Read Online How to Capture a Countess (Duchess Diaries 1) by Karen Hawkins - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Karen Hawkins
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an unpleasant aftermath.”
“It was the worst way. There was quite an aftermath, my dear Miss Balfour.” He leaned forward, his chest against her legs. “For me.”
She felt like a butterfly pinned in a display box. “Oh dear.”
“People talked about what they had seen, and made up what they hadn’t. Within a fortnight the story went from my attempting to kiss you to the full-blown attempted seduction of an innocent. And apparently I was so violent in pressing my unwanted attentions on you that you were forced to go into seclusion.”
“That’s ludicrous!”
“Oh, it gets worse. Weeks after the event, details emerged that were not evident at the time—your gown was ripped, the pins torn from your hair, one of your shoes lost when you’d tried to flee and I’d held you against your will. Afterward, no gentleman, however desirous of a connection with my family or fortune, dared leave his daughter within talking distance of me, a man so depraved that he had violently attacked an innocent in a nearly public place.”
“You must be joking. Not a single word of that is true! The people there must have seen that I was perfectly fine and that my gown was never torn nor my shoes missing nor—nor any of that drivel.”
“They were there, and they did see. And then, as they repeated the story over and over, they addedwhatever incriminating details they could think of to make their version of the story more delectable.” He eyed her coldly. “Had you been there, you could have set the rumors straight. But you weren’t there. You’d fled and left me to deal with a growing assault of scandalous rumors.”
“I had no idea! My aunt was insistent that I leave town until the talk died down. My only intent was to minimize the damage I’d done and—”
He climbed to the next rung, his chest now against the side of her thigh.
Rose’s heart thudded against her collarbone, a wild tingle racing through her, as intoxicating as champagne. This was the exact feeling that had gotten her into such a mess to begin with. For some reason she still couldn’t fathom, being near Lord Sinclair caused her to experience the oddest, most restless urge, and sent her usually calmly ordered senses reeling. It was a feeling she’d both loved and feared, even now.
She’d remembered the feeling well, but not the intensity, nor the fact that his proximity made her entire body burn. That was a new symptom of what was surely some madness.
“For the record,” Sin said, “I hold your aunt responsible for the events of that night as well as you.”
“My aunt wasn’t even in the garden.”
“Exactly. Had you been on a leash as you’d deserved, the events of that night would have never happened.”
Rose’s temper flared. “My aunt had nothing to do with this.”
He sneered at her. “Your aunt is as unprincipled as you.”
It took all of her strength not to smack his head with her book. How dare he? “Do not pin your—nor my own—weakness upon my poor aunt. Your reputation was hardly unsullied to begin with, Lord Sin. ”
“Until you came along, people spoke of me as a Corinthian, but no one thought me a seducer of innocents.”
She’d already opened her mouth, but at his words, she paused. There was indeed a difference between the two. And in accepting that fact, Rose saw the tableau from a new perspective, and her heart sank. Good God, it had looked like a seduction. There they were, Edinburgh’s most elusive bachelor in a fountain and a shaken and red-faced debutante wringing her hands nearby.
And then I just left him to face the whispers. She bit her lip. For the last six years, she’d told herself that she’d left to allow the incident to blow over faster, but if she were honest, she’d admit there was another reason she couldn’t wait to leave town—she’d been shocked at her own reaction to Sin’s kiss.
It had been the coward’s way out and apparently Sin had paid the price.
She took a deep breath.
“It was the worst way. There was quite an aftermath, my dear Miss Balfour.” He leaned forward, his chest against her legs. “For me.”
She felt like a butterfly pinned in a display box. “Oh dear.”
“People talked about what they had seen, and made up what they hadn’t. Within a fortnight the story went from my attempting to kiss you to the full-blown attempted seduction of an innocent. And apparently I was so violent in pressing my unwanted attentions on you that you were forced to go into seclusion.”
“That’s ludicrous!”
“Oh, it gets worse. Weeks after the event, details emerged that were not evident at the time—your gown was ripped, the pins torn from your hair, one of your shoes lost when you’d tried to flee and I’d held you against your will. Afterward, no gentleman, however desirous of a connection with my family or fortune, dared leave his daughter within talking distance of me, a man so depraved that he had violently attacked an innocent in a nearly public place.”
“You must be joking. Not a single word of that is true! The people there must have seen that I was perfectly fine and that my gown was never torn nor my shoes missing nor—nor any of that drivel.”
“They were there, and they did see. And then, as they repeated the story over and over, they addedwhatever incriminating details they could think of to make their version of the story more delectable.” He eyed her coldly. “Had you been there, you could have set the rumors straight. But you weren’t there. You’d fled and left me to deal with a growing assault of scandalous rumors.”
“I had no idea! My aunt was insistent that I leave town until the talk died down. My only intent was to minimize the damage I’d done and—”
He climbed to the next rung, his chest now against the side of her thigh.
Rose’s heart thudded against her collarbone, a wild tingle racing through her, as intoxicating as champagne. This was the exact feeling that had gotten her into such a mess to begin with. For some reason she still couldn’t fathom, being near Lord Sinclair caused her to experience the oddest, most restless urge, and sent her usually calmly ordered senses reeling. It was a feeling she’d both loved and feared, even now.
She’d remembered the feeling well, but not the intensity, nor the fact that his proximity made her entire body burn. That was a new symptom of what was surely some madness.
“For the record,” Sin said, “I hold your aunt responsible for the events of that night as well as you.”
“My aunt wasn’t even in the garden.”
“Exactly. Had you been on a leash as you’d deserved, the events of that night would have never happened.”
Rose’s temper flared. “My aunt had nothing to do with this.”
He sneered at her. “Your aunt is as unprincipled as you.”
It took all of her strength not to smack his head with her book. How dare he? “Do not pin your—nor my own—weakness upon my poor aunt. Your reputation was hardly unsullied to begin with, Lord Sin. ”
“Until you came along, people spoke of me as a Corinthian, but no one thought me a seducer of innocents.”
She’d already opened her mouth, but at his words, she paused. There was indeed a difference between the two. And in accepting that fact, Rose saw the tableau from a new perspective, and her heart sank. Good God, it had looked like a seduction. There they were, Edinburgh’s most elusive bachelor in a fountain and a shaken and red-faced debutante wringing her hands nearby.
And then I just left him to face the whispers. She bit her lip. For the last six years, she’d told herself that she’d left to allow the incident to blow over faster, but if she were honest, she’d admit there was another reason she couldn’t wait to leave town—she’d been shocked at her own reaction to Sin’s kiss.
It had been the coward’s way out and apparently Sin had paid the price.
She took a deep breath.
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