Read Online It Takes a Scandal by Caroline Linden - Free Book Online

bobbed an awkward curtsy, her face burning. Perhaps he wouldn’t know what it was. Perhaps he would think it wasn’t hers. But she had never been as good a liar as Penelope, and her reaction had probably been as guilty as it could be. Head down, she hurried out of the shop, leaving him standing at the counter waiting for his book.
    “What was that about?” hissed Penelope, galloping up beside her. Abigail had entirely forgotten her sister.
    “I hate you, Pen,” she said, keeping her eyes fixed forward. “I really, really do.”
    “That much?” Penelope grinned wickedly. She looked over her shoulder. “So that’s the mysterious Mr. Vane! I think he fancies you, Abby.”
    “Be quiet,” she said through clenched teeth.
    “I notice you were very animated when talking to him. Do you fancy him as well?” She looked back again. “And do you know, he’s watching you walk away through the window.”
    “Turn around,” she ordered. “He might be staring because he saw it .”
    “No!” Her sister’s eyes grew round in alarm. “Why did you let him see it?”
    “I didn’t let him, the shopkeeper just slapped it down right in front of him before I could stop her!” Abigail pulled out the troublesome pamphlet and thrust it at her sister. “We have to find a better way to get it. Presuming Mama doesn’t hear of this and confine us both to our rooms, that is.”
    Penelope stuffed the pamphlet into her reticule. “You’re right. I agree. If I’d known an eager suitor would follow you into the shop, I never would have asked you to do it today.”
    She shot a murderous glare at her sister and stalked away without another word. Mr. Vane was the least eager suitor she could imagine. The trouble was . . . she wished he would be. Or at least that he would show some sign that he was interested, because she found him fascinating.
    On the other hand, for her own sake, she should probably hope she never saw him again. He’d seen 50 Ways to Sin . He knew she’d bought it. All he had to do was ask Mrs. Driscoll what it was, and she’d be sunk. In fact, she probably already was. All it would take was one word about the Weston girls purchasing that wicked story, and her mother would hear it eventually. Nothing Penelope could say would save her from the consequences of that.
    For now, she only hoped he wouldn’t follow her.
    “W ill that be all, Mr. Vane?” Mrs. Driscoll pushed his book across the counter as if she couldn’t even bear to hand it to him.
    “Yes, ma’am.” Sebastian counted out the price from his purse. He no longer presumed anyone would extend him credit. It made things easier if he just carried money; he couldn’t outspend his limited income if he had to pay coin for everything, and no one could complain of his custom when they were paid on the spot. Mrs. Driscoll had once been kind and cordial to him, but then his father had assaulted her in the midst of one of his fits, and ever since, Sebastian had been tarred by association. The bookshop owner always watched him warily, as if she expected him to suddenly fly at her in a rage, too.
    Mr. Weston must not have established an account here yet, if his daughter also had to pay in coin. Sebastian’s fingers slowed as he laid his money on the counter. He should have known he’d run into her today, the first day in weeks he’d come into town. And in spite of himself, something inside him had surged with pleasure when she turned around and said his name with every sign of delight.
    He would have been content just to exchange greetings and have a chance to look at her for a few minutes. Her hair looked more reddish in the warm light of the shop, or perhaps it was the reflection of her cherry-red pelisse. Her eyes were the same clear gray, though, and he was almost mesmerized by the invitation in them. She wanted to talk to him. She smiled when he complimented her. Her eyes lit up when he said he knew where the old grotto was. Sebastian almost forgot who