Free Wicked Nights With a Proper Lady by Tiffany Clare Page A

in you.”
    He was coming here?
    Of course he was coming here. How had she not realized that possibility sooner?
    She closed her fan with an audible snap and folded her hands in front of her. No one would guess that she actually pinched her fingers together in frustration. It took every ounce of her good manners to school her features so she didn’t give away her true thoughts on spending an evening with Leo—though she was annoyed with the prospect, she was also intrigued that he’d gone to the trouble of securing an invite to dinner tonight.
    God, she hated society niceties. It was as if everyone waited for her to make one slipup so they could declare her a pariah. How much had Charlotte’s father and grandmother already heard about this afternoon? Should she worry about her reputation?
    She’d have to stay close to her cousin’s side tonight. Castleigh wouldn’t swoop in without Genny readily available to interfere. Nor would that roué Barrington make another pass at her.
    To Lady Carleton, she gave a neat curtsy. “I defer to your superior hosting skills to determine if I am the best dinner partner for either gentleman. In fact I’d be delighted to sit with Lord Barrington so we might renew our acquaintance. It’s been so many years since we’ve mingled at the same functions.”
    That warm, comforting smile was back in place on the hostess’s face.
    “Perfect. Walk with me a while,” Lady Carleton suggested.
    Genny didn’t hesitate to take her arm. They headed toward the verandah, probably so they could have privacy for whatever the countess wished to say.
    A cool breeze settled around them. Millions of twinkling stars above their heads greeted them into the fold of the clear night like a lover’s embrace. The smell of lilacs and late-blooming peonies wafted up from the gardens.
    “I’m not surprised to hear the rumor,” Lady Carleton started. “Lord Barrington has taken a liking to you, my dear Miss Camden. Perhaps something will come of his attentions this time.”
    “I’m afraid your rumor source has exaggerated the facts. I think most members of society forget that Lord Barrington and I have a prior acquaintance.”
    “I, however, do not. To this day I question why he didn’t offer marriage when he seemed smitten with you all those years ago.”
    Genny couldn’t hold back the sound of humor that escaped her in the form of a snort. “We were both so young. And, I admit, we developed a friendship. But a tendre ? Hardly.”
    “Yet that friendship did not hold up over the years. One would wonder what type of bond you shared.”
    The countess could not be suspicious after all these years. She and Leo had been incredibly discreet.
    “We come from much different circles. It is no wonder our friendship could not hold up when I went to live with my great-aunt as a companion,” Genny said.
    “But now you are back in society, making the necessary rounds with your cousin.” Lady Carleton leaned against the balustrade and stared out on her darkened garden. “It might do you well to reacquaint yourself with his lordship.”
    “We will always remain friends, my lady.”
    Very distant friends if she could help it. Lord Barrington was a complication she did not want or need at present.
    *   *   *
    Leo looked around the parlor as the butler took his and Tristan’s hats. His gaze skimmed over the company present, searching for one person in particular.
    He looked forward to spending more time with Miss Camden. This afternoon, he’d come close to asking her and her cousin if he could purchase them an ice and take a stroll through Hyde Park. Not only would the suggestion have been presumptuous, it reeked of actual courtship, which he doubted Miss Camden would appreciate. Honorable was not what he would call his intentions where both ladies were concerned.
    Regardless, he had plans tonight that involved segregating the current lady of his desires from everyone present. He didn’t precisely have a