Free My Lady Scandal by Kate Harper Page A

hands and held them tightly. He hated the fact that she had had such an unsatisfactory upbringing. What kind of clothe headed nincompoops sold their childrens’ childhood so rashly? It seemed to him that Nell and Perry had spent their time on the Continent traipsing back and forth, but never settling anywhere. It was far too soon to ask Nell about the kind of life she had led, he knew that. But one day, he would cajole it out of her and then, somehow, he intended to make it better.
    One day? Really, Carlisle?
    ‘And do you intend to form an eligible alliance?’
    She shrugged, almost sadly. ‘I fear I would not make a good wife. My past has spoiled me for such an institution. I am too… wild.’
    ‘Ah, but wild things can be tamed,’ he assured her softly. ‘Or at the very least, taught to enjoy their captivity.’
    Nell looked up at him, eyes wide, clear as a summer sky. ‘Do you think to tame me, Sir?’
    That mouth, so soft and full it would be a pillow to his own. He longed to taste it, to slip his tongue between those lips and tease it into life. So pink, so perfect… the temptation to kiss her was overwhelming and he felt himself moving to do just that, dropping his head to touch his lips, lightly, to her own.
    It was the brush of a feather, there one moment, gone the next and it was every bit as delicious as he had known it would be. Kissing Nell was like kissing a velvet rose petal, soft and sweet. The urge to really kiss her rose up within, to forget everything and kiss her senseless and for a moment the impulse thrummed through him as an over wound violin string. Only for a moment; Grif knew that Hyde Park only looked deserted. At any moment somebody might hove into view and chances were that that someone would be the biggest gossip in London.
    And then they would be sunk.
    Dropping her hands, he pulled one through his arm once again and turned them back towards the road and sanity. Nell walked with him, but – he was pleased to note – she looked a little shaken. It was reassuring to know that he was not the only one who had been left feeling addled. Who would have thought such a little thing as a kiss could have such an impact?
    It was not until they had reached the footpath again that he spoke. ‘I am sorry. I should not have done that.’
    ‘Then I, too, am sorry,’ she murmured.
    He glanced down at her, dark eyes searching. ‘For what?’
    ‘For wanting you to kiss me.’ He heard her sigh. ‘I fear I am a very scandalous lady.’
    And despite himself, Grif found he had to smile.
     
    Almacks glittered in the light of several hundred candles. While waiting to be presented to the patronesses who were presiding over the evening – in this instance, Lady Jersey and Princess Ezterhazy – Nell looked around her, taking in the most prestigious club in all of London. It was, she supposed, quite impressive. The rooms were certainly spacious, with several large areas cleared away for dancing.
    ‘The supper is not very good, I am afraid,’ Viola confided, looking around, ‘but it does not matter. Almacks is not about the supper.’
    And she was quite right. One could not depend on anything but the approval of the ladies who dispensed the vouchers to enter the August Halls. And as they had been known to turn down entry on the basis of bad dress sense and poor dancing skills, even to those of the most elevated status, their favorable regard was sought by all.
    Miss. Durham had confided that she had no difficulty obtaining the precious vouchers for the evening; apparently, Lady Sefton and Lady Jersey – both patronesses – had spied the Marriotts and had approved. Besides, Lady Jersey did love a sensation and the Marriotts had stirred up much talk with their arrival on the London scene.
    Try as she would, Nell felt as if there were two parts of her operating that evening; the girl who stood with Viola and the other girl, the one who was still back in Hyde Park, being kissed by Viscount Carlisle.
    Such