A Proper Lady's Gypsy Lover Read Online Free

the day, the Gypsy called Liberty Wood will be at Smithfield preparing some horses for Mr. Derbyshire to sell at the Bartholomew Fair. On Saturday the fair begins, and Mr. Derbyshire will be there to sell his horses.” He bowed once more, turned on his heel, and disappeared into the crowd.
     
     
    Chapter Four
     

     
    Lucy-Ann barely slept, anxious for the day to come, and preoccupied with thoughts on how to get to Smithfield unescorted. Finally she decided she would tell her aunts that she had arranged to spend the afternoon with a friend she had met at the ball, a fictional Miss Darnsworth, who lived overlooking the large open field called Smithfield. She did not like to lie to them, but her desire to see Liberty again and her fear that if she did not she might lose him forever overcame her reluctance.
    Her aunts were satisfied with her tale and the carriage was ordered. If the old ladies wondered why Lucy-Ann tried on every dress and every bonnet and found every one of them wanting and could not decide for many minutes between her spencer and her cloak, they said nothing. They were only pleased that she had made a friend, although both said they could not remember which young lady was Miss Darnsworth.
    Aunt Emily accompanied her—no proper young lady went anywhere alone. When the carriage arrived at the fictional Miss Darnsworth’s address, Aunt Emily said she would return for her at dusk and ordered the footman to accompany her to her destination. They took the walkway beside the house and then turned on the path that led to the front door. As soon as they were out of sight of the carriage, Lucy-Ann assured the man that she preferred to arrive alone and instructed him to turn about. She put a guinea in his hand and he bowed and turned his back, pausing for a moment before walking, very slowly, back to the carriage.
    Lucy-Ann hurried down the hill and onto the field. She saw several pens holding horses and off to one side, perhaps twenty feet away, an encampment of seven gaily painted gypsy wagons— vardos , the Gypsies called them.
    She was not sure quite where to go, so she began to tramp across the field toward the encampment, passing by Gypsy children who played near the vardos . Soon her dainty white shoes and the hem of her cloak were covered in mud.
    As she approached, she spied Liberty training a horse in one of the pens next to the encampment. She hurried over to the enclosure where she watched him put the horse through its paces. He wore a blue workman’s cap and tight breeches and his shirt was patched and rough. Her heart lurched. She much preferred him thus than as the well-dressed Mr. Derbyshire.
    In fact, she found herself yearning to be in those powerful arms that handled the horse so expertly. A wave of heat coursed through her as she imagined those strong hands on her breasts, those powerful thighs intertwined with her own softer ones.
    When he saw her, he dismounted immediately and ran, smiling, toward her. He leapt over the fence and took her in his arms.
    “I did not expect you to come so early,” he said. Mere seconds later, he kissed her hungrily, demandingly, and she returned the kiss in kind, her heart beating wildly as she swept her hands over his broad shoulders. It had been so long, too long that she had dreamed of this.
    Lucy-Ann thought she could stand here for an eternity with Liberty’s lips on hers, Liberty’s arms around her. Suddenly, he pulled away from her.
    “I must be mad,” he muttered, “to be kissing you here where any might see us—as though you were a common trollop. Come, my darling Lucy-Ann.” He offered her his arm.
    They walked slowly and silently to the encampment. She held tightly to his arm, dazed, every sense tingling. They passed by an array of brightly colored vardos , as well as the group of wide-eyed children who looked at her curiously as they passed. Lucy-Ann paused beside a green vardo . It looked exactly as she remembered.
    Liberty smiled and gave