Read Online A Dangerous Liaison With Detective Lewis by Jillian Stone - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Jillian Stone
Ads: Link
us out.”
“And the rugby team was never the same.” Rafe pulled her inside and nodded to the gentleman who assisted them. “First-rate service on behalf of queen and country.”
He steered her down the corridor until they found an empty compartment. He took a seat and settled in unbearablyclose beside her. He grinned. “How did Mother discover us?”
She inched away. “I wrenched an ankle. You had to carry me all the way back to Dunrobin Hall.”
“That’s right.” His eyes, once filled with adventure, glittered with desire. “It was you who let the cat out of the bag.” Sweeping his gaze over every facial feature, he stopped quite obviously on her mouth. It was the kind of look she imagined a husband might dare in the privacy of the bedchamber. A blazing heat reached her cheeks and she sidled farther away.
“Only after she wheedled it out of me.” She patted down her skirts and angled her bustle to one side. “Where are you taking me?”
“Haven’t a clue. Where would you care to go, Fanny?” Those teasing eyes had always had a certain way of mocking the world, one that invited others to share the sarcasm, the joke.
She glared. “Why don’t you push on to Timbuktu, while I return home?” Nervously, she chewed on her lip.
“Don’t do that.”
“Do what?”
“That nibbling business.” He pointed to her mouth. “Involving your teeth and bottom lip. Most distracting. I can barely keep my wits about me when you—”
“What a hound you are.” Her eyes rolled upward. “But then, I suppose you’ve always been a scoundrel, haven’t you, Rafe?”
He stared as if struck dumb by her words, but made a notably quick recovery. He returned a rueful smile andswept a hand through his hair. A nervous gesture that hadn’t changed a whit since childhood. Her stomach twitched a bit.
“How is it, Fanny, you never married? No doubt the first year or so after—” He scratched his head.
“I’m afraid the whispers went on well after you’d taken the knock.” She tilted her chin. “You did the gentlemanly thing, Rafe. I cried off the engagement, but the announcement shocked all of Edinburgh society. We were so expected, you see. Childhood sweethearts and all.” As her voice trailed off, she caught herself. “Do not trivialize the public shame and dishonor you bestowed on me.”
“Surely after Edmond Stewart’s wife caught him with the telegraph boy, the scandal must have shifted off us—” He corrected himself. “Off you. There must have been a swarm of suitors.”
She sighed. “There were none.”
“With your father’s fortune and your beauty?” Rafe narrowed those golden green eyes. “I don’t believe it.”
Fanny straightened up. “I do not require a husband. I have found my avocation as an industrialist and suffragist.”
“Good God.” His words were drowned out by a teeth-rattling crash and thud from above. Rafe poked his head out the compartment window. “Christ, those crazy blokes are jumping aboard from a footbridge.”
“How impossible—how on earth could they?”
He placed a finger over his lips and exited the compartment. “A fast carriage could easily overcome us intown.” He motioned her to follow. A short creep down the aisle landed them just shy of the rear door. He glanced back at her. “You aren’t one of those Franchise League, placard-carrying, grim old maids—” Rafe squinted ahead before glancing back again. “Are you?”
Fanny leaned forward, close enough for a harsh whisper. “If a young lady chooses not to marry, people go to gossiping behind her back—‘four and twenty, poor girl’—it’s revolting. Cruel.”
The door ahead jerked open to reveal one of the dark-suited men who had chased them through Edinburgh. She stared open-mouthed as Rafe’s fist smashed into the gaunt man’s jaw. A right smarting sock that nearly caused her eyes to water. He shoved the man back out the door of the carriage.
She poked her head through the
“And the rugby team was never the same.” Rafe pulled her inside and nodded to the gentleman who assisted them. “First-rate service on behalf of queen and country.”
He steered her down the corridor until they found an empty compartment. He took a seat and settled in unbearablyclose beside her. He grinned. “How did Mother discover us?”
She inched away. “I wrenched an ankle. You had to carry me all the way back to Dunrobin Hall.”
“That’s right.” His eyes, once filled with adventure, glittered with desire. “It was you who let the cat out of the bag.” Sweeping his gaze over every facial feature, he stopped quite obviously on her mouth. It was the kind of look she imagined a husband might dare in the privacy of the bedchamber. A blazing heat reached her cheeks and she sidled farther away.
“Only after she wheedled it out of me.” She patted down her skirts and angled her bustle to one side. “Where are you taking me?”
“Haven’t a clue. Where would you care to go, Fanny?” Those teasing eyes had always had a certain way of mocking the world, one that invited others to share the sarcasm, the joke.
She glared. “Why don’t you push on to Timbuktu, while I return home?” Nervously, she chewed on her lip.
“Don’t do that.”
“Do what?”
“That nibbling business.” He pointed to her mouth. “Involving your teeth and bottom lip. Most distracting. I can barely keep my wits about me when you—”
“What a hound you are.” Her eyes rolled upward. “But then, I suppose you’ve always been a scoundrel, haven’t you, Rafe?”
He stared as if struck dumb by her words, but made a notably quick recovery. He returned a rueful smile andswept a hand through his hair. A nervous gesture that hadn’t changed a whit since childhood. Her stomach twitched a bit.
“How is it, Fanny, you never married? No doubt the first year or so after—” He scratched his head.
“I’m afraid the whispers went on well after you’d taken the knock.” She tilted her chin. “You did the gentlemanly thing, Rafe. I cried off the engagement, but the announcement shocked all of Edinburgh society. We were so expected, you see. Childhood sweethearts and all.” As her voice trailed off, she caught herself. “Do not trivialize the public shame and dishonor you bestowed on me.”
“Surely after Edmond Stewart’s wife caught him with the telegraph boy, the scandal must have shifted off us—” He corrected himself. “Off you. There must have been a swarm of suitors.”
She sighed. “There were none.”
“With your father’s fortune and your beauty?” Rafe narrowed those golden green eyes. “I don’t believe it.”
Fanny straightened up. “I do not require a husband. I have found my avocation as an industrialist and suffragist.”
“Good God.” His words were drowned out by a teeth-rattling crash and thud from above. Rafe poked his head out the compartment window. “Christ, those crazy blokes are jumping aboard from a footbridge.”
“How impossible—how on earth could they?”
He placed a finger over his lips and exited the compartment. “A fast carriage could easily overcome us intown.” He motioned her to follow. A short creep down the aisle landed them just shy of the rear door. He glanced back at her. “You aren’t one of those Franchise League, placard-carrying, grim old maids—” Rafe squinted ahead before glancing back again. “Are you?”
Fanny leaned forward, close enough for a harsh whisper. “If a young lady chooses not to marry, people go to gossiping behind her back—‘four and twenty, poor girl’—it’s revolting. Cruel.”
The door ahead jerked open to reveal one of the dark-suited men who had chased them through Edinburgh. She stared open-mouthed as Rafe’s fist smashed into the gaunt man’s jaw. A right smarting sock that nearly caused her eyes to water. He shoved the man back out the door of the carriage.
She poked her head through the
Similar Books
