Free Miss in a Man's World by Anne Ashley Page B

lengthened between them, Charles couldn’t resist looking across at the Viscount and discovered him with that same inscrutable smile playing about his mouth, while all the time staring fixedly down at the empty hearth. He could contain himself no longer.
    â€˜Confound it, Finch! What game are you playing?’
    Those mobile black brows rose in exaggerated surprise. ‘Why, my dear fellow! What’s amiss? You know full well the game ended in a draw, a mutually satisfying result.’
    â€˜Don’t you try prevarication with me, Finch! We’ve known each other too long,’ Charles countered, refusing to be diverted from the seriousness of the issue. ‘That page of yours is…is a confounded girl! Deny it if you dare!’
    When his lordship made no attempt to do so, and continued to smile in that same infuriating way down at the hearth, Charles began to feel increasingly annoyed. ‘Damn it, man! It’s no laughing matter. What the deuce are you about? If you’re not concerned about the chit’s reputation, then think of your own. You risk being shunned by society, or at the very least made the butt of most every vulgarian’s ill humour.’
    â€˜Neither of which would concern me overmuch,’ his lordship assured him, his expression suddenly serious. ‘But the girl’s reputation is a different matter entirely. And that is why I have decided to remove to Fincham Park at the end of the week. Increasingly I have begun to believe it is my duty to protect her and I see no other way.’
    Charles was at a loss to understand, and it was quite evident in his voice as he said, ‘But why should youwant to, Finch? After all, a filly that would lend herself to such a start must surely be—’ He checked at the dangerous expression that suddenly flickered over the Viscount’s ruggedly masculine features, making them appear far harsher than usual. ‘Well, I suppose you’ve experience enough to be able to judge her character,’ he finally conceded
    â€˜Indeed, I have,’ his lordship agreed softly. ‘Experience enough to be absolutely certain that child is no wanton.’ His features were softened by the warmth of an unexpected smile. ‘Nor, which I find faintly dispiriting, has she attempted to cast out so much as a lure in my direction. She treats me like some—dare I say it?—trustworthy uncle. Hardly flattering, you must agree, to a gentleman of my reputation where the fair sex is concerned!’
    Charles regarded his friend in silence for a moment, before asking the most obvious question. ‘Would you want it any other way?’
    Rising to his feet, his lordship went across the room to replenish their glasses. ‘Well, let us be frank. Dressed appropriately she would make a damnably lovely young woman. But, no, strange though it might seem, I rather enjoy the company of my unconventional page. She’s so refreshingly natural and uncomplicated in so many ways. She tells me precisely what she thinks about most things. And I truly believe, with a few exceptions only, she has not lied to me. For my part, I am enjoying the novelty of it all… But I’m sensible enough to know, for several reasons, this relationship between us cannot possibly continue indefinitely.’
    Charles waited for the Viscount to make himself comfortable in the chair opposite before satisfying hiscuriosity over something. ‘Have you always known her true sex?’
    â€˜I was suspicious from the first,’ he confided, smiling reminiscently. ‘But I swiftly became convinced of the fact when I chanced to pass her on the road that day and conveyed her to London. What she intended to do upon reaching the capital, I have no notion. I truly believe it was I who first put the nonsensical notion of becoming a page into her head.’ He shrugged. ‘I suppose I felt obliged to offer her the protection of my home after such