Unmasked at Midnight (CHRONICLES OF THE WESTBROOK BRIDES #8) by Collette Cameron EPUB & PDF – eBook Details Online
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- Authors: Collette Cameron
- Language: English
- Genre: Historical Romance
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Woodhaven, Cumberland, England
APRIL 1828 ~ MID-MORNING
There she is—the woman I mean to court.
Lord Darius Westbrook took in Eudora Clarke’s loveliness. Her
beauty—silky brunette hair, creamy ivory skin, an oval face, rosebud
pink lips, and a petite but superbly rounded figure—filled him with awe,
even from across the street.
Peeking from beneath a feathered bonnet, her soft doe-like eyes framed
by lush sable lashes, Eudora gave Darius a demure smile. Her mother, Mrs.
Gertrude Clarke, narrowed her sharp gaze on him, her features hardening
into severe lines in her rather mannish face as she said something to her
daughter.
It confounded him how a woman as plain and unremarkable as a sheet
of foolscap and with a figure resembling a lumpy cotton bale could have
produced such a beauty. Only the Good Lord knew the answer to that
mystery. Still, as dour and unapproachable as Mrs. Clarke was, no one
could fault her diligence in chaperoning her only offspring.
Eudora dutifully averted her gaze, but not before her smile widened a
fraction in rebellious flirtation.
To Darius’s utter delight, the delectable Miss Clarke wasn’t quite as
biddable as she appeared and as, no doubt, her formidable mother preferred.
He wasn’t the least deterred by Mrs. Clarke’s disapproval.
A prize easily won was no prize at all. The pursuit, overcoming
obstacles, and emerging victorious made the quest all that much more
worthwhile. Darius would win over Mrs. Clarke and court Eudora.
Of that, he had no doubt.
Enough woolgathering. Back to work.
He studied the sign he’d just hung outside his establishment with a
critical eye before touching one side ever-so-slightly to bring the slat into
perfect balance. His twin, Cassius, had painted the beveled rectangle,
flawlessly capturing the establishment’s welcoming atmosphere.
A musical giggle drew Darius’s attention to the delightful feminine
bundle swathed in lavender and pink across the cobbled village square.
Eudora was the essence of womanliness.
And yet, a question continued to niggle in his mind; would his mother
and sister like her?
An octagon fountain burbled happily in the spring sunshine as a pair of
round-cheeked urchins—amid squeals of delight—floated their sailboats in
the makeshift sea. Men lifted their hats and dipped their chins as Eudora
and her imposing mother meandered along, stopping to peruse the window
displays.
Glowing, Eudora glided from shop to shop.
Mrs. Clarke glowered and lumbered in her daughter’s wake.
Darius waited for the ping of jealousy his rivals’ attention should
warrant, but nothing so unpleasant disturbed the morning’s serenity. Likely
because of his confidence that Eudora returned his regard. Surely she must.
Else, why would she seek his company despite her mother’s censure?
A year ago, the mere thought of courting a woman would’ve sent him
hightailing it to the farthest corners of the earth. But then, a year ago, he’d
still held a commission in His Majesty’s Navy and wasn’t the proud owner
of Westbrook’s Book & Coffee Emporium, his bookstore and coffeehouse.
Excitement and anxiousness
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