Free The Best Man's Bridesmaid by Raven McAllan

C HAPTER O NE
    “I can’t do it. I’m sorry, Harry, I just can’t do it.”
    Charlie, Lord Lampson, glanced around. He felt sick and would wager his face showed his discomfort. “I need, I feel… Oh hell, look.” Charlie held out his hands to his friend to show how much they were shaking. To his disgust, Harry roared with laughter, or roared as much as he could without attracting the condemnation of those around them.
    “Your eyes are as large as a youngster scared on his first pony, your face the color of your cravat. For what reason?”
    “It’s not funny,” Charlie said in a plaintive voice. He swallowed his desire to turn tail and run. Could Harry not understand? “If I was female, I’d swoon. Why am I here, Harry? All dressed up in these clothes. Why me?”
    Harry, Duke of Fairmont, contemplated his shaking friend and patted his shoulder. “You are here, my dear Charlie, because as my oldest, dearest friend, I asked you to be. To stand at my side, to support me, and not to lose the ring. Oh, and to dance attendance on the bridesmaid. You’re the best man.”
    Charlie stared at the grinning bridegroom and rolled his eyes, quelling his increasing impulse to throttle him. Surely no court could quibble his reasons? “Hmm, at least at the end of all this you get to be with a beautiful woman. I, however, will not be so lucky. I do not deserve such cavalier treatment.”
    “Cheer up,” Harry said, wickedness uppermost in his voice. “Have you not heard your erstwhile fiancé is out of mourning?”
    “Exactly,” Charlie replied. His face was gloomy. “That’s a good reason not to cheer up. It means I won’t be able to duck the parson’s noose for much longer. For heaven’s sake.” He looked upward; hoping his words were not blasphemous in the Lord’s House, and spoke in a soft voice, knowing he must not be overheard. “I scarce know the girl. She’s my parents’ choice, not mine. They think she’ll settle me down. Curb my wayward spirit or some such thing.” He made a condemning noise within his throat. “What if I can’t—well, you know—with her? I don’t remember her as the sort to get me going, if you know what I mean. I may be a hot-blooded male, but even my cock needs encouragement. And what about Lizzie?” He chose not to mention one other young lady who was filling more than his mind ever since he had helped quieten her in Amanda’s coach on the day his friend met her. If only he knew why she had been there. “I have had to tell her it is over. She was inconsolable.” He paused. “Did you ever find out who was in Amanda’s coach that first night?” he asked suddenly.
    Harry shook his head. “Amanda said it was not relevant to us, and I did not question her. Why?”
    “I wondered, for I once thought I saw her in the park and ended up with a different person.” He shuddered. “And her mama. Not to be repeated in a hurry. Now I have a fiancée to contend with.”
    Harry looked at his friend, and Charlie shut his eyes for a brief moment, not liking the sympathy or query he saw within them. Charlie had no idea just what the day held in store for him but was beginning to suspect it might not be to his liking.
    “What?” he began but subsided as Harry took hold of his arm in a warning gesture.
    “Lizzie will be happy with some jewelry,” Harry told him in an undertone. “As you well know. Bathurst left her well provided for, and with her attributes she’ll soon find a new protect…um, lover to share them with.”
    “That’s just it,” Charlie said in a plaintive tone. “I wanted to be the one to share them. And before you say any more, no, I will not marry and still have or take a lover, which is why I spent an uncomfortable hour with Lizzie the other day. I’m with you on that subject. But Caroline Sessions? All I remember is a quiet mouse, who rarely spoke without prompting. I tell you, I find it hard to remember what she looks like. It’s been the best part of a