Free Fencing for Ladies (The Archer Family Regency Romances #5) by Amy Corwin

apologize, I had not expected.…” her voice trailed off as she smoothed the gray folds of her dress. Her cheeks felt warm.
    Why hadn’t she worn something more flattering? Her morning dress was an old gown of her mother’s that Olivia had found in one of her trunks. The fine silk was too good to give to her maid, so Olivia industriously remade it into a more modern gown to wear in the mornings. However, it was far from modish, and the muted color was not particularly flattering. For once, she regretted her thrifty impulse to save an old-fashioned gown most women would have given to their servants.
    She looked up at Lord Milbourn, her breath fluttering.
    Tall and well-built with wide shoulders and long, lean legs, Lord Milbourn’s tanned, saturnine face was as handsome as ever, with the black eyes and olive skin he inherited from his Spanish mother, and a strong, square chin. He looked like a dangerous Spanish lord, striding like a wild storm, whipping through the ivory and gold confines of the drawing room.
    He smiled and waved away her apology as he wandered toward the couch.
    Her beagles’ yapping echoed through the house in response to the sounds of a visitor’s arrival.
    “Oh, no, not again.” Olivia sighed. “This is becoming a dreadful habit.”
    Before she could say more, the beagles rushed into the room, baying with glee and searching for anyone willing to play with them. Bathsheba leapt up on Lord Milbourn, pawing his black trousers and leaving behind streaks of dust and dog hair.
    He chuckled, rubbed her ears, and sat on the couch while Titus and Justinia sniffed at his trousers and tried to push their heads under his hand. Bathsheba immediately took advantage, jumped on the sofa, and laid her head in his lap. She stared up at him with adoring brown eyes as he smoothed her ears.
    “Down, Bathsheba! Oh, don’t allow her to sit on the furniture. She knows she’s not supposed to do that,” Olivia said, trying to keep the other dogs from jumping up onto the opposite couch to join her. “Latimore!”
    Lord Milbourn laughed and shook his head. “At least Bathsheba is pleased to see me.”
    “We are all pleased. Oh, do push her down.” Olivia swept the other dogs out of the room just as the butler arrived, followed closely by the footman. “Latimore, how did they escape again?”
    “I apologize, Lady Olivia.” Latimore grabbed Bathsheba bodily and carried the wriggling dog to the door. He glanced at the footman who was busy fastening leads to the rest of the animals. The butler cleared his throat. “It seems Caesar has learned to open the door to their quarters.”
    The footman flushed and appeared unable to meet Olivia’s gaze as he accepted Bathsheba from Latimore. “Sorry, Lady Olivia,” he mumbled.
    “Well, if he can open the door, I suggest you lock it. And don’t let him have a key,” she said with a bland expression.
    The footman gaped at her before hurriedly dragging the dogs away. Latimore might not think it proper to laugh, but his eyes danced as he bowed his way out of the room.
    “So, mi niña bonita, why have you sent for me?” Lord Milbourn asked.
    My pretty girl . She wished she felt flattered instead of annoyed.
    “I am hardly a child at eight-and-twenty, my lord,” she answered. “And I didn’t send for you.”
    He caught her gaze. One of his dark brows rose.
    She felt her cheeks warm again. “I never meant to send that note. It was a mistake.”
    “A mistake?” He seemed amused at her embarrassment as he leaned back and stretched one long arm along the back of the couch.
    “Yes, a mistake. My sister —” she broke off and wriggled on the gold brocade couch opposite him. “It is unimportant. The point is that I apologize if we have inconvenienced you.”
    “It is of no importance.” He waved away her apology again. “So this academy, how does it fair?”
    “It is very successful,” she said. She glanced at the ornate clock on the mantelpiece and suppressed a