Read Online A Reckless Desire by Isabella Bradford - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Isabella Bradford
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wish to depart.”
The word was swiftly sent, and by the time he’d returned to the yard, his carriage was waiting with his footmen at the ready. Walker opened the carriage door, revealing that it was empty, with no sign of Lucia except for that wretched box of hers. Rivers frowned, glancing about the yard for her. She couldn’t dare be late again, could she?
Then he looked up, and there she was, sitting on the bench between his driver and Rooke.
“Please, Lucia,” he said. He told himself he wasn’t begging; he was simply being patiently agreeable. “Come down at once. I wish you to ride inside with me.”
Her eyes widened. “Very well, my lord,” she said, and as she gathered her skirts in one hand to climb down both his footmen rushed to help her. Rivers whistled for Spot, who had wandered off during the delay, and at last they were all in the carriage again and on their way.
At last:
that, he thought, seemed to be the best way to describe this entire day.
She was sitting squarely in the middle of the seat across from him, her back straight, her hands clasped, and her expression a little wary. That was wise. She should be wary after what she’d just done to him at the Red Hart.
He took a deep breath to compose himself.
“Lucia,” he said. “It would appear that we have certain matters to discuss between us.”
“We do indeed, my lord,” she said with startling indignation. “Yes, we do have our agreement and the wager and all, but there’s many other things that need saying now, else I
will
be going back to London and that wager of yours is over and done.”
“ ‘Things’?” he repeated, taken aback. “I would say there are things. You didn’t follow my wishes at the Red Hart, but went off with my servants. Then you virtually scolded me before the entire inn yard, pretending that I’d somehow wronged you.”
“Which you
did,
my lord,” she said vehemently. “You woke me to call me a liar, and then swept me away so I wouldn’t keep you from your dinner. What was I supposed to make of that?”
He frowned. He was not accustomed to being addressed with such…such
directness.
“I woke you because we had stopped,” he said. “I expected you to join me when I dined, as I had specifically requested earlier. Nor did I accuse you of lying. You maintained that you had learned the passage, whilst I had observed you sleeping instead. I chose not to believe you. That is not the same thing.”
“It amounts to the same thing by my lights, my lord!” she exclaimed. “Why would I have claimed to have learned your lesson if I hadn’t? What would I have gained by lying?”
“Perhaps you were uneasy about having to make such an admission,” he said, growing a bit uneasy himself. “Perhaps it was easier to, ah, exaggerate.”
“Bah!” she said with determination. “I’ll show you how I exaggerate, my lord.”
She leaned back against the squabs with her palms pressed down flat on the cushions, one either side of her, and closed her eyes. She took a deep breath, and in a loud, singsong voice, she recited the twelve lines he’d given her.
O, what a noble mind is here o’erthrown!
The Courtier’s, soldier’s, scholar’s, eye, tongue, sword,
Th’ expectancy and rose of the fair state,
The glass of fashion and the mould of form,
Th’ observ’d of all observers, quite, quite down!
And I, of ladies most deject and wretched,
That suck’d the honey of his music vows,
Now see that noble and most sovereign reason
Like sweet bells jangled out of tune and harsh,
That unmatch’d form and feature of blown youth
Blasted with ecstasy. O, woe is me
T’have seen what I have seen, see what I see.
Cautiously she opened her eyes, unsure of what his reaction would be.
Speechless, Rivers stared at her, stunned by what he’d just heard. She’d learned every word of the passage, exactly as she’d said she had, and without a single error, too. True, there was much about her recitation
The word was swiftly sent, and by the time he’d returned to the yard, his carriage was waiting with his footmen at the ready. Walker opened the carriage door, revealing that it was empty, with no sign of Lucia except for that wretched box of hers. Rivers frowned, glancing about the yard for her. She couldn’t dare be late again, could she?
Then he looked up, and there she was, sitting on the bench between his driver and Rooke.
“Please, Lucia,” he said. He told himself he wasn’t begging; he was simply being patiently agreeable. “Come down at once. I wish you to ride inside with me.”
Her eyes widened. “Very well, my lord,” she said, and as she gathered her skirts in one hand to climb down both his footmen rushed to help her. Rivers whistled for Spot, who had wandered off during the delay, and at last they were all in the carriage again and on their way.
At last:
that, he thought, seemed to be the best way to describe this entire day.
She was sitting squarely in the middle of the seat across from him, her back straight, her hands clasped, and her expression a little wary. That was wise. She should be wary after what she’d just done to him at the Red Hart.
He took a deep breath to compose himself.
“Lucia,” he said. “It would appear that we have certain matters to discuss between us.”
“We do indeed, my lord,” she said with startling indignation. “Yes, we do have our agreement and the wager and all, but there’s many other things that need saying now, else I
will
be going back to London and that wager of yours is over and done.”
“ ‘Things’?” he repeated, taken aback. “I would say there are things. You didn’t follow my wishes at the Red Hart, but went off with my servants. Then you virtually scolded me before the entire inn yard, pretending that I’d somehow wronged you.”
“Which you
did,
my lord,” she said vehemently. “You woke me to call me a liar, and then swept me away so I wouldn’t keep you from your dinner. What was I supposed to make of that?”
He frowned. He was not accustomed to being addressed with such…such
directness.
“I woke you because we had stopped,” he said. “I expected you to join me when I dined, as I had specifically requested earlier. Nor did I accuse you of lying. You maintained that you had learned the passage, whilst I had observed you sleeping instead. I chose not to believe you. That is not the same thing.”
“It amounts to the same thing by my lights, my lord!” she exclaimed. “Why would I have claimed to have learned your lesson if I hadn’t? What would I have gained by lying?”
“Perhaps you were uneasy about having to make such an admission,” he said, growing a bit uneasy himself. “Perhaps it was easier to, ah, exaggerate.”
“Bah!” she said with determination. “I’ll show you how I exaggerate, my lord.”
She leaned back against the squabs with her palms pressed down flat on the cushions, one either side of her, and closed her eyes. She took a deep breath, and in a loud, singsong voice, she recited the twelve lines he’d given her.
O, what a noble mind is here o’erthrown!
The Courtier’s, soldier’s, scholar’s, eye, tongue, sword,
Th’ expectancy and rose of the fair state,
The glass of fashion and the mould of form,
Th’ observ’d of all observers, quite, quite down!
And I, of ladies most deject and wretched,
That suck’d the honey of his music vows,
Now see that noble and most sovereign reason
Like sweet bells jangled out of tune and harsh,
That unmatch’d form and feature of blown youth
Blasted with ecstasy. O, woe is me
T’have seen what I have seen, see what I see.
Cautiously she opened her eyes, unsure of what his reaction would be.
Speechless, Rivers stared at her, stunned by what he’d just heard. She’d learned every word of the passage, exactly as she’d said she had, and without a single error, too. True, there was much about her recitation
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