Lessons from a Scandalous Bride by Sophie Jordan Page B

back down.” She waved an imperious finger at his chair, again reminding him of their departed mother. “It’s a legitimate question.”
    At her arched eyebrow, he admitted, “Aye, I’ve kissed her and she appeared to like it well enough, but she’s still determined to marry the old man.”
    “Hmm.” Fiona tapped her lips. “If you can’t seduce her body, you’d best turn to her mind.”
    He blinked. “Her mind?”
    Fiona threw her toast in his direction. She always was a horrible aim. “Yes, you oaf. It’s that thing between your ears. Most women happen to possess one, too.”
    “Oh, then just yours was left out at birth?” he returned.
    Fiona continued blithely as if she hadn’t heard the barb. “Discover her interests, her hobbies, her favorite books . . . engage her on a different level.” Fiona’s gaze locked with his, all seriousness. “Persuade her. Convince her that she can’t have anyone else but you. Make the notion of any other man intolerable because no one but you will do. Make her believe no other man will care about her as you do.”
    Leaning back in his chair, he brought his cup of steaming coffee to his lips, inhaling the chicory aroma and considering his sister’s words. He arched a brow at Alexander, silently inviting him to chime in.
    “She’s right.” He smiled fondly at Fiona, plucking her hand off the table and kissing the back of it. “That’s the way it is between us.”
    “Spare me,” Logan muttered, although the sight did twist something inside his gut. He was happy that his sister had found such contentment in her marriage, and he possibly wondered if he could find a measure of the same for himself.
    And yet he was certain that Cleopatra Hadley was not a woman easily persuaded into anything. Especially now that he understood that fear for her family drove her. She’d settled on Thrumgoodie . . . believed him to be her salvation. It would not be easy to sway her from that notion . . . and he was not inclined to inform that he’d put her stepfather on a ship for South Africa. He didn’t want her coming to him out of gratitude. He wanted her to want him.
    A groom arrived with a tray bearing several envelopes upon it. He set the tray down beside Fiona. With a smile, she took the envelopes and began perusing them, as she was accustomed to do during breakfast. In the years since she’d married, his sister seemed to have grown into herself. She actually appeared to enjoy her life here. Living in Town with all its diversions suited her.
    “Ah, appears to be an invitation for you, Logan.” She tossed a letter in his direction. “You’re not a total pariah after all.”
    Alexander chuckled and Fiona flashed him an approving smile.
    With a grunt, Logan tore open the letter and scanned the elegantly worded missive.
    “Well?” Fiona prompted.
    “I’ve been invited to a house party.”
    “My, my, you have made friends. I’ve underestimated you, Logan.”
    “Mr. Hamilton requests the honor of my company . . .”
    “And will you be going?”
    “I think if a certain lady is in attendance . . . and I fully expect she will be . . . then I most certainly will be there.” Immediately he envisioned himself slipping into Cleo’s bedchamber in the dead of night and waking her with a heated kiss.
    “Heaven help her,” Alexander murmured, shaking his head side to side. “If you’re anything like your sister, the chit doesn’t stand a chance.”
    “Anything like me?” Fiona blinked. “Who do you think I learned it from?”
    Logan gazed at the invitation in his hand, their voices fading to the background.
    He didn’t care for Hamilton. Even if he hadn’t been so quick to malign Cleo that first evening at the opera, there was simply something in his eyes that Logan distrusted. And yet if she was there, he’d tolerate the fellow. It was a small thing for him to bear in order to win her. And what better venue than a house party to convince her she should