Free Bewitching the Viscount (Regency Romance) (Regency Lords Book 3) by Regina Darcy Page B

fiercely in her eyes. Her softly curved lips looked like they were made to be kissed.
    The young woman looked startled and made to dash off. Hurriedly, Nathaniel rose and stretched out his hand besieging.
    “Wait!” She stopped dead in her tracks. Slowly she turned around and looked at him. Her eyes were bright with curiosity.
    “Surely you would not run away from a man separated from you by a stream?” he asked soothingly. The mischievous lady smiled, and he felt his heart turn. Not again .
    “Only if such a man is not a gentleman ,” she replied.
    “And what makes you think I am not a gentleman?” he asked with a roguish smile. “Although I must admit you are as beautiful as any English rose.”
    The young lady blushed. Then she bit her lower lip and responded, “No gentleman would so brazenly spy on a lady. No sir, you are no gentleman, so I bid you goodbye.”
    Before he could react, the young lady had turned around and dashed through the woodland. There was no way he would be able to catch up to her. Stunned, Nathaniel sat back down, his heart racing.
    He had no wish to follow the young siren. He had been through this before, five years ago. He was NOT going to go through this again. On the morrow he was leaving for London. With gritted teeth and steely determination, the Viscount of Wiltshire rose and went in search of his horse. But despite denying it to himself, he was fighting a losing battle. His heart had already been conquered.
     

CHAPTER 2
     
    Miss Abigail Baxter rushed through the woodland, her heart in her throat. Who was that man? Typical that she should come upon someone when she was trespassing.
    She did not usually pick flowers, not that she had been when the stranger stumbled upon her gallivanting about like a woodland sprite. At the thought, her cheeks burned in shame. When was she going to learn to be more sensible and proper? That said, picking flowers was not something she found particular delight in, no wonder she had taken the opportunity to indulge in a spot of woodland singing.
    Of course, it was hardly of her own volition that she had ventured out into the Baxter’s woodland area in search of wildflowers. She studiously refused to indulge the thought that she could have gone somewhere where she was not trespassing.
    With her father, Sir James Baxter, due home that afternoon, Lady Susan Baxter, his wife, had employed her reluctant eldest daughter’s services in brightening the family home for him.
    “Must I, though?”
    Abigail had voiced her distaste for the idea without hesitation.
    “If you do not, your father will have nothing to brighten up his arrival,” Lady Baxter replied. “Is that what you want, Abigail?”
    “Very well, mother,” she had acquiesced. “I suppose reading can wait a little while longer.”
    “Thank you, dear,” her mother had cried after her, as she left for the field, making a show of dragging her feet.
    In truth, it did not bother her all that much to be out in the fresh air, but she did not need to give her family that impression. They were used to her high-spirited rebellion, however jocular it usually was, and she intended to maintain her reputation.
    She glanced at the basket hanging from her arm and frowned. From her standing, she had gathered enough flowers to plan the Prince Regent’s birthday, but she knew, without question, that her mother would not feel the same. So she plodded along for a while longer until the basket was full to overflowing and only the most ignorant or indecent person would claim she had fulfilled her task half-heartedly. But truth be told, her thoughts were firmly elsewhere.
    She was startled when she noticed the sky had grown dim, clouds gathering and the sun sinking below the horizon. Oh no! I have lost track of time again.
    Picking up her skirts, she started running home.
    Mud from the fields sprayed up and marred her undergarments and clothes, but she paid it little heed. The servants would have her dress spotless