To Love a Lord: A Victorian Romance Collection by Crosby Tanya Anne

Author:Crosby, Tanya Anne
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Publisher: Oliver Heber Books
Published: 2020-02-08T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 9

It was all Margaret could do not to trip over her own feet in her attempt to keep up with him. Over the morning, she’d come to realize who he was. Of course, she’d begun to suspect last night, when he’d called her brat while playing that game, and she was now hoping to prompt him into a confession. Only he seemed so intent upon continuing this farce. What, precisely did he want from her?

“Just a bit further,” he urged.

“Where are we going?”

“You will see,’ he said, tormenting her with his elusiveness.

“I must be mad,” Margaret said. It had been years since she’d ventured this far onto their parklands—not since she’d been a child—with Gabriel.

He brought her to the crest of a hill, then laid down the pasteboard he carried in his hand.

“Now sit on it,” he demanded.

Margaret stared at him in disbelief. “I mean to say, I think you must be mad. Why should I wish to sit on that?”

Gabriel winked at her, grinning. “Only humor me,” he suggested. And then persisted, “Sit down, please?”

Margaret frowned. She could scarce refuse him when he looked at her so... so... engagingly...

The sun glinted off his hair, like spun gold, and the scent of wildflowers filled her senses.

“Very well,” she relented, if grudgingly, tiring of this ruse. She sat down on the pasteboard, feeling like a silly goose. “Now what?”

He began to laugh.

Margaret peered up at him in sheer exasperation, her hands going to her hips in outrage. “Did you, perchance, drag me all this way to force me sit on your piece of cardboard, only to snicker at me like some ungracious oaf?”

To her dismay, he continued to cackle, and Margaret decided she’d had enough. She made to rise. “I thought I heard you say you wished to show me something,” she said. “Apparently, I was mistaken.”

“No.” he said, thrusting out a hand, urging her to remain seated. “Ah, but, Maggie. Tis that you look...” He shook his head. “So….” He began to laugh again. “You have no idea what good it does my heart to see you.”

“You mean to say I look a merry-Andrew,” Margaret countered, wholly vexed with his amusement at her expense. “Look at you.” she said, waving a hand at him. “I did not laugh at you, sirrah, when you came to me looking like... that.” She waved a hand in disgust and made again to rise. But, for the first time, she noticed his feet. “You’re not wearing shoes,” she said. “Why aren’t you wearing shoes?”

He knelt down beside her, chortling as he placed a hand to her shoulder to soothe her. “Hold still,” he said, and groped about her, feeling for the pasteboard at her back.

He moved his hand to her sides and Margaret slapped his hand in scandalized horror. “I beg pardon,” she said, pinning his hand under her own and glaring defiantly. “What is it you think you are doing?”

His grin was infectious, but Margaret had no intention of allowing it to disarm her.

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.