Misleading Maria: The Zoologist (Scholars of Seduction Book 2) by Emily Royal

Author:Emily Royal [Royal, Emily]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Twinkle Press
Published: 2022-11-14T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 15

For the first time in his life, Charles, Earl of Axford, was nervous.

Actually nervous.

Having lived his entire life with the pick of every woman in the vicinity—even having to fend off admiring females—he found himself suffering from an affliction that he used to mock.

Uncertainty—the fear that the object of his desires did not feel the same degree of attraction as he.

Or worse—that she did not return his attraction at all.

He glanced around the room he’d been ushered into. Whatever Peterton said about the low moral standing of Mrs. Huntington, Charles had to admit that Summerton Hall had been furnished with understated elegance—a far cry from the decadence of Peterton’s current lodgings—not to say Charles’s own town house.

The town house in which he was to spend an afternoon with Miss Roman.

An afternoon alone.

He curled his fingers around the stem of the bloom he carried, and winced as a thorn pricked his flesh. With luck the pain would be worth it—this particular strain of rose was a rarity in England. And, rather than lavish her with a dozen red roses—something of a cliché among suitors—a single, pure white bloom was all the more intimate for being on its own, a treasured possession with plump, soft petals to caress with his fingertips, in readiness for…

The door opened and he scrambled to his feet, painfully aware of the tightness in his breeches.

Miss Roman stood in the doorway, dressed for outdoors, complete with redingote and bonnet. In her arms, she cradled a rotund ball of fluff.

Heavens! Surely he wasn’t going to be expected to put up with a lapdog in his house? He could just picture the look on his housekeeper’s face when the creature deposited one of its puddles—or worse—on the rug in the drawing room.

“Miss Roman, a pleasure.” He held out the rose.

She stepped into the room, moving to one side to reveal Mrs. White standing behind her, then she took the rose, and held it to her lips.

“Thank you,” she said. “Vulcan and I are very much looking forward to our walk today. But would you mind if Adelia accompanied us? As my chaperone?”

Would I mind, indeed!

He’d hoped to have the delectable Miss Roman all to himself, without her entourage.

But as he watched Mrs. White, standing in the doorway with an uncomfortable air, his conscience pricked at him. How many times would she have been excluded from invitations merely because of her looks? Her lively conversation and unassuming air rendered her as charming a creature as her friend—at least, to those who valued more than one’s appearance—and she deserved pleasure as much as any—if not more so.

He bowed toward Mrs. White. “I’d be delighted,” he said, “but I have no wish to see your friend reduced to the role of nursemaid to our little furry friend. It would be my pleasure to escort you both for a turn about the park. That is, if young Master Vulcan can bear to be parted from Miss Roman.”

A smile flickered across Mrs. White’s expression, before it turned into a frown.

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