sarah. Though Margaret had insisted that Amelia should not worry about their enemy’s sister, she didn’t like the thought of a young woman being blamed for her brother’s actions. Lord Strathland had indeed caused their family nightmares, but Lady Sarah had nothing to do with that.
    The footman took their pelisses, and the butler greeted them. To Amelia, he said, “Miss Andrews, these arrived for you.” He held out two sealed notes and a small posy of lilies.
    “Thank you,” she said, accepting the notes and flowers. The bundle of lilies held a heady aroma, and she opened the first note, feeling a rush of excitement when she saw that the flowers were from Lord Lisford. She was careful to