The Perfect Arrangement (The Not So Saintly Sisters #4) - Annabelle Anders Page 0,35

ensure they were alone, and pulled her flush up against him before stealing a most unsettling kiss.

Unsettling only in that it caused her to completely forget her train of thought.

“I will take the brunt of your mother’s anger.” He stared down at her sternly from behind his spectacles, sending unexpected pleasure rushing through her.

Becky appeared from inside the dressing room, and Christian stepped backward and smoothed his hands down his jacket.

“Your wrap, Your Grace.” Becky lowered her gaze and stepped forward to drop the garment around Lilian’s shoulders.

“The coach is waiting out front,” Christian added with a glance at his timepiece before offering his arm to lead her downstairs.

She’d initially thought they would walk, but he suggested it would appear more official if they took one of his carriages to her mother’s house. She wasn’t sure if it would be necessary. Likely, her mother would be angry that she’d eloped, but relieved that she’d finally married.

Her mother hadn’t seemed impressed with the Warwick name, the opposite, really. But she would like Christian. Who could not?

Settling onto the bench, she smoothed one hand along the soft velvet. This carriage was more ornate than the one they’d ridden to Scotland in.

Christian took his seat beside her and grimaced. “Calvin bought it shortly before his death.”

Calvin…

Lilian nodded. The brother who’d died in a duel. They’d talked to no one over the last week. She knew about his friends, Cornelius White, the one who’d penned the advertisement, and the Marquess of Middleton, or Oxley as Christian called him. She knew all sorts of information about his various estates, that his favorite season was autumn and that he preferred savories to sweets. The two subjects he steered clear of had been his family and his illness.

“Were the two of you close?” Perhaps he was right to hold some of himself back. But she wanted to know more of him. Everything she could before…

“More so before he inherited. We were closest in age and I considered him my best friend. Undoubtably, he likely considered me a nuisance most of the time. When he took over the title, I expected he’d become more serious, as our oldest brother did, but Calvin went in the opposite direction.” Christian frowned. “He’d always had a wild side but when he became Warwick, he turned downright reckless. It didn’t really make sense.”

Christian took hold of her hand and turned to stare at her. “I promise you I won’t take unnecessary risks. On my word, I’ll be diligent where my safety is concerned.”

It was an odd thing for him to say. He seemed so very earnest, though, that she couldn’t help but send him a smile.

He was different now that they were back in London. She wondered if she was as well.

His knee began bouncing up and down. Slowly at first, and then more rapidly when the carriage rolled to a stop.

“Are you certain you wish to come in?” She resisted the urge to lay her hand on his leg. Lillian did not wish to put him under any unnecessary strain. “I’m not afraid to tell her alone.”

In answer, he pushed the door open, hopped down, and then lowered the step before the outrider could come around. When he reached to assist her, she could tell he was quite determined by the set of his jaw and the gleam in his eyes. She was coming to know that look.

“She will be taking her breakfast about now,” Her stomach lurched when they stepped toward the front steps. She only hoped her mother accepted him more easily than Bernadette was taking to her.

Before they could sound the knocker, the door was whipped open by her mother’s butler.

“Lady Lillian, Her Grace has been beside herself with worry.” Mr. Williams stared suspiciously at Christian.

“As you can plainly see, she has had nothing to worry about.” Lillian did her best to sound as though nothing out of the ordinary had occurred. “Is she in the morning room?”

“She is.”

Christian had not released Lillian’s arm, and she was thankful for his added support.

“We’ll find her upstairs.” She glanced over her shoulder to meet his eyes.

But his gaze was already directed upward. He dipped his head and spoke softly. “I believe we will not need to look hard.”

“Lillian Prentiss! What is the meaning of this? You disappear for over a week with nothing but a note. Are you mad?” Her mother didn’t come close to looking her age, even so, she raised one hand to her brow and swayed dramatically,