The ladies went from the drawing room to the lavish dining room first. Milly blanched as she went to her seat. A footman stepped out of the shadows, pulled her chair back, and seated her. She felt like a man doomed to die by hanging, waiting on the scaffold for the quick drop and the final stop. She had to deal with Mr. Hadley. There was something unsettling about being too close to him, the scent of sandalwood and pine that she caught as she stood only a few feet away from him, and the way his lips curved up in a wry smile as she came closer. It made her knees buckle and her pulse pound. Nothing about Mr. Hadley made her feel stable and in control.
Still, it was better that she do it than Rowena. Her younger sister might fall for the dark-haired seducer with his devilish smiles and heart
