Seducing the Spy by Celeste Bradley

Author:Celeste Bradley [Bradley, Celeste]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Historical
ISBN: 9780312939670
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Published: 2006-08-02T03:00:00+00:00

Once back at the manor house, Alicia made the barest of courtesies to Wyndham for his escort home and escaped into the very place she'd fled earlier that morning—the ladies' parlor.

As she'd expected, the room was too warm and close with assorted perfumes that stifled the fresh air so recently in her lungs. Alicia engaged another woman in conversation, not caring if she was lady or mistress or serving help, so desperate was she to escape the circling thoughts brought on by her journey home.

"Oh, heavens! What are they doing here?"

Alicia turned at the shocked comment from the woman behind her. Entering the parlor were three ladies who should have been anywhere else but here.

"That's Lady Reardon!" Alicia's neighbor continued. "And Lady Greenleigh—so that must be Lady Dryden!"

Well, at least Lady Dryden was a bit scandalous, unlike the first two unimpeachable social goddesses. Lady Dryden had buried her first husband only weeks before her second marriage—although Alicia thought it was silly to blame her when her elderly Lord Barrowby had been bedridden for years. She must be quite eager to live her life once more.

Apparently, no one else made much of it, for there Lady Dryden stood in the company of two of the highest of the high.

And those two were looking directly at Alicia.

She took a breath, for this had always been a common occurrence. Red hair did make it rather hard to disappear in a crowd. They would soon recall her identity, and then they would look away, intently pretending they had never been the slightest bit interested in a nonpersonage such as she.

Except they were still staring at her. A tremor of alarm went through Alicia. The social opinion of ladies like these could make her purpose here much more difficult, not to mention painful. Would they take after Lady Davenport, who was even now arrowing across the room as if the three newcomers were her nearest and dearest friends? For all Alicia knew, they might be.

Although somehow they didn't look the type. Lady Reardon was a rounded brunette with a bold manner and bright blue eyes that glimmered with mischief. She appeared to be on the short side, but that might be simply in comparison to her companion, Lady Greenleigh, who towered over her two friends in voluptuous grandeur. Her hair was a dark blond that picked up the light from the windows in sleek shine. She surveyed the room with a half-smile already in place, as if she were sure to find something amusing.

Both ladies were lovely in their way, but the scandalous Lady Dryden was beautiful in every way. Alicia found herself dismayingly fascinated by the woman's perfection. Then she saw that a few strands of unruly blond curls had escaped Lady Dryden's severe hairstyle. Knowing that such a woman still had difficulty with her hair made her more human. Alicia found herself smiling at Lady Dryden in a friendly way.

Lady Dryden's gaze caught on hers and Alicia nearly took a step back from the sharp inquiry there.

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.