Royally Ever After (8 page)

Bernard leapt up and yelled, “I didn't do anything!” and ran away.

Oliver saw blood on her hand. He looked about, but Bernard had vanished. He'd picked his moment, as usual, when no adult witnesses were about.

“The bastard,” he said. “The cowardly bastard. At least he could have asked if you were all right. Are you all right?”

She took her hand away, then tested a tooth with her thumb. “Is it broken?” she said. She displayed her teeth. No blood there. It must be Bernard's blood on her hand.

Her teeth were impossibly white and even. Except for the left front incisor.

“Did the one in front always have a chip in it?” he said.

She shook her head.

“It does now,” he said.

She shrugged. “I hope the chip's stuck in his elbow and stays there
forever
,” she said. Then, in a whisper she added, “The bastard.” And giggled.

Perhaps Oliver fell in love with her then.

Perhaps not.

Whether he did or he didn't, after that night he never saw Lady Clara again.

Until.

V
IXEN IN
V
ELVET

T
HE
M
AD
E
ARL
'
S
B
RIDE
(novella)

S
CANDAL
W
EARS
S
ATIN

S
ILK
I
S
F
OR
S
EDUCTION

L
AST
N
IGHT
'
S
S
CANDAL

D
ON
'
T
T
EMPT
M
E

Y
OUR
S
CANDALOUS
W
AYS

N
OT
Q
UITE
A L
ADY

T
HE
L
AST
H
ELLION

L
ORD
OF
S
COUNDRELS

C
APTIVES
OF
THE
N
IGHT

LORETTA CHASE
has worked in academe, retail, and the visual arts, as well as on the streets—as a meter maid—and in video, as a scriptwriter. She might have developed an excitingly checkered career had her spouse not nagged her into writing fiction. Her bestselling historical romances, set in the Regency and Romantic eras of the early nineteenth century, have won a number of awards, including the Romance Writers of America's RITA®. For more about her past, her books, and what she does and doesn't do on social media, please visit her website, www.LorettaChase.com.

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“Lord Lovedon's Duel” was originally published in the e-book anthology
Royal Bridesmaids
, published in July 2012 by Avon Impulse, an Imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.

“The Jilting of Lord Rothwick” was originally published in the e-book anthology
Royal Weddings
, published in April 2011 by Avon Impulse, an Imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.

This is a collection of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Excerpt from
Dukes Prefer Blondes
copyright © 2016 by Loretta Chekani.

LORD LOVEDON
'
S DUEL
. Copyright © 2012 by Loretta Chekani.

THE JILTING OF LORD ROTHWICK
. Copyright © 2011 by Loretta Chekani.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

EPub Edition APRIL 2015 ISBN: 9780062393838

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

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