How the Marquess Was Won (PG6) by Long Julie Anne

Author:Long, Julie Anne [Long, Julie Anne]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Romance, General, Historical, Fiction
ISBN: 9780062096432
Publisher: Avon
Published: 2011-12-27T08:00:00+00:00

Chapter 16

She’d nearly forgotten how to waltz.

She’d been stiff at first. And then her body recalled that the key to the whole thing was surrendering the lead to someone else. This did not in any way come naturally to her. And there had been a moment when the toe of her slipper had snagged in the hem of her dress, but Waterburn was so large he didn’t seem to notice at all. He’d flexed his big arm, like a man steering a boat might make an unconscious adjustment to an oar, and suddenly she was balanced again.

She felt less like a partner than an accessory, like a reticule.

She decided she didn’t need to make conversation. He was the gentleman. It would be up to him. She would listen to the music and allow the ratafia and the twirling to conspire in making her feel very pleasantly drunk.

“Your . . .” he examined her person, and apparently decided upon “. . . ribbon . . . is very fetching.”

“Are you at a loss for compliments, Lord Waterburn? I mean to say . . . it’s a ribbon.”

She smiled winsomely at him. She’d stood over the table and drank three cups of ratafia in rapid succession, and this, and the likelihood of never seeing Waterburn again after this day, and the marquess and Lisbeth gliding and spinning in almost criminal splendor in her peripheral vision was making her a trifle reckless.

“But no one else here is wearing a ribbon,” he pointed out.

“No, they’re wearing diamonds and pearls. Oh, apart from that bloody great ruby round the throat of that large woman over there. It is a ruby, isn’t it?” She craned her head inelegantly.

His eyes went wide when she said “bloody.” He craned his head, too, suddenly curious. “I should say so. That’s Lady Copshire, after all.”

“Mmm. Of course. Lady Copshire.”

“It suits your eyes. The ribbon.” Perhaps he thought grunters would naturally say things like “bloody” and had come to terms with it.

She gazed up at him so limpidly he seemed startled. “Lord Waterburn?”

“Yes?”

“It strikes me that life is very short, and I fear I cannot bear any more talk of my ribbon. I might in fact do something desperate to stop it.”

He barked a shocked laugh. “You are an original. My apologies, Miss Vale. I fear I became mired in my compliment. My admiration was sincere, if clumsy.”

Well, that was very nearly a pretty speech. She was perilously close to being charmed.

“Why don’t we discuss something else, then? What is it like, being a teacher?”

His eyes glinted, and his voice lowered to a hush, as if he’d asked something taboo.

Oh, for heaven’s sake. She nearly rolled her eyes. “Oh, every day is like a day in Eden. I can imagine nothing more glorious and satisfying than shaping young minds and reforming young characters.”

He considered this somberly. “I believe you are teasing me, Miss Vale.”

“I might be,” she allowed just as somberly. “I just might be. What is it like, being a viscount?”

He seemed surprised.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.