Read Online Amanda Scott - [Dangerous 03] by Dangerous Illusions - Free Book Online

was right. You’re a damned procrastinator!”
    For the second time that day, Gideon blessed his friend’s well-known dilatory nature. “Be that as it may, sir,” he said, “I can see nothing to be lost and a great deal to be gained by going gently to work here.” He glanced pointedly at Lady Daintry, who had chosen that moment to look out the window again as though she took no interest whatsoever in the conversation.
    Following his glance, St. Merryn grimaced and said, “Oh, very well, but you disappoint me, lad. I had not thought you would so easily discount my excellent advice on that head.”
    The drawing-room doors banged back on their hinges, and Gideon turned to stare in astonishment at the small whirlwind that blew into the room. “Aunt Daintry, the rain has stopped, and we’ve got our habits on and everything! Oh, please, may we go at once?” The child was almost an exact miniature of her aunt, and faced with such exuberance, Gideon nearly didn’t notice the slender blond wraith who slipped in behind her.
    “Upon my soul, Charley!” St. Merryn snarled in outrage.
    Lady Ophelia said calmly, “Go out and come in again, Charlotte, this time like a lady of quality, if you please.”
    Without missing a beat, the child turned on her heel and ran past her silent shadow, out of the room, pulling the doors shut behind her. There was a lengthy pause before they opened again, revealing the stately Medrose with tray, decanter, and glasses. Stepping into the room, he paused for effect before announcing majestically, “The Honorable Miss Charlotte Tarrant, madam.”
    Gideon ruthlessly stifled laughter at the vision next revealed upon the threshold. Carrying herself with the dignity of a queen, and a far more dignified queen than the present one, Miss Charlotte swept into the room and made a profound, even a graceful, curtsy. Her eyes sparkled with mischief, and he saw that they were not the same color as Daintry’s but were so dark as to appear black; however, the roses in her cheeks were the same, and it was as clear as could be that in a few years she would be every bit as beautiful as her aunt.
    The second child had not moved from the spot she had taken after their first entrance. She stood so still that it seemed almost as if she were not breathing, and she, too, reminded him of someone. For a moment he could not think who it was. Then, with a start, he realized that Lady Susan must be the child’s mother. The fact that Susan had been present in the room the entire time he had been there and had scarcely uttered a word was reason enough to have missed the resemblance. He glanced at her now, seated quietly near the window, and saw that she was watching, warily, not her irrepressible niece but St. Merryn.
    Daintry, too, shot a look at her father before stepping forward with a laugh to hug Charlotte. “Charley, you dreadful girl, will you never learn to behave?”
    “But I did do it properly the second time, Aunt Daintry, so do say you will take us. Who is that gentleman?” she demanded abruptly when her gaze came to rest at last upon Gideon.
    St. Merryn snapped, “Children should be seen and not heard.”
    “Nonsense,” Lady Ophelia retorted. “How is the child to learn anything if she does not ask questions? Introduce him.”
    When the earl’s face darkened in anger, Daintry said quickly, “He is Viscount Penthorpe, darling.”
    “The man you are going to marry?”
    Daintry paused, but Gideon, surprising himself, said firmly, “The very man.”
    The child looked him over from head to toe, then smiled happily at her aunt. “He is much better looking than you thought he would be, isn’t he?”
    Gasping, Daintry shot him a look of laughing embarrassment before she said, “If I am to take you riding, girls, I must change out of this gown, so now if everyone will excuse me—”
    Seeing that St. Merryn was about to object again, Gideon quickly interrupted, saying, “An excellent idea. I will be very