Free Lord Buckingham’s Bride by Sandra Heath

that score we’ve succeeded most admirably,’ he said lightly, taking her hand and pulling it over his sleeve again.
    As they proceeded on down, a hum of conversation broke out again. Those who had been present the previous night when Alison had first arrived were astonished, to say the least, to have seen a transformation  such as that which had taken place now.
    Behind his newspaper, Sergei Mikhailovich Golitsin drew a long, thoughtful breath. There hadn’t been any sign of traditional British reserve in that kiss, and if Nikolai was suspicious about the two lovers, he, Sergei, didn’t for a moment believe anything untoward was about to be discovered concerning them.
    His appreciative glance lingered secretly on Alison as she sat down on the chair Francis drew out for her. She was very beautiful indeed and possessed that deceptive air of innocence that a man like Nikolai was bound to find tantalizing. In spite of the kiss that had just taken place in front of everyone, it was still impossible to believe that she had just come from her lover’s bed. She looked so pure and virginal, but with a hidden fire, as if she was just waiting to burn with passion.
    Sergei smiled wryly, for a very sumptuous bed awaited her in the Naryshky Palace, and a very different lover from the handsome Englishman into whose eyes she was now smiling so warmly.

6
    I t was with great relief that shortly afterward Alison and Francis left the Dog and Flute to walk down to the waterfront and the Pavlovsk . The two-masted Russian brigantine was moored close to the palace; indeed, she lay in full view of the rows of symmetrical windows that faced serenely across the harbor. Named after one of the summer residences of the czars, she was a busy vessel that only stayed in port long enough to discharge one cargo and take on the next. She had arrived from St Petersburg with linen goods and she would return again with a hold full of wool, mostly from Britain, and the last of her cargo was cluttering the quayside as Alison and Francis approached. They passed the other vessels moored alongside the quay, an Icelandic whaler, a barque from Dublin, a Finnish ketch, and finally an immense Dutch East Indiaman that was so wide and tall that it almost dwarfed the Pavlovsk .
    Captain Merryvale happened to be paying a call upon his friend, the master of the brigantine, and like the guests at the Dog and Flute, he too observed the astonishing change that appeared to have overtaken Alison. As she stepped on board with Francis, with whom she appeared to have become reprehensibly intimate in a very short space of time, Captain Merryvale was quite dumbfounded. Could this really be the shy, retiring little English rose who had hidden away in her cabin for most of the time on the Duchess of Albemarle? He was conscious of a deep sense of disappointment that he’d apparently been so wrong, for he would have staked his reputation upon her being the sweet young innocent she appeared to be. Evidently appearances were deceptive, for there was nothing shy or retiring about the way she leaned on the arm of her handsome escort. The captain was even more astonished when he learned that Francis was a gentleman of such rank as Lord Buckingham.
    Alison was only too conscious of Captain Merryvale’s disapproval, and she was a little upset. She therefore insisted that Francis be shown to his cabin first, and when she had arranged to see him on deck afterward and he had been led away by the Pavlovsk ’s Russian captain, she turned to Captain Merryvale.
    â€˜Captain, I wish to thank you again for all you’ve done for me. I’m very grateful that you’ve shown such concern.’
    â€˜It was my duty, Miss Clearwell.’
    His tone was short, and she felt the color entering her cheeks. ‘I trust you do not misjudge me, Captain, for there are certain somewhat extenuating circumstances that account for my conduct.’
    â€˜It’s hardly my