Free Three Weddings and a Murder by Courtney Milan, Tessa Dare, Carey Baldwin, Leigh LaValle Page B

away, she turned her head to track it.
    Her breath caught. There was a man standing in the garden gate.
    Not just any man.
    Harry.
    Her heart leapt. He was disheveled from travel, as always, dressed in buckskin riding breeches and a blue cutaway coat. His boots showed a thick layer of dust from the road. She hadn’t the faintest idea what had brought him here, all the way from Town. But the sight of his green eyes did more to lift her spirits than a thousand lilies could.
    “Mr. Wright,” she managed. “What a surprise.”
    He bowed. “Miss Eliza.”
    When he approached, she offered her hand and he bent over it. His lips brushed her knuckles in a warm, tender kiss.
    “May I sit with you?” he asked.
    That seemed an imprudent idea. If he sat beside her today, she wasn’t sure how she’d keep from falling straight into his arms.
    “I believe I’d rather walk,” she said, standing. “If you don’t mind.”
    He offered his arm, and Eliza accepted it. When she slid her hand into the crook of his elbow, he flexed his arm and drew her close. In years past, she would have thought it just another example of his impropriety. But today, the warmth and strength of his body were a welcome comfort. He seemed to know she needed support. She leaned into him, grateful.
    His scent was a balm to her discomfited soul—that subtle, manly blend of bergamot and leather. She inhaled deeply, breathing him in.
    Together, they left the walled garden and set out on a path across the park.
    “It’s remarkable to see you here.”
    “I must admit,” he said, “this isn’t how I’d pictured our next meeting. I had visions of you drifting through a ballroom, wearing pink or yellow silk. Bright as a summer blossom, with all the young gentlemen buzzing about you like bees.”
    She smiled. “Only the young gentlemen?”
    Eliza instantly regretted her words. Their house was in mourning, and it wasn’t the time to tease, or joke, or laugh, or smile.
    But he didn’t chide her. He chuckled, in that dry way he had. “Perhaps a few of the ancient ones, too.”
    They shared a brief, meaningful glance. There was so much power in that unspoken connection, she couldn’t bear it for long. She looked away, a coward in the face of her own emotions.
    “It’s a beastly thing,” he said. “This tragedy with Lessing.”
    “It’s unbearable. To think, he’d survived all those battles, only for the ship to sink on his way home…? So cruel.”
    He swore violently, the way men were permitted to do. “When I saw his name listed in the papers, I went straightaway to your family’s house in London. But you’d already left Town.”
    She nodded. “William’s family is here. There’s no body, of course, but they’re placing a monument in their family churchyard. Poor Georgie is beside herself with grief. They’d only been betrothed a few months, but they’d been in love for years. I don’t know how she’ll survive this.”
    “With your help,” he answered. “You’ll be strong for her.”
    Who will be strong for me? she wondered. And then she berated herself for harboring such a childish thought.
    They reached a dense copse of sycamore trees. A little closet of shade in the midst of green parkland, grown up around an unused well. Eliza slowed, wanting to tarry there in the cool, intimate stillness.
    “It’s good of you to come pay your respects,” she said.
    He tipped her chin with a single finger, demanding her close attention. “Now, listen. I know Lessing was a decent fellow, and I’m sorry as hell that your sister must experience this sorrow. But understand this. I didn’t travel all this way from London to pay my respects. I came for you. Only you. Because you’ve suffered a loss, as well.”
    “What loss?”
    “Eliza, you don’t have to pretend with me. You’re missing your long-awaited season. That glittering debut.”
    She bristled and pulled away. “Mr. Wright, I know you’ve held a low opinion of me. But I thought we