Golden Flames by Kay Hooper

Author:Kay Hooper [Hooper, Kay]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Romance, Regency, General, Historical, Fiction
ISBN: 9780553218992
Publisher: Bantam Books
Published: 1988-03-31T16:00:00+00:00

6

Victoria had never felt so vividly alive, so vibrantly aware of everything around her. The music was delightful, the food superb, the colorful crowd fascinating. Falcon never left her side, and when the dancing began, his stony refusals to give her up to another partner sent many a shaken gentleman sliding away in the hopes of becoming invisible to those dangerous eyes.

And when they discovered Leon and Mary Hamilton in a secluded corner during one of the pauses between dances, Falcon was told roundly by the forthright lady that he was hardly being discreet.

"Do you know we heard a man warn his friend not to get near 'the lady in black' because he was apt to be murdered by her escort? You're about as subtle as a cobra, Falcon!" Unmoved, he said, "I'm not trying to be subtle."

"Yes," Leon murmured, "we rather gathered that."

Victoria could feel herself flushing a little, and looked hastily around the huge room to avoid amused eyes. But she found another pair of eyes in the crowd—eyes fixed intently on her face and holding a peculiar expression she couldn't read. "Who is that man?" she murmured curiously.

Falcon followed her gaze, and his expression hardened; it was easy to see who was staring at Victoria. He waited until those cool, gray eyes met his own, and sent a silent warning. He saw a flicker of a smile that might have been acknowledgment of the warning, and then the other man turned away.

"Falcon?" She was looking at him, puzzled.

He returned his gaze to her and forced taut muscles to relax. "You may have heard of him; he was a blockade-runner during the war. Marcus Tyrone."

"I had to—run an errand for Captain Tyrone, Tory. But the Raven sails soon, and I have to get back." Jesse had said that to her, just before riding away from Regret, and to his death.

Victoria turned her head to swiftly search the crowd, looking for that tall man. "Captain Tyrone," she murmured. Jesse's captain. Jesse's friend. She found that tall figure and committed him to memory.

"He made a fortune," Mary was saying. "He has half a dozen ships now, including that little one he used to run the blockade. What was it called?"

"The Raven," her husband supplied casually.

"That's it. Rumor has it that he has a heart of stone and the morals of a tomcat—"

Mildly, Leon said, "He probably hasn't found the right woman, that's all. And there is such a thing as a reformed rake."

"You should know," his wife said softly with a sidelong glance at her husband.

"I do know," he said promptly. "I found the right woman."

Mary grinned at Victoria. "He's so disarming."

Victoria smiled in return, hoping she didn't look as distracted as she felt. Tyrone. The last link to her childhood, because he had known Jesse. She wanted to meet him, talk to him.

"Falcon, why don't we go have a cigar and leave the ladies to rest their delicate feet?"

Looking at Leon's bland expression, the protest Falcon had been about to make died in his throat.

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