Free How to Live Indecently by Bronwyn Scott Page B

she was laughing again, and the smile she tossed him lit her face, proving he hadn’t misjudged her. If he was mad, she was a little mad too.
    “Well, why not?” Jamie pressed, sensing she could be persuaded. She only needed to see the logic of his proposal.
    “My mother and your mother,” she sputtered, groping for a legitimate rebuttal to his outlandish suggestion. “It’s simply not done.”
    “Perhaps it should be,” Jamie countered with a negligent shrug of his shoulder. Neither of us wants to be here.”
    “But the consequences!” she protested, perhaps more for form. “Do I have to spell them out for you? If we’re caught—”
    “We won’t be.” Jamie interrupted with supreme confidence, although they both knew he couldn’t really guarantee it. “Even if we’re caught, the benefits outweigh the consequences. Surely one night of freedom is worth the risk.”
    He’d made his case. It was up to her. “It’s now or never, my angel. Once the music ends, people will wander out.” He held out his hand and it seemed in that moment everything hung in the balance, hinging on her acceptance. Prove to me you’re everything I think you are. Prove to me you’re different , Jamie silently willed.
    For a split second he thought he’d lost her then her chin set in defiance, her shoulders squared and she reached for the champagne glass, downing the contents in a final swallow. “To the benefits,” she said resolutely, placing her hand in his. “Let’s go.”
    Jamie closed his fingers around her gloved hand and tucked it through the crook of his arm. “This way, my lady, our adventure awaits.”
    He’d meant to sedately walk across the garden and remain inconspicuous while they sauntered toward the gate, but the music stopped inside, signaling the end of the first dance. They exchanged a glance of mutual horror. They’d waited too long.
    She might be ready to admit defeat, but he wasn’t, not by a long shot. He wasn’t giving up one last night of freedom because a quadrille had ended. Jamie leaned close to her ear and whispered one word. “Run.”
    He led them through the garden toward the back gate hidden cleverly by ivy. With a last glance back to the empty veranda, Jamie flipped the gate latch and they slipped out into the night. In his mind the madness was starting to make sense; a riot of plans, a tumble of destinations was taking shape.
    “What shall we do first?” His angel was breathless with excitement beside him as they spilled into the alley, shutting the gate firmly behind them.
    Jamie gave her a wink. “It’s not what we’re going to do, it’s what we’re not going to do.” Tonight they would not bow to the dictates of society; tonight, he and his angel could go anywhere, do anything. Tonight, they were free.

Chapter Two
    She’d taken utter and complete leave of her senses!
    Daphne de Courtenay still couldn’t believe she’d actually done it. Well, essentially she could. She’d thought of doing it, of simply walking away, for so long it seemed somewhat natural to have finally followed through.
    Daphne looked down at her hand, still in the stranger’s warm grip. What she couldn’t fathom was that she’d run into the night with a stranger. She’d done “wild” things before; she’d raced the squire’s horse back home in Dorset, she and some other girls had taken a nip of the headmistress’s brandy at school. She’d even sneaked out of school to spend an afternoon at a fair. But never had she done something so audacious as to leave a party with a gentleman she didn’t know.
    Those earlier exploits paled by comparison. They seemed silly even. They’d been the antics of a girl and because she’d been a girl, she’d been able to get away with them. But she was a girl no more. She was twenty-two, a woman full grown. Beyond the fact that her stranger had been by far the finest-looking man in attendance, there were no excuses for her behavior now. She would be expected to