Free A Family Affair by Jennifer Wenn Page A

in the thin dress that showed her whole body? I overheard Mother tell one of her friends the lady had dampened her chemise to make the outline of her body more visible.”
    “How outrageous,” Fanny breathed, more impressed than shocked.
    At the end of the walkway, they turned and started back toward the others. Fanny used the time well, telling Penelope all about what had happened the day before.
    Well, not exactly everything.
    She didn’t tell her friend about the Charmaine part of her evening. And she didn’t mention her thoughts about whether Devlin might or might not court her, since she was still a little unsure on that subject.
    Besides, Penelope always became upset whenever Fanny said anything bad about her older sister. And suggesting Charmaine was a liar really wasn’t a good something.
    Instead she dwelled on what Devlin had said and the way he had acted when they danced.
    “I felt like I was five years old again,” Fanny finished with a dreamy smile. “He made me feel at ease, like I was with one of my relatives, or like now when I’m with you. He is very beautiful, painfully so. It almost hurt my eyes just to look upon him.”
    Giggling, they hadn’t noticed the tall man coming their way until he stopped right in front of them.
    They gasped, caught off guard and very nervous about what he might have heard.
    He, of course, didn’t let them ponder.
    “Ladies,” he said with a slight bow. “I hope I don’t hurt your eyes standing in front of you like this, but I would ask if you could grant me the honor of walking the two of you back toward your families.”
    He succeeded with something few men had before him—he made them both blush.
    Before they knew what to say, he took his place between them, put their hands in the crooks of his arms, and got them walking again. At first they were quiet, too embarrassed to know what to say.
    How much had he overheard?
    A deepening blush heated Fanny’s cheeks, which Devlin of course didn’t miss, as she could tell by his soft chuckle.
    “Well you really are, you know,” she finally managed to say, when she found her voice again, and tried not to look at Penelope’s horrified face on the other side of his broad chest.
    “I’m what?” he asked. He was clearly enjoying this too much, as he showed no intention of letting them off the hook. The awful man just couldn’t resist teasing them a bit more.
    “You know,” Fanny said, and made a vague gesture with her hand. “Pretty.”
    That made him stop.
    “Now, I will tell the two of you the first rule regarding men.” He gave them a hard stare. “You can refer to our looks in many different ways. ‘Handsome’ is good. ‘Good-looking’ works well, too. Even ‘nice’ is a splendid choice. However, never, ever , tell a man he is pretty.”
    Penelope apparently found the subject intriguing, because she forgot all about her awkwardness and took a step closer.
    As the true gentleman he was, he took one step closer to Fanny, who suddenly found herself pressed hard against the side of his body. Her eyes met his for a second, and the smoldering heat that washed over her made her knees go weak.
    She didn’t care what he said. He was splendidly pretty, and she was almost scared by the power he possessed to affect her by a mere look.
    Penelope didn’t notice Fanny’s obvious discomfort, as she was busy discussing with Devlin about why a man couldn’t be called pretty. Penelope by habit was very attentive and didn’t miss anything, but this time she did, and Fanny was thankful for it.
    She had no secrets from her friend, and usually she told her everything. But this hurricane of strange feelings was new to her, and she had no idea how to describe them.
    If she couldn’t clarify them even to herself, how would she ever be able to tell Penelope about them?
    They started to walk again, slowly strolling under the large trees gracing the walk. The earlier embarrassment was soon forgotten, and the two young women