Free His Heart's Delight by Mary Blayney Page B

the bed, and began to
pull pins from her hair. “She was so certain that we would be
invited to the Richlands’ ball.” Joanna smiled at her sister and
sat upright, imitating their mother. “My mother was the daughter of
an earl.”
    Christiana smiled with relief. “That may be,
but apparently Mama has been gone from Town too long. I suppose it
will take time to reestablish herself. At least that was the excuse
she gave me.”
    Joanna’s answering smile disappeared. Her
sister stood up from the bed and took her hands. “I do not trust
him, Christy.”
    “Yes, he likes to gamble, Joanna. But that is
no sin, at least not in a man I have no intention of marrying.
Peter tells me he has a reputation for scrupulous honesty and fair
play. And no one, not one person, has suggested that he is a
womanizer. I do trust him.”
    Joanna let go of her sister’s hands and
stepped back. “But how can you know? You have danced with him once,
chanced upon him at his grandmother’s, and met him at Mr. Philips’s
gallery. And there is another curious thing. What was he doing
there, alone? No one goes to that sort of thing alone.”
    She shrugged away Joanna’s curiosity.
“Perhaps he was there to make a purchase and chanced to see us as
he was leaving?”
    “Sister dearest, you can be so stubborn. Why
do you trust him? Give me one good reason and I will relent.”
    “His grandmother loves him.”
    Joanna flopped back on the bed in an unusual
gesture of exaggerated disgust. “Christy! All grandmothers dote on
their grandchildren, especially the rogues—who know exactly how to
deceive them.”
    “But that’s exactly it. She is not deceived
by him. She hates dishonesty, Jo. She told me so herself. It has
something to do with her marriage to the duke. But no matter what
the reason, she can see right through a lie.”
    “And how do you know that?” Joanna sat up and
began to gather the pins lying on the bedcover and then stopped.
“Did you lie to her?”
    “No, of course not.”
    “So you are willing to spend the entire
Season in company with this one man, whom you barely know, and not
even so much as flirt with another?”
    “But is it not the perfect solution?”
    “Only if you are absolutely certain that
Richard is your heart’s delight.”
    “My heart’s delight? You are reading too many
novels, Joanna! And everyone thinks that I am the romantic in this
family!” Christiana turned toward the window. Did Joanna really
think that the perfect lover existed outside of the pages of the
Minerva Press? “Richard and I have known each other from the
cradle, Jo. The military life he wants will suit me perfectly.” She
crushed the totally unexpected glimmer of uncertainty with
something akin to panic and turned back to Joanna. “Why is it
impossible to accept that I wish to be loyal to Richard, especially
now that he is away and lonely?”
    Joanna avoided an argument, as Christiana
knew she would. “If you think that this plan you have devised with
Lord Morgan will work, then I will support you. I do feel that you
should seek wiser counsel than mine, though.”
    “Lord Morgan did say that the fewer who knew
the better it would be.”
    “Then I must count myself lucky to be one of
the chosen few who know the truth.”
    “Joanna, please, I can not abide it when you
are upset with me.”
    The chill disappeared, replaced with urgent
entreaty. “But, Christy, the whole purpose of this Season is to see
if you have made the right choice, to prove to yourself that your
affections are truly engaged and that Richard is the best choice
for your life’s partner.”
    At least she had avoided using “heart’s
delight” again. “I know that is what Papa and I agreed, but I have
made the right choice. I already know that.”
    Joanna threw up her hands in surrender. “You
are exactly like Mama, you know.”
    It was the ultimate insult. Joanna knew that.
Christiana rubbed her temple, trying to erase both the headache and
the