Twice the Temptation by Suzanne Enoch

over a note reminding her that he would be by at eight o’clock to escort her and her parents to the Howlett ball. The viscountess had suggested that she decline the invitation, but the more Evangeline considered it, the more she welcomed the opportunity to inform Connoll just how little she cared about his opinion.
     
      Of course she didn’t want to marry a servant; a butler couldn’t make her a viscountess or a countess. If it made her mercenary to wish for a husband’s title but not his dictates or stupid opinions, then so be it. Probably the most efficient way to prove just that point would be for her to accept the next proposal either Redmond or Dapney handed her. But that would mean no more of those wondrous Connoll Addison kisses.
     
      She scowled. After the other night, neither of them was likely to be kissing the other again, anyway. Doretta fastened the pearls around her neck, and she stood. “I don’t doubt that he’ll arrive late, regardless of luck,” she said to no one in particular.
     
      “I don’t know why you accepted his offer of escort, anyway,” the viscountess responded, motioning for Doretta to assist her with the diamond. “Lord Redmond has a fine carriage.”
     
      Admitting that she still wasn’t quite certain how it had happened would only earn her a lecture. “I couldn’t have declined his invitation without appearing rude,” she improvised.
     
      “Perhaps he and your father will begin a conversation about horses or cigars or something, and they’ll leave us be. You know Lord Redmond will be attending, and so will Lord Dapney.”
     
      “Lord Dapney had mentioned it,” Evangeline returned.
     
      “Have you decided which of them you prefer? They both have their merits, I have to say.” The viscountess walked to the bedchamber door, pausing with her fingers on the handle. “Dapney will provide you with a longtime escort, and you’ll be able to guide the course of any investments, and social or political alliances. Redmond will most likely tire easily and will leave you to go to whichever soirees you choose and with whomever you choose, and of course you will have a very comfortable life as a wealthy widow.”
     
      Now,that seemed a bit mercenary, making the older man’s death a part of her plan for a comfortable life. “I’m not in a hurry to decide,” she said slowly. “I don’t want to make the wrong choice, after all.”
     
      “Very wise of you, my dear. I’ll see you downstairs.”
     
      “Miss Munroe?” Doretta asked as the viscountess left the room. “If I’m not overstepping, do you think your diamond is cursed?”
     
      “No. Of course not. People only spread those rumors so thieves won’t try to steal their valuables.”
     
      “Then why did you take it off the other night?”
     
      Why had she?She’d kissed Dapney once previously, and the sensation had been completely acceptable, if unexciting. The night of the Shakespearean discussion, though, she might as well have kissed a fish. Wet, amateurish, and awful. Yes, she’d pursued a match with him, but the idea that the diamond might…encourage him, encourage another proposal, had made her queasy. And as soon as she took the thing off, there had been Connoll.
     
      “I took it off,” she finally said, when she realized Doretta was still looking at her, “because I wanted to see what would happen. Nothing did, naturally, and then I forgot that I’d removed it.”
     
      “Well, if you were to ask me, I think itis cursed. Before you had it, you were set on getting Lord Redmond to propose to you. Now, though, it’s not him you’re thinking about. And that willnot please your mama.”
     
      “Now you’re overstepping, Doretta,” Evangeline said sharply, pulling on her white, elbow-length gloves. “Nothing has changed. I very likely will marry Lord Redmond. If before that I choose to indulge in a kiss or two with a very accomplished gentleman, that’s no