Free Temptation Has Green Eyes by Lynne Connolly

had become reality. She took another one.
    “Welcome to the family,” a soft, feminine voice said.
    When she spun around, Sophia nearly lost her drink. As it was, she had to contain the sloshing by holding it aside. Another black mark for her. She wasn’t usually this gauche but then, she wasn’t usually facing a wedding night with a man she barely knew, fighting impulses she didn’t know what to do with.
    She smiled at the lovely golden-haired woman standing before her and searched her memory for names. “Lady Ripley,” she said eventually. “Thank you.”
    “Connie, please,” the lady said. “I’m a relative by marriage, still getting used to the great Emperors. I’m a countrywoman at heart.”
    Married to the dark handsome man laughing with his cousin across the room. Lord Ripley, heir to the Earl of Leverton. Goodness, all these titles made Sophia’s head spin. As bad as remembering which guild the man her father wanted her to meet belonged to and which coffee houses he frequented to conduct his business. Her problem was she had to commit both those spheres of influence to her memory now.
    “I’ve never lived in the country,” she confessed. “Unusual for an Englishwoman, I know, but not in the City. Most of us reside there all year round. We have a small house in the country, but we rarely go there.” At Connie’s arched brow, she gave a shamefaced laugh. “That is, my father and I. I’m sorry, I’m still trying to get accustomed to my new status.”
    “One step at a time,” Connie said. “Take it slowly, and it will come to you. Remember when people say ‘My lady,’ they’re referring to you. That took some getting used to. I keep turning around to look for Lady Ripley.”
    Sophia was surprised to discover she could smile. Even laugh.
    Connie added, “Of course, I’m only a baroness. Alex’s title is a courtesy one, but you married straight into the aristocracy.” She lowered her voice. “Devereaux tends to intimidate me, although I don’t think he knows he’s doing it. He’s so clever! Please don’t tell him, because he is always so kind. But I have never been comfortable in the presence of people who can add a column of figures three times and get the same answer.”
    Sophia wouldn’t tell her she could do it too, because this was the first person in this room to show her friendship.
    Connie had clear blue eyes, and her lovely complexion was a thing of pellucid beauty. Everything Sophia had prayed for in her blemish-ridden, fluffy-hair days when she was supposed to be serene. Even this morning, she’d discovered a freckle on the upper slopes of her bosom and despaired all over again. Too high to cover with her fichu, which in any case was a gauzy silk affair and not her usual practical linen.
    Connie’s husband glanced across the room, and his attention fixed and held on his wife. Slowly he smiled, and it was a wonderful sight. It demonstrated all his love and devotion with no excuses and no concessions to anyone watching.
    In that instant, Sophia’s ambitions crystallized. She wanted her husband to look at her that way. As if the world revolved around her.
    If only she’d known she wanted that before she married Devereaux! He was never likely to give her that kind of regard. He’d be considerate, in his way, and in time she could hope for an equitable relationship with him, but love? She doubted that. They’d agreed to marry for separate reasons of their own, but love didn’t feature in any of them. Nobody would ever adore her like that.
    Loneliness seized her in a tidal wave of despair. She had to fight to prevent any trace of it appearing on her face.
    After a word to Sophia’s husband, Lord Ripley set off across the room to join his wife. Devereaux accompanied him, and they arrived to claim their ladies, but Devereaux offered his arm for Sophia to lay her hand on and Ripley shamelessly ogled his lovely wife. Her response was to laugh.
    Devereaux regarded them with