Read Online If You Give a Girl a Viscount by Kieran Kramer - Free Book Online Page A

could see her. She knew her eyes would be wide with shock and, if she were honest with herself, a bit of amusement.
    Cassandra was not only devious and disloyal. She was acting like a tart. Daisy always knew she would if given half the chance.
    The viscount immediately went up a notch in Daisy’s estimation.
    “So, my lord,” Cassandra was saying now, as if the under-the-table maneuvers had never taken place, “you look comfortable in my late stepfather’s clothing.”
    “I am, thank you,” Daisy heard him say in equally smooth tones. “I’m very grateful to you all for providing me with them.”
    Daisy took a sip of wine. She’d caught a glimpse of him as she’d walked in. He’d cut a fine figure in her father’s coat—although it was a trifle tight across the shoulders. She’d felt a brief combination of sorrow and happiness at seeing the garment, curious to get closer to it—to the viscount—to suss out whether he deserved to wear it. She wasn’t sure anyone did.
    Yet Mona had kept Lord Lumley trapped in conversation, so she hadn’t been able to talk to him.
    And now …
    Now it was as if she didn’t exist.
    “You look like the Golden Prince,” Perdita said.
    Lord Lumley laid down his fork. “Why, thank you—I think. Who is he?”
    Perdita was so overcome by his direct gaze, her lips clamped tight. She was holding her breath, Daisy knew.
    “There’s a legend that the owner of Castle Vandemere will find true love at the ball held on the final night of the great hunt,” she explained on her stepsister’s behalf.
    The viscount swiveled to look at Daisy, and she heard Perdita release a great huff of air. Lord Lumley didn’t even flinch. Instead, he leaned over, presumably to see Daisy better around Cassandra.
    “Can you tell me more?” he asked her politely.
    She could see only the right side of his face as Cassandra was blocking most of him. “Did you see that stained-glass window in the drawing room?”
    She knew, of course, that he had. He’d kissed her right below it. He couldn’t have missed it.
    “Indeed, I did,” he answered her.
    She saw a spark of something flash in his eye. Was he remembering that kiss?
    “That’s the Golden Prince,” Daisy explained, “holding hands with the Golden Girl. They’re the first pair of many lovers who supposedly declared themselves here at the castle on the night of the hunt ball.”
    “But they no longer have a great hunt around here,” Cassandra interrupted rudely, “or balls, or any eligible men, for that matter. It’s dull as dishwater.”
    “It’s a perfectly charming legend,” Lord Lumley said helpfully.
    “But legends are for dreamers,” Mona said.
    “Idiots, more like,” Perdita added with a snort of laughter.
    Mona cackled with her. Cassandra smiled into her wine.
    Daisy felt a stab of hurt on behalf of her parents, who’d treasured the legend and the bit of stained glass that preserved it.
    “Legends become legends for a reason,” she said. “There is something special about Castle Vandemere. I feel it every time I look at the Golden Prince and the Golden Girl.”
    The laughter immediately ceased, and there was another uncomfortable silence. Daisy was grateful for the epergne. She could sense the disapproval emanating from the other three women.
    The viscount’s face—what she could see of it—wore an inscrutable expression. “Excuse me, Mrs. Montgomery,” he said, “but I can’t see all the members of our party. Might we move the centerpiece, as attractive as it is?”
    Daisy’s heart almost stopped. She was the only one he couldn’t see!
    Why would he want to see me? was her first thought. But then told herself—because Hester would be angry at her for thinking otherwise—that she was well worth seeing, even though she didn’t believe it and her stepmother and stepsisters didn’t believe it, either.
    Of course, she must remember she was the viscount’s supposed fiancée, as well. That should count for