The Sweet and Spicy Regency Collection by Dorothy McFalls Page A

prayed she would soon have the free time to be included in whatever mischief they were plotting. Perhaps they were planning to teach Lady Lillian a lesson in humility.
    Curse the sky , May scolded herself. She had no right to wish ill on Lady Lillian. The viscount deserved all that was beautiful and perfect, including Lillian.
    Jealously was an emotion better suited for a lady with the status and social acceptance to compete with such lovely perfection. May had nothing to offer the viscount besides a fouled family name and an empty purse.
    Besides, she didn’t have the time or energy to waste on impossible dreams. Everything in her life was so topsy-turvy at the moment, she doubted she’d have time to read the latest gothic novel, much less try and indulge in a little mischief with her best friend.
    Still, her unruly curiosity was again peaked when Lord Nathan and Iona slyly maneuvered themselves toward the parlor door and chatted privately while May and Aunt Winnie listened politely as Lillian prattled on and on about her plans for Lord Evers’ future.
    “We will naturally live in London most of the year. But we will wish to follow The Prinny to Brighton in the summer, don’t you agree? Bath has its benefits—I have never seen Mamma’s stomach so calm—but the social life can be so tiresome with the lower classes putting on airs just because they have a few shillings to spend. I hear Brighton is not at all the same.”
    Winnie nodded and smiled fondly at the young woman, patting her wrist occasionally. A trembling hand rose to her lips as she stifled a yawn. May guessed her aunt had long stopped listening and was fast growing exhausted.
    “Shall I ring for tea?” May asked when Lillian paused for breath. Sending for tea was the proper thing to do, but that was not why May had suggested it. Lillian would never willingly come visiting here. Iona must have veered them away from their true destination to inquire after May and Aunt Winnie’s health. The fastest way to get them moving again—not that May cared to rush anyone but Lillian away—was to offer to start the process of heating tea.
    Lillian reacted exactly as May had predicted. She leapt up from the chair as if fire had struck her. “Tea? Oh, no. We couldn’t. We really couldn’t. I must apologize, but Lord Nathan is escorting me to call on Lord Evers, you see. All above board, of course, with such a large crowd of us and with Lord Evers’ mother in residence.”
    My, Lillian’s tongue ran unfettered. May nodded, her feigned smile beginning to pain her.
    “Evers has purchased a new horse. A young filly,” Wynter calmly explained on the heels of Lillian’s excuse to leave. “His own prized stallion served as stud. You can understand how he is naturally excited about the horse’s arrival today and is intent on showing off his newest acquisition to Lady Lillian.”
    “Oh, yes.” Lillian’s cheeks glowed. “He is having the filly delivered here, to Bath, instead of to his stables in Northhamptonshire, at a great cost just to view her. We really must be going. I would hate to be late.”
    “You are welcome to join us, Miss Sheffers. Evers does enjoy showing off his ability to pick the finest horseflesh.” Wynter shared a merry look with Iona.
    Despite her suspicions about her best friend’s motives, May’s heart jumped at the temptation to accept. Silly, really, to want to spend time with a man who was destined to wound her heart. She’d be wise to keep her thoughts focused on the rational, the logical.
    That is precisely what Mary Wollstonecraft would have done.
    “Thank you for the kind invitation, but I must refuse.” May took a step toward Aunt Winnie as if searching for support in that quarter. “I am ever so busy, you see. And my aunt is not at all feeling up to snuff. I should worry something terrible if I were to leave her.”
    “But May, you simply must come.” Iona tugged on her arm. “I will be unforgivably sore with you if you