“Of course not. But Charlie doesn’t need to know that. It will do him good to work for it.”
She choked back a laugh, and he winked at her. Francesca remembered how she had thought him cold and colorless, once upon a time, and shook her head. How utterly, wonderfully wrong she had been. He wasn’t like her; rather, he complemented her in every way. His strengths supported her weaknesses, and—she hoped—her strengths would do the same for him. She certainly hadn’t expected to find love with him, and was constantly being taken off-guard by how strong the feeling was.
Blackbridge approached, clearing his throat politely. He held out a rather battered letter. “A letter, sir, just arrived.”
Edward raised one eyebrow as he took it and read the direction. Francesca saw the word Imperative scrawled on the front. He nodded in dismissal to the butler and broke the seal. For a moment he read in silence, then frowned.
“Good Lord,” he said under his breath.
“What’s wrong?” She laid her hand on his arm in concern.
“My brother Gerard,” he said, still reading. He put his hand over hers, rubbing his thumb over the new ring on her finger. “He’s gone and gotten himself into quite a mess, it seems.”
“Do you have to go to him?” She shifted her weight, leaning lightly against his side.
Edward tensed, then relaxed. He glanced up and caught his brother’s eye. “From Gerard,” he said, holding up the letter.
The duke strolled back to them. “Have we a murderer in the family?”
Edward held it out. “It’s for you.”
Durham eyed it as if the letter were a dead fish. “Surely not.”
“Read it.”
Reluctantly, Durham took it. His bored, languid expression dropped away as he read, until he looked like quite a different person. “What the devil?”
“You should attend to it at once,” Edward replied. “He needs help.”
“Good God.” His brother’s eyes narrowed at him. “He wrote to you!”
“I can’t go. I’m a newly married man.” Edward smiled down at Francesca. “I have a wedding trip to plan.” The duke seemed shocked speechless. “Godspeed, and good luck, Charlie,” Edward told him gravely. Then he took his bride by the hand and led everyone into the dining room for the lavish wedding breakfast.
About the Author
CAROLINE LINDEN earned a math degree from Harvard before turning to fiction. Nine years, eight books, two Red Sox championships, and one dog later, she has never been happier with her decision.
Please visit her online at www.carolinelinden.com
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By Caroline Linden
One Night in London
You Only Love Once
For Your Arms Only
A View to a Kiss
Coming Soon
Blame It on Bath
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
K.I.S.S. and Teal is a trademark of the Ovarian Cancer National Alliance
ONE NIGHT IN LONDON. Copyright © 2011 by P. F. Belsley. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
EPub Edition SEPTEMBER 2011 ISBN: 9780062096418
FIRST EDITION
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