Free The Viscount and the Virgin by Annie Burrows Page B

use the name by which they have always known me. I started off as Lieu tenant Monty, then Captain Monty, and so on. In Captain Bredon’s defence, we have not seen each other since I took the title after my older brother died last year.’
    Lady Callandar began to talk to him. About what, Imogen did not know. There was a funny roaring sound in her ears.
    Rick led her to a chair at the front of the box, then helped her off with her cloak, while Viscount Mildenhall per formed the same office for her aunt.
    She felt naked without her cloak. Even more so when the viscount’s eyes swept over the curves of her exposed bosom, reminding her of the way his hands had stroked there, to such devastating effect, only the night before. He looked up, then, and their eyes met.
    Imogen gasped at what she saw in them. He was remembering too!
    He had raised his hand to his jaw, and was fingering his lower lip, drawing her horrified attention to the raised scab, and the purplish bruise she had put there.
    She tore her eyes from his and gazed dizzily downinto the stalls below. She had never been scared of heights before, but now she felt as though she was teetering right on the brink of an abyss.
    All the viscount had to do was give her one little push, and she would go plunging down into social ruin.

Chapter Four
    N othing on the stage could hold Imogen’s attention. There was far too much drama playing out right there in the darkened box.
    After the initial shock of meeting her, the viscount re covered his customary aplomb remarkably swiftly, introducing her to his other guests—the men she now had no hope of marrying—as though nothing was amiss.
    Only she noticed some thing odd in the way he did not give her full name, but instead presented her as ‘The sister of my good friend, Captain Alaric Bredon,’ before correctly introducing her aunt as Lady Callandar.
    He did it to prevent them knowing Rick was related to the scandalous Miss Hebden, no doubt. And she was, reluctantly, grateful to him.
    Though he was still furious with her. She could tell by the way the air between them seemed to positively thrum whenever she glanced his way.
    When the curtain fell for the interval and everyonerose and began to chat to each other, he took the opportunity to draw her aside.
    â€˜You will not say one word to your brother about what has passed between us,’ he bit out. ‘He has introduced you to me, in all good faith, believing you to be the innocent young creature who grew up with him in Stafford shire. He has no idea how much you have changed, and I have no intention of being the man to disabuse him.’
    She felt an over whelming sense of relief that he was going to put aside his desire for vengeance because of his friend ship with Rick.
    â€˜Thank you,’ she breathed. ‘I would not have Rick hurt for the world. Indeed, I would never have come tonight and put him in this situation, had I known that you were Monty.’ She took a good, long look at him then, riddled with confusion. She would never have guessed that Monty could be the same man as Viscount Mildenhall. The Monty Rick had written about had been dashing, courageous and honourable. Whatever could have happened, to turn him into this vain, rude, slimy…
    His eyes narrowed under her scrutiny. She wondered if he could tell what she was thinking about him. But then he nodded and said, ‘I believe you. For my part, I never connected the sister Rick de scribed to me with the Miss Hebden I know. Why is your name Hebden—’ he frowned ‘—and not Bredon?’
    â€˜Because Rick’s father did not care to adopt me and give me his name.’ She stared past him, to where Rick was chatting happily with one of the other young men. Out of the corner of her eye she could see her aunt quizzing the other. ‘Well,’ she added bitterly, ‘I should thinkyou can understand that. You, above all people, know the kind of