Free Stolen Kisses by Suzanne Enoch Page A

presence to keep her hidden withhim. She glanced back to give Dansbury a cold parting glance, but he was gone, vanished in the dark as if into thin air.
    The faint smell of brimstone from the fireworks drifted by as she and Nance returned to the Sanfords’ box. Perhaps Jack Faraday was the actual devil. He’d already possessed William, and now he was after her. He would find, though, that she was not so timid and easily cowed as he believed. However charming he thought himself, this was one little game that the Marquis of Dansbury was not going to win.
     
    “Jack, would you please explain to me once more what in God’s name we are doing here?” Ogden Price muttered. He nodded halfheartedly at the shocked-looking cluster of women standing a short distance away from them.
    “We are attending a tea-tasting,” Jack said calmly, putting another biscuit on the small plate he carried. “And do try smiling, before you frighten the poor dears. You’re becoming entirely bracket-faced.”
    “And you’re becoming entirely demented,” Price hissed back. “Why didn’t you convince your sister or Antonia to come along, instead of dragging me into this hell?”
    Jack’s determinedly pleasant smile became more strained for a moment. “Antonia is nocturnal. And my sister’s side of the family doesn’t speak to me, remember? Besides, a little civilization is good for the soul.”
    “You haven’t a soul.” Price sighed. “Otherwise, you never would have done this to me. Pass me a damned biscuit.”
    Across the room, the tittering and whispering females looked like a flock of frightened hens herding away from a fox. To complete Jack’s torture, Lilith Benton had yetto make her appearance. William Benton was going to find himself in considerable trouble if he was wrong about her plans for today. “Honey, or blueberry?”
    “Honey, damn your eyes.”
    “If you please, Price, do watch your tongue.” He took a bite of biscuit, smiled grandly, and addressed one of the women in the corner. “I say, Mrs. Falshond, these are marvelous. You must see that my cook receives the recipe. That spice I taste couldn’t be cinnamon, could it?”
    Mrs. Falshond perked up and ventured a few steps forward. “It is cinnamon, my lord. The secret ingredient of a very old family recipe.”
    Jack nodded and elbowed Price to try a bite. “I do hope you don’t mind sharing it.”
    “Of course not, my lord.” Their hostess preened like a peacock and playfully slapped her hand against his sleeve.
    Evidently she’d decided he was harmless today, and though that was Jack’s aim, her gullibility amazed him. “Splendid.”
    Mrs. Falshond clapped her hands imperiously. “Shall we proceed, ladies?” As she turned back, her smile brightened further. “Mrs. Farlane, Miss Benton. So pleased you could come. I believe you are acquainted with everyone present.”
    The marquis turned to see Lilith Benton wiping surprise from her face as she quickly looked away from him and took her hostess’s hand. “Indeed I am, Mrs. Falshond. Thank you for inviting us.”
    Jack watched Lilith as she glanced once more in his direction, then quickly away. He felt it again—that queer lifting of his heart which seemed to coincide with her presence. He’d felt it for the first time last night—light, airy, and completely absurd—when she’d slammed intohim at the Gardens. He’d canceled his weekly fencing bout to track her down and find out if it would happen again. He was both intrigued and consternated that it had.
    Jack spent the next hour sampling teas from around the world, and charming a roomful of hostile females. Miss Benton remained uncharacteristically silent, but over the course of their several encounters, he had noted that she only seemed to voice her opinion when there was no one of import to overhear her. Evidently she considered him to be of no import—which was acceptable, if it provided him with the opportunity to continue speaking with