Free The Scandalous Adventures of the Sister of the Bride by Victoria Alexander

Grayson can provide the assistance I need.” She waved off his comment.
     “But I do thank you for the offer.” She forced a polite smile. “Samuel.”
    “Sam.” Again that annoying spark of amusement shone in his eye. The man was obviously
     trying to ruin her life.
    “My apologies but I simply cannot call you Sam, ” Delilah said. Let the others call him Sam and be his friend. She had no desire to
     do so. He did not belong here! “And I . . . I once had a dog named Sam.”
    “I don’t remember a dog.” Camille frowned.
    “I daresay there are any number of things about my youth that you don’t remember,”
     Delilah said.
    “Probably.” Camille smiled apologetically.
    It wasn’t at all fair of Delilah to remind Camille how she and Beryl had behaved toward
     their younger sister in the past as Camille was sincerely trying to mend that rift.
     Still, Delilah had spent most of her life with sisters who barely acknowledged her
     existence and this effort of making amends and forging a new relationship was as difficult
     for Delilah as it was for Camille.
    “I am sorry. It’s all water under the bridge now really.” Delilah smiled at her sister
     then turned to Samuel. “But my Sam was a loyal and faithful companion. I adored him
     and he adored me.”
    “Perhaps you simply need to prove to Delilah that you too can be a loyal and faithful
     companion,” Grayson said mildly.
    “I can indeed and even better.” Samuel smirked. “I can’t remember the last time I
     bit anyone and I hardly ever bark.”
    “You should be very proud.” Delilah smiled politely, nodded at the others, and took
     her leave. Good Lord, that wasn’t at all like her. What was she thinking?
    “My apologies for my sister, Sam,” Camille said behind her. “She is not usually so—”
    “Rude?” Grayson said.
    Rude? She cringed. She was never rude. It was his fault. Bloody American. Look at what
     he had done to her and he had only just arrived.
    “I was going to say curt . . .”
    Curt was the best Delilah could manage right now. Certainly, an hour from now or tonight
     or years from today she might be able to come face to face with her adventure without so much as twitching a brow. And indeed, she had wondered what her reaction
     might be should she ever encounter him. But as she had expected to never lay eyes
     on him again, she had not planned on how to handle such a meeting. As it turned out,
     she should have. And wasn’t disaster to be expected when one didn’t have a plan?
    She drew a deep breath and continued toward the library. Writing to her solicitor
     would take her mind off the American, at least for a few minutes. She’d made every
     effort to curb her impatience at the incredibly slow manner in which her legal difficulties
     were being resolved. Why, she scarcely wrote for the latest news more than twice a
     week now.
    “Dee!” Teddy’s voice sounded behind her.
    Delilah turned back. “Yes?”
    “What was that all about?”
    “What do you mean? What was what all about?” she asked as if she hadn’t the faintest
     idea what Teddy was talking about.
    “You know exactly what I mean.” Teddy’s brow furrowed in annoyance. “You were positively
     rude to Mr. Russell—Sam.”
    “Don’t be absurd.” She waved off the charge. “I wasn’t at all rude. I might have been
     a bit, oh . . . sharp.”
    “You were far more than sharp.”
    “Just because you and Camille have taken to this American doesn’t mean I have to.”
     Delilah sighed. “Haven’t you ever met someone you simply took an instant aversion
     to?”
    “Outside of a villain in a melodrama, no. And never when the person in question is
     a guest. That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard you say. In truth, I’ve
     never seen you be less than unfailingly polite to someone you’ve just met.” Teddy
     studied her closely then realization washed across her face. “Good Lord, of course.
     I should have realized it at