Free Heart of the Diamond by Carrie Brock Page A

was her knight in shining armor, no matter what Mina believed.
    Nicki dropped the white nightrail over her head, then fastened the many tiny buttons up the front. She would go along with this marriage for now. Tomorrow, she and Shelby would suffer the earl's company on their fishing trip.
    After dousing the lamp at the bedside table, Nicki swiped the leaves from the sheets and climbed into bed. For a long while, she stared into the darkness.
    She would not give up on Teddy. She could not. To do so would break her heart.

Chapter 4
    . . .
    The earl came through the front entrance just as Nicki and Shelby reached the foot of the staircase. When he saw her, he paused. His cloaked figure filled the doorway, blocking the view of the winter morning outside. Nicki's eyes met his and she flushed.
    Simms held the door. Upon seeing Nicki, he closed the door and bowed stiffly. “Will you be needing anything, Lady Nicki?”
    She looked away from Blake's serious countenance to the butler. “No, thank you, Simms. We shall leave straight away.”
    “Very good, Miss.” Simms bowed first in the earl's direction, then Nicki's, and swept past.
    Though she forced a brightness into her voice, Nicki would rather have followed the butler. “My lord, may I present my brother, Jonathon Shelby Langley. Shelby, this is Blake Dylan, the Earl of Diamond.”
    The earl stepped into the foyer and held out his hand. Shelby stiffened, but before he could plan his next move, Nicki gave him a gentle shove from behind.
    “Master Shelby, you may address me as Blake. I understand you are an angler. When I was a boy it was my favorite pastime.”
    Shelby took the earl's hand and gave a firm shake. He glanced back at Nicki, a slow smile crept over his impish face and excitement dawned in his shining eyes. “Papa isn't a fisherman, but Nick goes with me often,” Shelby told Lord Diamond. “She doesn't watch her pole all that well, though, cause she's always got her nose stuck in one of those books. Mother says Nick's eyesight is going to get so poor she'll do nothing but squint, and gentlemen don't like a girl with—”
    “Shelby!” Nicki quickly intervened before her brother divulged every private detail of her life. “You should refrain from talking the earl's ear off before we have left the house. He is apt to cry off on our expedition.”
    “It takes a great deal to cause me to back down from an . . . appointment.” Blake's silver gaze fastened on Nicki with captivating intensity. “Once I have dedicated myself to a project, I feel it necessary to follow it through to the end.”
    “Some might consider such tenacity a form of obstinance, my lord.” She swallowed, but her mouth became instantly dry.
    A slight smile curved his lips and the faint lines at the corners of his eyes deepened. “I prefer to call it perseverance.”
    Shelby stared from Nicki to Blake. “Can we go now?”
    Heat flooded Nicki's cheeks. “Of course. Em packed a picnic lunch for us. Perhaps you would carry the basket, my lord—unless you would prefer a footman to accompany us.”
    “I will not hear of it. That is a fine pole you have there, Shelby. One of the first lessons I learned as a boy was . . . ”
    Nicki watched with mild interest as the earl grasped the line of Shelby's fishing pole and followed the thin thread with his fingers. As Shelby strained to better see Blake's progress, he lifted the end of his pole and immediately the hem of Nicki's skirt jerked up to an alarming degree. She squeaked in distress and batted at the layers of soft velvet and muslin to keep them from traveling any higher. With swift efficiency, the earl extricated the hook and the hem of her maroon riding habit dropped to a decent level.
    As Blake deftly fastened the wayward hook to the handle of Shelby's pole, his mouth twitched at one corner. “These little devils have a mind of their own. It is best to fasten them to the base—like so.”
    “An additional precaution might be to leave