The Kissing Game by Kasey Michaels

Author:Kasey Michaels [MICHAELS, KASEY]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780446568463
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Published: 2009-10-31T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eleven

Allegra brushed past the bowing servant holding open the door for her and headed directly for the stairs, lifting her skirts a good three inches above her ankles and taking those stairs two at a time.

Behind her, unknown to her, the appreciative young footman silently thanked his lucky stars for his clear eyesight.

She barely hesitated as she came to the wide first-floor landing, quickly turning to her left and making a dead set for the drawing room. She pushed back the pocket doors and burst into the room, already calling out, “Letty? We have to talk—now!”

But it was only her cousin Elizabeth who rose from her seat on one of the couches, and headed toward her, hands fluttering. “Allegra, dear cousin. I’ve been waiting for you. I have such news!”

Allegra looked around the otherwise empty room. “Not now, Elizabeth. Where’s Letty?”

“Letty? Oh, you mean Ms. Tomlin?” Elizabeth shrugged. “Somewhere in Bond Street, with Aunt Magdalen, I should imagine. Your mama actually asked to be taken to the shops this afternoon. Something about reading something in some book, then deciding that women of her age are obliged to wear turbans into Society. I so hope she doesn’t mean like Mrs. Boothe.”

“Mama? In a turban?” Allegra, momentarily diverted, sniffed in amusement. “She wouldn’t dare. And if she thinks to stick a feather in it, I’ll just have to have Oxie lock her in her rooms until she reconsiders, comes to her senses. Now, when will they be back? When did they leave? Elizabeth? Hello. You aren’t answering me.”

Elizabeth tipped her head to one side, looking at her cousin. “You look… you look different. Flushed. And there’s something about your lips. Oh, dear. Did you get stung by a bee? I did that once, you know, right on my lip, and I had to stay hidden away in my room for two days, until it went down again. Should I send one of the servants out for some dirt? You spit in it, turn it into mud, and then pat it on the puffiness, to help draw out the stinger. I’ll just go now and—”

Allegra raised a hand to her mouth, scrubbed at her lips for a second. “I wasn’t stung. There’s nothing wrong with my lips.”

“No? But there is something, Allegra. You’re almost… dewy.”

“I just ran up the stairs, Elizabeth,” Allegra told her firmly. “I’m sweating.”

“Ladies don’t sweat. They don’t even perspire. They become dewy. Mama told me so,” her cousin said, then shook her head, obviously discarding the subject for the one she preferred. “Mr. Boothe walked me back to the mansion, Allegra.”

“I believe that had been the plan, yes,” Allegra said, going over to the drinks table, just to open the silver bucket and scoop some ice into a glass, add a splash of lemonade from a crystal carafe. Bless Oxie for his single affectation as a wealthy earl, that of always having precious ice at the ready. The man actually had it carted in from the countryside, packed in straw.

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