Read Online Artful Deceptions by Patricia Rice - Free Book Online

perfection. In fact, a blond curl fell rather awkwardly across his forehead.
    Melanie, on the other hand, looked quite respectably put together, but the worry in her eyes told a story as loud as Locke’s disreputable appearance. Arianne gestured them in, but Locke hesitated, glancing toward the stairway, where the sounds of racing feet indicated the household was up and stirring.
    “Can you come away with us for a few minutes where we might speak in private?”
    Anxious, Arianne bit her bottom lip and followed his glance upward. Her mother wasn’t feeling at all well and the one maid they managed to keep had the day off. As if interpreting her glance, Locke interceded.
    “I’m sorry, that was selfish of me.” He turned to Melanie. “Perhaps we ought to take the children for a drive in the park?”
    Melanie looked mildly alarmed as the whoops of laughter above grew louder, but bravely she nodded her head. Galen turned his head in time to catch the wisp of a smile flitting across Arianne’s lips at her cousin’s reaction, and he felt a jolt of remembrance, but now was not the time to contemplate the prior night’s foolishness. Without compunction for the crisp muslin skirts of his fashionable companion, he ordered, “Bring them with us. The day is sunny and they can run off their energy in the grass.”
    Knowing it was not at all fair to her friends to subject them to the wild spirits of her siblings, Arianne couldn’t help imagining what a treat it would be for her younger brothers and sister to ride in a carriage. She hesitated over the decision too long. Davie pounded down the stair with two cats and a dog on his heels, heading straight for the doorway where their guests still stood. Galen caught the redhead while Melanie executed a swift maneuver to slam the door before the animals could make a break for the street.
    Davie whooped at being flung toward the ceiling by the tall gentleman. The dog, upon once again discovering Galen’s scent, leapt ecstatically up his leg. One cat ignored the commotion and took this opportunity to clean his paw, while the other found Melanie’s skirts to her liking and purred around her ankles. It was only a matter of moments before the two youngest boys stumbled down the stairs to discover the source of Davie’s joy, and on her best haughty-lady manners, Lucinda held herself aloof and above the noise by waiting on the stairs and giving the crowd below a disdainful look.
    “Go fetch your bonnets and caps,” Galen ordered, swinging Davie back to the floor. “Your sister says you might come riding with us today.”
    The shrieks of wild excitement ascended the stairs to include Lucinda, whose pose instantly disintegrated into childish glee as she raced to find her best bonnet. Arianne rolled her eyes heavenward, then regarded her guest with painful directness.
    “You would have done better to tell me now than wait for the horde to descend upon us. What can you have to say that would be so terrible that you must submit yourself to this punishment?” A wretched thought occurred to her, and Arianne gave the fashionable pair a startled look. “Is it Rhys? Has something happened to Rhys?”
    Melanie looked startled at her proper cousin’s use of a gentleman’s given name, but Arianne had focused on Locke’s reaction. Clear gray eyes gave her a thoughtful look, and some small part of his usually languid aplomb briefly disappeared, but he reverted to normal swiftly enough.
    “You’d best find that fetching hat of yours, Miss Richards, or your curls will be decidedly disheveled before we reach the park.”
    Arianne threw him a suspicious look, but retreated up the stairs after the required article. Undoubtedly it was bad news they brought, and she could always wait to hear bad news.
    * * * *
    As Melanie led the children on a romp through the park, Galen took Arianne’s gloved hand and led her to the nearest bench. Clasping his hands behind him, he stood before her, searching for