The Magic of His Touch (May Day Mischief) Read Online Free Page B

How could he,
while distracted by the gentle curve of her bosom in a pretty pink gown? He
smiled at her. “That won’t wash, and well you know it.”
    She gritted her teeth at him. He couldn’t tell whether she was
furious or on the verge of tears. “What do you want ?”
    He almost laughed out loud. If he let himself think about it,
he wanted her naked again—but this time underneath him.
    Which was impossible, since he wasn’t a dastardly lecher like
her so-called lover.
    He should be gentler with her. Softly, he said, “Merely to tell
you that I won’t tattle on you to your father.”
    Her bosom rose and fell. “Oh.” Pause. “Thank you. And thank you
for agreeing to speak to Lord Elderwood.” She made as if to shut the door
again.
    He thrust his boot in the way. “And to suggest that you
reconsider your actions. You may love the fellow you went to meet this morning,
but if he loved you, he wouldn’t run off like a dashed coward when another man
is nearby.”
    A furious blush mounted her cheeks. “You have no idea what
you’re talking about.”
    An answering anger rose inside him. “On the contrary, I know
precisely how dangerously you’re behaving. As I said this morning, you deserve
better. A man who loved you would marry you before expecting you to take your
clothes off.”
    Her bosom heaved. “You know nothing !” She kicked him, but her slippers were no match for his boot.
“Ouch!” she cried, hopping on one foot. “It’s none of your business, but I
wasn’t meeting a lover. Now go away!”
    “Dash it all, you needn’t lie to me,” he said. “I’m trying to
help you.” A door opened down the passage. Hurriedly, he stepped back.
    “It’s that way,” Miss Whistleby said after the briefest of
pauses. She stuck her arm out, pointing. “Take the first left and the second
right, go down one flight of stairs, then left and left again. Whatever you do,
don’t go upstairs instead of down, or you might end up in the Haunted
Bedchamber. If you can’t find your way, ring one of the bells. They’re installed
all over the place for visitors who get lost.”
    * * *
    It was only a footman in the passageway. To lend
credence to the exasperating Miss Whistleby’s ploy and still fulfill his promise
to Lucasta, Alexis pretended he’d changed his mind about going to the drawing
room and needed directions to Lord Elderwood’s bedchamber instead.
    Then, because he couldn’t resist, he asked, “And how would I
get to the Haunted Bedchamber?”
    The footman shook his head. “You don’t want to do that,
sir.”
    “No?”
    “Not even the master will venture there. Only Miss Peony, who’s
done it since she was a child. She gets on fine with the ghosts and bogeys, she
does.” He lowered his voice. “Now and then a young fellow begs the master to let
him spend a night there, but they never last long. A matter of a hundred years
or so ago, a visitor stayed in there all night and went stark raving mad.”
    Alexis had already heard that ridiculous story from Lord
Elderwood, but he pretended to be suitably impressed and proceeded to his
friend’s room.
    “She doesn’t want to set her cap at me? That’s unusual,”
Elderwood said after Alexis explained his errand. “I can’t help but be thankful.
I couldn’t tolerate another young fool flinging herself into my arms, protesting
that she will die without me.” He chose a cravat. “I fancy I saw Miss Whistleby
in London last Season, but she’s not the memorable sort.”
    “She isn’t?” Alexis didn’t think he was likely to forget Peony,
and not only because he’d seen her naked. “I find her quite attractive.” Very attractive, as a matter of fact, even when she
was berating him. Something about her mattered to him. Maybe that was why her
lack of proper judgment distressed him so.
    “There’s nothing precisely wrong with her,” Elderwood said,
“but I’ve always found fair hair to be insipid, and she’s colorless as a ghost.”
He