Free Three Times the Scandal by Madelynne Ellis Page B

perused the invitations he had lined up along the mantelpiece. There were many more than the Allenthorpes typically received.
    “ You’ll be pleased to know there are no reports of your disappearance in here.’ He folded the newspaper and threw it onto the sideboard. “And, so far no one has beaten a path to my door seeking you either. I think it reasonable to say that you’re safe for the moment, though Darleston and Neddy have gone out information gathering.” He joined her by the fireplace, and picked up the card she was tracing the embossed edging of. “I’ll have to attend some of these. I can’t drop from the scene entirely without raising suspicions.”
    “ Tonight?” she asked.
    “ No, nor tomorrow.” He tossed the pretty invitation onto the smouldering coals in the grate. The card caught, and burst into flickering blue flames. Fortuna watched it curl into ash. Last night seemed fantastical now. Truly, had she watched Neddy and Lucy Darleston tumble before this very fireplace? What had possessed her to describe them in such detail to Lord Darleston? Heat crept into her cheeks again and on the pretence of desiring a breath of cool air, she sauntered towards the sash window that overlooked the street.
    Giles grasped her arm, and drew her towards a chair instead. “Stay away from the window,” he warned. “If you’re seen here, news of it will spread fast, and you’ll likely end up married to someone far worse than Macleane.”
    “ A country cousin? I have none.”
    “ Does anyone? I think they sprout like mushrooms, when required.”
    “ Where are the twins?” Fortuna asked.
    Giles returned to the fireplace and heaped on another shovel full of coal. “They’re information gathering. Seeing if your absence is public knowledge yet. I expect they’ll talk to the countess, to find out if there was any sort of disruption after we left.”
    “ Oh, Mother’s not the sort to cause a scene. I imagine she kept my absence very quiet, asked about discreetly, but she wouldn’t lapse into hysterics.” Although, she’d probably scorched holes in the furnishings once she’d arrived home, and raved at her poor father and all her sisters until dawn. “I’m sorry,” she mumbled to them under her breath. She wondered what they’d told Sir Hector when he’d arrived this morning, and if he’d accepted it with any more grace than he’d managed last night. Though what did it matter? Hopefully her absence would quell his ardour, and persuade him to look elsewhere for a wife. Within a week or two more folks would return to London, and there’d be plenty of fresh country girls to entice him. And she’d be free of him.
    She let her attention stray back to Giles, still crouched by the fireplace. The position pulled his coat tight across his broad back and emphasized the narrowness of his hips. It also gave her a glimpse of his bottom every time he leaned forward and his coat tails parted. The cheeks were rather flat, but high and tight, and she liked the way the seam of his breeches formed a neat ridge between them. Her sister, Mae, was always looking at men, commenting on their calves and hands and bottoms. She tried to be more discreet, and covered her smirk with her clenched fists. Mae would laugh at her now. She had exactly the sort of man she’d been wishing would sweep her off her feet crouched on the floor before her, willing to do whatever she asked, and she was sitting here coyly peeking at him like a spinster aunt.
    “ Do you often sit smirking to yourself?” Giles dropped the three of four twists of newspaper he’d rolled into kindling into the coal bucket and turned to look at her. “Do I have a black mark on my breeches?”
    “ No.” He nose tingled as she stifled the urge to laugh.
    “ Fortuna.” He crawled towards her. His green eyes glittered through the sweep of his messy fringe. “Were you staring at my bottom?”
    “ No!” she spluttered.
    “ You were.” He reached her chair,