Free The Season by Sarah MacLean

to save at least one of you from another tedious dance partner. Lady Vivian? shall we?" He held out a gloved hand to Vivi.
    Smiling up at him in surprise at his use of her formal title, Vivi took his hand, teasing, "With pleasure, my lord. You will endeavor to keep me from dozing off, won't you?"
    Wil l feigned solemnity. "I will try my hardest, my lady. Should you slumber, it shall be entirely my fault."
    Ella and Alex laughed as the two disappeared into the dance. The girls chatted happily as they took a turn around the room, until they stumbled upon their fathers, deep in conversation with a man whom they had never met.
    The Duke of Worthington noticed the girls weaving toward them and made the introductions. "My daughter, Alexandra, and Lady Eleanor Redburn, Lady Eleanor, may I introduce the Baron Montgrave?"
    Alex followed Ella into a deep curtsy as the Frenchman bowed to them both with a charming, "Enchantée. It is always a treat for an old man to meet such beautiful young ladies."
    Ella spoke first to the charismatic older man as he placed a kiss on her knuckles. "I am honored to meet you, my lord. May I ask how you came to be with us in London this season?"
    "A stroke of very good luck, of course," the baron replied with a twinkle in his warm brown eyes. He continued in the glow of the girls' encouraging smiles, "The London season is as close as I dare get to Paris and its grandeur, my ladies. It has been many years since I have had a chance to enjoy myself at leisure. It is time for me to reemerge into the world I have so long missed."
    Alex and Ella shared a knowing glance. It was clear that the baron was one of the many French nobles who had escaped France years earlier during the Revolution. With Napoleon imprisoned one year earlier on the island of Elba, off the coast of Italy, those escapees who had dispersed throughout England had begun reemerging in London, attempting to rebuild their lives in their new country as part of the ton. The baron, Alex and Ella had silently concluded, was one of these displaced nobles — an important one as well , if Alex's father was publicly chaperoning him into society.
    Ella spoke again. "Certainly, my lord, we are happy that you have joined us ... even more so in light of Bonaparte's recent escape and his deposition of King Louis."
    Alex chimed in, "Absolutely. The knav e may be rall ying support across France, but he must not be all owed to continue to influence the lives of those he has already so terribly impacted."
    Ella added, "Though I'm not certai n that support is what he's rall ying, what with instituting a draft and calling two million Frenchmen to war."
    Alex nodded in agreement. "True. But with Wellington in charge, and so many nations banding together against Bonaparte's army, I feel confident that the rogue will meet his match soon enough." Turning back to the baron, she continued seamlessly, "Suffice to say that you are well met, my lord."
    The frank political speech left the baron unable to conceal his surprise at the girls' impassioned patriotism and impressive knowledge of current events.
    The Duke of Worthington, accustomed to his daughter, her friends, and their intellectual pursuits, interjected, "As you can see, Baron Montgrave, these particular young ladies tend toward an uncommonly more expansive view of the world than one might imagine at first glance." His words were laced with pride, and Alex gave thanks that it was one of their fathers who overheard the conversation — which would have sent either of their mothers into a swoon.
    "A remarkable quality, to be sure," spoke the baron. "More young ladies could take their cues from you both!"
    Alex said under her breath to her friend, "Perhaps the baron would consider providing lessons to the other gentlemen of the ton?"
    The comment, followed by an irrepressible chuckle from Ella , was less private than Alex had intended, and the duke's eyes narrowed at his youngest child. "Alexandra, I feel certain