Page 29 of Juliet's Touch

Charades? Over Eric’s dead body. “No, thank you.”

“Wait until you meet Emily and Juliet,” the marquess said. “You won’t be able to say no. They are quite persuasive.”

Eric must be hearing things, because it sure as hell sounded like the marquess had just said,Juliet.

“Emily is my wife, and Juliet is her sister,” Alexander said. “Juliet arrived last night, and they have been inseparable ever since.”

Surely, this couldn’t be Eric’s Juliet. There must be hundreds, maybe even thousands, of Juliets in England.

The marquess rubbed his chin. “I don’t want my concerns to leave this room, but I fear something is worrying our dear Juliet. Normally, she is so full of life. A breath of fresh air. Last night she seemed utterly defeated.”

“Marriage whim-whams if you ask me,” Alexander said. “I thank God every day that I’m not a chit. I can’t imagine being engaged to an insufferable arse like Riley. I’d run away too.”

Eric’s heartbeat stuttered then beat like a drum. There couldn’t be that many insufferable Rileys engaged to breath-of-fresh-air Juliets. This had to be his fair-haired obsession.

“I look forward to meeting the ladies,” Eric said. “And a game of charades sounds just the thing.”