Free The Scoundrel's Secret Siren by Daphne du Bois Page A

her sister, her mind on the earl. She thought back to the tender way he had examined her wrist, and how intently his eyes had looked into hers. She shivered a little, remembering his nearness.
    *
    If Lorelei had imagined she could go any amount of time without seeing Winbourne, she had been very much mistaken. Suddenly, he was everywhere. For some reason, though he hardly spoke two words to her, his very presence was enough to unsettle her.
    His continued attendance at picnics and dinner parties was enough to set the ton speculating, but no one thought to connect the fashionable roué with the pretty young daughter of Baron Ledley, a girl in possession of a middling fortune at best.
    Occasionally, he would pull out the pendant and twirl it casually in his fingers, the movement full of such easy carelessness as to set her teeth on edge. If anyone recognised it, she was sure to be the talk of the town. She could only imagine what conclusions would be drawn from his possession of so personal a trinket.
    At last, the night of the bal masque at Almack’s was upon them. Lorelei’s hair had been carefully dressed a la Venus, and Lady Hurst was very particular about the ball gown Lorelei was to wear. The fabric was a pale cream. The gown had a sheer over-skirt and was embroidered in an overlapping design of delicate gold thread. The colour brought out the gold in her hair and the sparkle in her eyes.
    “You are sure to catch a prince in such a gown! A dashing foreign prince – perhaps from Germany or Sweden,” Constance said, admiring the fabric while Nell pinned up Lorelei’s golden locks, which had been painstakingly curled for the occasion. Nell was a genius with hair, and the only person who could make certain Lorelei’s stubbornly straight locks retained a curl for the entirety of the night.
    “I think I’d settl e just as well for a baron, if he were interesting,” remarked Lorelei wistfully.
    “To waste such a gown on a baron?” ex claimed the younger sister, brown eyes wide ina dramatic way that Lorelei was sure would lead all young men by the nose during her own first Season.
    “ Papa is a baron.”
    “Papa is different – and Papa is a Major General, which must make him that much more important.”
    “He is certainly very missed by his diplomatic friends. I’ve had so many approach me to ask after him – and after ourselves, of course. Countess Lieven declared London parties to be nothing without his repartee.”
    “ I’ve always thought the countess had a soft spot for Papa.” She paused for a moment, then ventured, “The Earl of Winbourne is very interesting.” Constance was still full of admiration for the man with his tall figure, handsome face and the way Sirius had obeyed him on the spot. She dropped many casual mentions of him, and Lorelei had to struggle to appear nonchalant despite the thrill that shot through her at every mention of his name.
    “Interesting, yes, a nd also very disreputable. Not to mentioned that he is known for the frosty distance from which he regards all of Society. I do not think there is a lady in existence whom he’d consider worthy of his full attention. Oh! I know what you are thinking, Con, but he is not at all like a hero. Not to mention that he has barely said a word to me, beyond polite acknowledgement. And that, I think, is mostly because I am a friend of his niece and sister.”
    The conversation moved on after that, and they talked of a painting Constance was working on, a lovely one of the roses in Lady Hurst’s garden at the back of the house , but Lorelei found that her thoughts strayed back to the handsome earl against her will.
    Lady Hurst had much admired Constance’s work when she had come to them in Ledley Park, and the girls thought it would be fitting to gift her with a painting as a way of thanking her for her hospitality.
    At last, Lorelei donned her mas k, matchingly decorated with gold thread and cream feathers, and they departed for King