Free The Wedding Affair (Rebel Hearts series Book 1) by Heather Boyd Page A

dress uniform, just as he had been all those years ago when she had been swayed by his charm. She had not quite recovered her composure after their altercation in the garden earlier. Arianna had insisted on talking, so they had escaped to the terrace before Lady Ellicott over heard their conversation.
    “Well, I must say your description of his looks fell far short of the mark. It is always the handsome devils that bring a lady’s emotions undone,” Arianna exclaimed as she adjusted her gloves higher up her slender arms. The countess paused a moment and then smiled broadly. “I cannot bear the sight of him of course, but my word, his arrival is perfectly timed.”
    Sally frowned, thinking his arrival could not have come at a worse time. Ellicott had no idea she had been engaged before. No one outside the family and a few trusted servants did. And Arianna, of course. She knew how far Sally had fallen in embarrassing detail. “I do not understand why you would think that.”
    Having Felix at Newberry Park was terribly timed as far as she was concerned. She had moved on; she had accepted Lord Ellicott’s hand in marriage. She would be a bride soon. A wife. A countess.
    It was cruel to be forced to remember, to face again the man you almost married, especially on the cusp of her wedding another.
    “But surely you knew he had been invited. How sly of you to surprise me, though I do wish you had mentioned him earlier.” Arianna rubbed her hands together as she paced. “We would have had time to confer and put together a plan to put him in his place at last. After the pain he put you through, he deserves a thorough setdown.”
    Sally rubbed her arms, chilled by Arianna’s glee at seeing Felix in their midst. She had just given him a perfectly good setdown and felt no better for it. Arianna knew all about his attempt to use her to gain command of his own ship. The fact he had still been promoted despite their broken engagement had caused her to scream and rage to her in the privacy of her parlor when she had learned of it. “I would rather not be reminded of the past.”
    “He shall not get away with hurting you a day longer. He must be made to suffer as you have suffered in silence.” Arianna leaned close and whispered, “If you ask me, your marriage to Lord Ellicott is just the thing to make him regret his entire existence. Having him forced to watch you find happiness with a better man, and an earl besides, ranks as the best choice for revenge, although that should only be our first step.”
    Could she hurt him as he had hurt her? He deserved to be punished for the fool he had made of her, but she truly doubted the past troubled him. With or without her hand in marriage, he had somehow kept his promotion and his ship. He had done very well without her. “Grandfather does not want the marriage to be acknowledged until Ellicott returns in a few days.”
    “Well…” Arianna glanced around swiftly. “Then someone will have to make sure the captain has heard of it before morning comes, don’t you think? That should do to begin with.”
    “No. I will not use my marriage to Ellicott that way,” Sally insisted. “One has nothing to do with the other. It was a long time ago, and I am well over the disappointment. Promise me you will not stir up trouble.”
    She was over the disappointment, but not the longing to change the past. The loss of her innocence, the damage done to her heart and trust, those could never be fully repaired.
    “I promise, and I do understand. I do not like to be reminded of my husband, and we live in the same house a quarter of the year. Oh, if only he would stay away I could pretend I was a widow very happily.” Arianna laughed, then peered at Sally. “So you are over him entirely?”
    “Of course I am. It has been six years since we have met. It was just a shock seeing him today after so much time has passed, but now the surprise has ended,” she said, but truthfully the shock had not