The Scandalous Adventures of the Sister of the Bride by Victoria Alexander Page B

if trying to remember. Not that she had forgotten
     for a moment. Samuel Russell had worn the guise of a pirate as naturally as if he
     had just stepped off the deck of a marauding ship. Dashing and dangerous and altogether
     irresistible. Teddy wasn’t the only one who read the occasional romantic novel. She
     shook her head regretfully. “There were so many pirates. It did seem there was a pirate
     lurking in every corner. So appropriate for Americans really.”
    His brow rose. “A compliment, Lady Hargate?”
    “ Delilah, ” Camille said.
    “Yes, of course, you must call me Delilah.” She forced a pleasant note to her voice.
     “I should think only an American would take being a pirate as a compliment. However”—she
     shrugged—“you may take it as you wish.”
    “And only a fool would prefer an insult to a compliment and I am no fool.” The warning
     in his voice was so subtle again she was probably the only one to notice.
    No, he might well be an annoying, deceitful beast of a man but he was definitely no
     fool. She wasn’t sure she could say the same about herself.
    “And so I thank you, Delilah. ”
    There was something about the way he said her name that was at once sensual and irritating.
     And unnerving. She tugged again at her hand.
    “There were a number of Dresden shepherdesses as well,” he added. “And yet I’m fairly
     sure I remember you.”
    “A shepherdess?” Teddy’s eyes widened with disbelief. “Dee?”
    “I can’t imagine anyone not remembering.” Grayson chuckled.
    “It wasn’t the sort of thing I ever imagined my younger sister wearing. Beryl perhaps
     but not Delilah.” Camille leaned toward Teddy and lowered her voice. “I daresay there
     were gentlemen who, upon seeing Delilah as a shepherdess, would have willingly volunteered
     to be sheep.”
    Delilah gasped. “Camille!”
    “The bodice was exceptionally low in cut and the hem scandalously high,” Camille said
     to Teddy. “Why, one could see her ankles.”
    “It was a costume.” Delilah yanked her hand from Mr. Russell’s. It wasn’t bad enough
     that her mistake had appeared from out of nowhere but now her sister had to chastise
     her as well for her choice of costume. This day was not getting any better. “And as
     such, not the least bit inappropriate.”
    “But no less shocking,” Camille added.
    “And entirely out of character.” Teddy studied her friend curiously.
    “Perhaps you have forgotten, but it was a masked ball. Those attending were expected to remain anonymous, for the most part. It was,
     as well, in a country where I knew no one, a country I do not expect to ever see again.
     Besides . . .” She considered the other women for a moment then drew a deep breath.
     “It does seem to me that on occasion in one’s life, one should throw caution to the
     winds and do something completely unexpected.”
    Camille’s eyes widened in surprise. “Well, yes, perhaps. I simply never expected you
     to throw caution anywhere.”
    “But you really don’t know her very well,” Grayson said. Camille turned an annoyed
     eye on him. “Although, you have been giving it a great deal of effort,” he added quickly.
    “She’s right, of course.” Teddy nodded. “It was a costume and perhaps if one has never
     thrown caution to the winds in any manner, starting with something as innocuous as
     a costume is the way to go about it.” She cast Delilah a supportive smile. “A rather
     restrained way really.”
    Camille nodded. “Like dipping no more than one’s toes in the pool of impropriety.”
    “It’s not as if you did something truly scandalous like oh, dancing naked in a fountain,”
     Teddy said.
    A faint hint of discomfort washed across Camille’s face. She or Beryl or perhaps both
     had probably done far worse. There were any number of things about her sisters’ lives
     that Delilah didn’t know and wasn’t sure she wished to.
    Teddy continued. “It was only a costume after all,