As a young girl she’d attributed her nursemaid’s lamentations to, well, meanness. At eight and ten years of age when Gemma had made her Come Out, however, the finding had been unequivocally handed down by the ton. She was ugly. Or, that is what had been decided and written with regular frequency by Polite Society during her first Season. Now, three Seasons later, the verdict had proven the same. It was all the more bothersome when a young lady was saddled with a name like Gemma, when she was the farthest thing from a Diamond. As the papers had so cleverly, or rather, un-cleverly, pointed out. Gemma wrinkled her nose. In her estimation, ugly was quite harsh. The carriage hit a large bump on the old Roman road leading to Somerset and her copy of Georges Cuvier’s Le Règne Animal tumbled to the floor. Gemma winced and bent to retrieve it. She sat up just as her brother’s black barouche bounced once more. With a sigh Gemma abandoned her reading and put aside the small tome. Blasted carriage ride.
What do You think about Tempted By A Lady’s Smile?