Free Silk and Scandal by Regina Carlysle Page B

due to the slight flirtation she’d indulged in with Darlington. The imp inside her twirled around as the arrogant Duke Weston positively seethed. Good. Let him pursue other, more interested prey. A muscle twitched in his jaw, prompting Eliza to lift her chin and stare straight ahead.
    “Tell me, my lady, why you did not inquire whether or not I plan to attend the musicale?” he said in a low voice.
    “Why should I?
    “Mean little witch. Do you think to make me jealous?”
    “All right then, I shall ask.” Adopting her coolest expression, she met his gaze. “Will you, Your Grace, be attending the musicale at the Smythe home this evening?”
    “Absolutely not,” he drawled. “Musicales bore me to tears.”
    “No? But I thought—”
    “You thought I should pant after you like a favorite hunting hound, did you? Well, my dear, I never pant after a woman, at least, never in public. You are without doubt the most interesting female I’ve met in a very long time but I refuse take your abuse.”
    Eliza’s temper unfurled. “I am finished with this ride and I am finished with you.” Snapping the reins of her mount, she vaulted off Hyde’s Rotten Row and launched herself down one of the parks many side trails. It was a particularly narrow, seldom-used trail, overgrown with tree limbs and vines.
    No one was about but she heard Nicholas call out to her. “Wait! Eliza!”
    “Hah!” she shouted just as a nasty branch seemed to reach out and pluck her from atop her horse. Her back met the ground and every bit of air pushed from her lungs at the impact. Gasping for breath, Eliza opened her eyes to see Nicholas leaning over her, a concerned expression on his face. A buzzing set up in her head and surely she must be slightly insane because it seemed more natural to think of him as Nicholas. She shook her head. “But I’ve just met you.”
    “Damn and blast, woman! Do not speak. Have you injured your brain?”
    She’d spoken ridiculous nonsense out loud.
    Embarrassing.
    She’d run from him and landed on her backside in the dirt.
    At least the handsome cad didn’t seem to find her situation humorous. “Help me to stand. I am quite all right,” she finally breathed, gratified when he put an arm around her. A flash of scarlet caught her eye. “My hat. My pretty little hat. I hope it’s not ruined.”
    “Never mind the hat.”
    “No, no please get my hat.” Eliza hadn’t a notion why she felt like crying. She blinked. Her eyes burned.
    Nicholas put his hands on her arms and peered into her eyes. Obviously he believed the fall had made her crazed. Perhaps it had. “Rest easy, my dear. I will fetch it. Can you stand alone? Just for a moment?”
    “Of course, I can.”
    He lifted a hand. “Stay.”
    “Where would I go?” But he’d already stepped away to retrieve the silly little hat. It was then a loud crack rent the air and she swore she heard the sound of something whiz just past her head.
    Several things happened at once and for a certainty, it was nearly a blur.
    Her horse standing nearby whinnied and reared, hooves slashing as Nicholas Delaford turned to slam her back to the ground. The shouts of men reached her ears but, in truth, she could not think about that. At some point, the Duke lost his hand and his long hair had become unbound, falling like a curtain on either side of his face. He stared into her eyes.
    Such a beautiful man.
    Eliza could do nothing but blink up at him.
    “Are you hurt? Damn it! Answer me, woman, are you injured?”
    “Was that a gunshot?”
    “Yes,” he answered, his mouth set in grim lines. He shifted his hard body and she was instantly relieved of the heavy weight.
    “Precisely who was there target? You or I?”
    “I will learn the truth of it, I promise you. He slowly stroked her hair as if to comfort. “We are quite the pair, are we not?”
    Gentlemen hurried here and there, shouting as they searched for the unseen gunman but she paid them no heed. Closing her eyes