Read Online An Affair with Mr. Kennedy by Jillian Stone - Free Book Online Page A

emphatically the cause of his recent carnal unrest. Last night he had entertained the idea of playing rock-a-bed with his enchanting new neighbor. In his fantasy, she wore nothing but a seductive smile.
    Now, the morning after such lurid imaginings, he stole glances at her like a besotted schoolboy.
    She rode pleasantly alongside him all morning without the exchange of many words. He very much liked that about her. She could be pensive and did not feel the need to fill up the silence with frivolous chitchat.
    Not until they turned the horses for home and the mews did Zeno ask for details regarding their evening’s engagement. Once he noted the Stanfields’ address, and they agreed upon a time, the conversation turned to an innocent enough discussion on the joys and pitfalls of jumping hedgerows in the country.
    “When I am at home, I prefer to ride astride, in breeches and top boots.”
    “Why does that not surprise me in the least?” Zeno thought he could easily fall into reckless mischief withhis pretty neighbor. “I am quite sure it won’t be long before women will be sporting breeches as regalia on their way to cast their votes at the poll.”
    “We live in challenging times, Mr. Kennedy. There is a small window open for women to gain some long sought-after liberties. To start with, better legal recognition in the shape of more equitable property rights and divorce legislation.”
    She turned her head from the long stretch of track ahead, eager, it seemed to him, to appraise his reaction to her statement.
    “You will be pleased to know, Mrs. St. Cloud, that I am sympathetic to many of the issues attached to women’s suffrage.”
    “Be sure to mention that to my mother, should you ever meet and wish to impress.”
    “Two suffragettes in one family. My additional sympathies to your father, madam.”
    He found her outburst of laughter immensely gratifying.
    “Mother does wield considerable influence over both my father and brothers.” She assessed him with a look of resignation. “And there are a few alarming facts about my family I suppose you should be warned about.”
    “Yes, pray tell, Mrs. St. Cloud. How are you prepared to shock me?”
    “To begin with, both my parents are physicians, and what a pair they are, Mr. Kennedy. Father is chief of medicine at St. James Hospital, and my mother has forged a specialty for herself in the area of women’s health. Primarily, she doctors to wealthy women and prostitutes.”
    When he raised a brow, she paused. “On the less controversial side, several years ago, Father got himself appointedroyal physician. He is often at Windsor and will soon be called to either Balmoral or Osborne House. Nowadays, we rarely see him in the summer months.” She nodded his way. “You most certainly know better than I where Victoria plans to summer this year?”
    “Top secret, I’m afraid, until she is safely ensconced in one of the royal family’s resort cottages.”
    She smiled at the understatement. “Under normal circumstances, I suppose we would be largely ignored as part of the new emerging professional class of England. But this royal physician business and Mother’s regular testimony to special committees of Parliament regarding women’s legal rights makes us a rather unusual clan.” She swept a teasing, devilish gaze his way. “I’m afraid I come from a shockingly progressive family, sir.”
    Zeno’s brain ticked off the security files of personnel serving the royal family. “That would mean your maiden name is Erskine.”
    Her wide-eyed reaction prompted a grin.
    “Your father is Dr. Henry Jocelyn Erskine, head of surgical medicine at St. James. Landed gentry. I believe there is a manor in Surrey. Married to Dr. Katherine Olivia Erskine, New Hospital for Women. As I recall, your mother took her degree in America, a female medical college in Boston?”
    “You do very detailed work at Scotland Yard, Mr. Kennedy.”
    Cassie halted her horse. She appeared to view