A Deal with Lord Devlin Read Online Free Page A

think her life could possibly get any worse.
    “James, what are you doing on my Oriental rug!”
    Andrew wasn’t alone.
    Close to fainting, Charlotte very slowly peeked around James to confirm her worst fears. Andrew just happened to be in the company of his aunt, the Dowager Countess of Devlin.
    “There was an accident, Mother,” James spoke very slowly, and Charlotte belatedly realized he was giving her time to fix herself. She blinked back tears of humiliation as she pulled up the front of her gown. What had she been thinking to let James kiss her like that? And in the Oriental drawing room, no less! She had come here tonight to regain her place in society, not destroy it completely.
    “Lady Mallen’s dress caught fire. Have you any idea how dangerous silk is near a flame? I’ll wager there are hundreds of such accidents every year, even thousands. All could be prevented by a little more caution near the fireplace, of course. I recall telling you, Mother, that you should always keep your distance from the fire, most especially when wearing a gown with fringes at the bottom. I say, Lady Mallen should count herself lucky to have escaped injury.”
    Charlotte pinched the back of James’s leg to let him know he could stop talking. His longwinded speech had done the trick, though. Lady Devlin and Andrew looked terribly confused, and Charlotte felt herself much less like a rumpled harlot. Her gown was back in place, her legs fully covered, and she’d even managed to shove the ostrich feathers back into her hair… Oh, God, the buttons. She couldn’t reach the buttons on the back of her gown!
    “A likely story,” Andrew leered. “Unless one puts out a fire with his— Wait a moment. Did you say Lady Mallen?”
    Charlotte pinched James again, harder this time, to convey her panic.
    “Do you mean Charlotte? Is that my Charlotte lying behind you on the carpet?”
    “It’s a priceless Oriental rug.” Lady Devlin looked like a kettle about to boil over. “Stand up, girl. Stop hiding behind my son.”
    “Madam, I am not hiding behind anyone.” Determined to defend herself, Charlotte stood, stumbling as she did so. James’s firm grip on her elbow saved her from further disgrace.
    “As you can see,” James said, grabbing his coat from the floor, a steady hand still holding Charlotte up, “the bottom of Lady Mallen’s gown is quite burnt. Lucy has gone off to find a maid to attend to her.” James placed the puce-colored coat around Charlotte’s shoulders, brilliantly masking the back of her gown. “I believe Lady Mallen is quite faint from the shock of it all.”
    That part was certainly true. Charlotte swore that if she made it out of this mess she would never say another bad word about puce-colored tailcoats.
    “A pity about your accident, Lady Mallen.” Lady Devlin’s voice was so polite it could cut ice. “I fear you have no choice but to end your evening early.”
    She couldn’t have agreed more.
    “Yes, yes, I should go,” Charlotte said, snatching her discarded items off the floor. She stuffed the remaining letters into her reticule, hoping Andrew didn’t recognize them. Coming here was the worst idea of her life. Who needed London society? In a few years she would be considered a spinster and then could spend the rest of her days playing whist with Grandmama.
    She was halfway to the door when James called her name.
    “I’m sure Lucy can find someone to fix your gown,” he said, ignoring his mother’s venomous glare. “Besides, Lady Mallen, you cannot leave just yet. You still owe me something.”
    Would the man never give up? Charlotte held her reticule against her chest.
    “And what is that, Lord Devlin?”
    “You promised me a dance.”
    She had done no such thing. Charlotte opened her mouth, fully prepared to utter a very firm refusal—and then she spotted the smirk on Andrew’s face.
    “You might want to reconsider that, Cousin.” Andrew popped open a ruby-encrusted snuffbox with