No Groom at the Inn: A Dukes Behaving Badly Novella by Megan Frampton Page B

strong forearms, what she wanted to do, and the best way to go about it.
    “N ot that gown, Maria. The gold one.”
    Maria’s hand stilled in the wardrobe and she darted a glance back at Sophronia. “Are you certain? That one seems rather grand for a house party.”
    “It isn’t as though I will have occasion to wear it any other time, Maria,” Sophronia replied in a dry tone of voice. “After this, the most I’ll be dressing up for is maybe a village dance, and then only to keep watch over the young ladies.”
    Maria shook her head. “You never know, my lady. You could be in our cottage and a handsome stranger would stop by, needing something all of a sudden, and there’d you be, and he’d be struck by you, and then you could wear that gown on your wedding day.”
    Wearing a gown bought by the man who had engaged her to act as his pretend betrothed to marry a stranger she had yet to meet, and doubted existed, didn’t sound like the kind of thing she wanted to be doing. Especially since she’d rather be doing all the marrying in the gold gown with the man who had actually purchased the gown in the first place.
    She was a hopeless wreck, she knew that. But at least, at the end of it, she would be on her own, beholden only to herself. Ensuring she and Maria had a reasonable future ahead of them.
    Huzzah.
    But she also had a seduction to accomplish, hence the gold gown. Huzzah!
    I t was worth all of Maria’s shaking her head and concern that she was overdressed to see the expression on his face when she entered the dining room. He had been speaking with Mr. Green, but turned as the door opened, and his mouth dropped open, as well.
    He walked quickly to her, taking her elbow in his hand and guiding her to her seat. “You look lovely, Sophy,” he murmured, and she knew it wasn’t for show, he really meant it, since he’d said it too quietly for anyone else to hear.
    “You do, too,” she replied. He did, of course; he was dressed in his evening clothes, and his hair was as smooth and well-brushed as she’d ever seen, so she was better able to see his face. There was something appealing about how dangerously rakish he looked when his hair was unruly, but there was also something appealing about him when he was well-groomed, the clean lines of his face showing the result of a close shave, his features standing out in their stark beauty.
    In other words, there was something appealing about him no matter what he did to himself. She should just admit that and stop fussing about it.
    D inner was enjoyable, even though Sophronia spent far too much time darting glances at him rather than what was on her plate, so she didn’t notice what she’d actually eaten.
    Hopefully this was not the time Mrs. Green decided to poison her.
    “We will be decorating the trees after dinner, and then we will play some games. The townsfolk will come tomorrow afternoon to partake of holiday refreshments and we must present them with the best Christmas trees they have ever seen.” Mrs. Green’s normally disapproving expression was practically beatific. “As happens every year.”
    Jamie leaned over to whisper in her ear. They were seated in the large room the trees had all been brought to, theirs occupying the place of honor right in front of the fireplace. “If it happens every year, then how can they be the best they’ve ever seen?”
    Sophronia stifled a giggle. “Perhaps you should be the one to bring up that incongruity to her. I don’t think she thinks very well of me, given our circumstances.”
    “For which I am devoutly grateful,” Jamie replied, a sincere look in his eye.
    The servants, under Mrs. Green’s watchful eye—and commanding voice—dragged in all the decorations deemed essential for the trees: candles, ribbons, apples, colored paper, dolls, sweetmeats, and walnuts. At first it seemed as if there were far too many things to fit on the trees, but since their tree was so enormous, it was just