Read Online A Little Mischief by Amelia Grey - Free Book Online Page B

also trouble. Daniel had enough to manage right now without getting interested in a lovely menace.
    Maybe he should put off finding a wife for himself and concentrate on finding a husband for Gretchen. Yes, that seemed to be the more sensible thing to do. Once he had her safely betrothed to an acceptable gentleman, he could then turn his attention back to finding a young lady to marry.
    Too, it was Gretchen’s first Season and he’d wanted to see her properly engaged before everyone started heading to their country homes to avoid the summer heat. He would have to do what his aunt Mattie had failed to do. He was going to see to it that Gretchen took calls from only the right gentlemen.
    But at the back of Daniel’s mind was the thought of what would happen to the Colebrooke lands if he should meet with an unfortunate accident as his brother, who died before having an heir. Daniel couldn’t bear the thought of the estate going to his cousin Bradford Turnbury.
    Daniel had no doubt Bradford would gamble away the family fortune and all the lands that weren’t entailed before a year was up. If Bradford’s father hadn’t left him a sizable yearly allowance, Daniel was sure the man would be in debtor’s prison by now.
    Daniel’s attention strayed back to Miss Winslowe. She was talking to their host, Earl Gleningwold. She stood taller than the short and rotund man, but by the smile on the older man’s face she had enthralled him with her charm.
    Her smile was bright. Not once had he seen her use her fan or flutter her lashes. She was much too poised to rely on such feminine devices to gain or hold a man’s attention.
    It was no wonder she had a dozen young ladies in her Wallflower Club. He could see how she put everyone she talked to at ease. As he watched her, Daniel was struck by the realization that he was attracted to her the way a man was attracted to a woman he wanted in his bed.
    Why was that? When the room was full of beautiful young ladies, why was his body telling him Miss Winslowe was the one he wanted?
    “Have you met her?”
    Daniel turned to see Chilton Cummerford standing beside him. “Who?”
    “Don’t feign innocence with me, Danny. It won’t work. You haven’t been able to take your eyes off her since you arrived.”
    “You lie.”
    Chilton gave him a devious smile. “Not by much.”
    “By enough.”
    It was one thing for Daniel to admit his attraction to Miss Winslowe to himself but quite another to admit it to his best friend. And there was no way in hell he’d tell Chilton about the debacle that happened with Miss Winslowe earlier in the afternoon. Daniel only wanted to forget about that.
    “I should be happy to introduce you.”
    “To whom?” Daniel said with some smugness.
    Chilton laughed. “All right, Danny. We’ll play this your way. To the lady you are watching. Miss Winslowe, of course.”
    Daniel folded his arms across his chest and gave Chilton an annoyed look. “I think you deliberately misled me earlier in the day when you spoke of her.”
    “Truly? In what way?”
    “From the way you talked about her, I thought her to be a shriveled-up old spinster who had nothing better to do than stir up mischief.”
    “Really? I don’t remember saying anything about her age. I believe I said I’d leave it to you to form your own opinion of her. And by the way you’ve been watching her, I’d say you have and it’s good.”
    Daniel looked out over the crowded dance floor again. It had always been a nuisance that Chilton knew him so well. In his younger days it hadn’t bothered him, but now it did. Privacy was more important to him than it used to be.
    “I’m not watching her specifically,” Daniel lied to his friend and felt no guilt in doing so. “This is my first party in over a year, remember? I’m looking over all the young ladies tonight.”
    “In that case, come let me introduce you to Miss Winslowe.”
    Daniel looked at his friend. “We’ve met.”
    Chilton’s