Read Online Lady Incognita by Nina Coombs Pykare - Free Book Online Page B

husband.”
    Louisa, whose somewhat circuitous discussion with Betsy over amativeness had caused her considerably more discomfort than it had the child, colored up. Pray God, Betsy would not repeat everything her sister had said.
    Fortunately, however, Betsy was distracted by his lordship’s chuckle. “I collect that I am too old for you, Betsy my dear. Why, I could almost be your Papa. I am two and thirty, you see.”
    Betsy considered this for a moment and then sighed. “I expect you are right. I should not want to be nursing a doddering old gentleman when I am just in my prime.”
    “Betsy!”  Louisa could not forbear interjecting, “his lordship will not be doddering for some time to come.”
    “You are right, Louisa,” said Betsy with a mischievous grin. “But I collect there are other heroes around, perhaps with a few less years. And I shall encounter one of them.”
    “Betsy, what did I tell ...” began Louisa and then hesitated.
      “About heroes?” asked Betsy airily. “Oh, I quite remember. But how do you expect me to believe such nonsense when his lordship is right there in the flesh disproving it? Now it stands to reason that if one hero exists, others may too.”
    And with this firm declaration Betsy put Apricot on the floor. The kitten took one look around, blinked his green eyes, and made a dash for his lordship’s top boots where he attempted to scale the highly polished height of one.
    “Oh!” exclaimed Louisa, looking in dismay at the marred boot, the surface of which bore the unmistakable furrows of Apricot’s tiny claws.
    Atherton shrugged, his heavy lids falling lazily over his eyes. “Do not distress yourself. Ainsley, my valet, is a whiz at such things. A little champagne in the blacking and all will be well again.”
    “Champagne?” Betsy and Harry echoed in unison.
    “Of course. Have you not heard that the great Beau Brummell blacks his boots with champagne? It is that which accounts for their high gloss.”
    The children, not knowing whether to accept this tale as true or not, both giggled.
    Apricot, having exhausted all efforts to climb the insurmountable, scampered away to explore under the furniture.
    “Are you still of a mind to give Apricot to me?” asked his lordship of Betsy.
    “Oh yes, sir.”
    “Good. I imagine he will be old enough in a week or two.”
    There was the sound of rending cloth from under a nearby chair. “Perhaps,” said his lordship with a swift glance at Louisa, “perhaps you had better return Apricot to his Mama. Kitten claws are very hard on delicate furniture.”
    “Yes, sir,” replied Betsy. And Harry, at a nod from his lordship, hurried after her.
    “I see that you are looking well.” His lordship moved his chair somewhat closer to Louisa’s.
    “Th - thank you,” she murmured. And then, at a loss for something to say, sat silent.
    “I thought you seemed rather amazed to see me,” commented his lordship suddenly.
    Louisa, taken by surprise, blurted out, “I was.”
    “Did I not tell you that I intended to return?” asked his lordship in a dangerously level tone.
    “Yes, but...”
    “You will learn that I always do what I say I shall,” said Atherton, his dark eyes locking with hers. “Always.”
    “It was only ... That is, I thought ... What should you want with a kitten?” Louisa finally stammered.
    “Perhaps I like kittens,” said his lordship. “At any rate, I practically promised the child that I should take one. I should never let a child down.”
    Louisa, the red rising to her cheeks, felt that she had misjudged the man. Just because he was every inch an aristocrat and bore himself as a man of the world, just because the black eyes under the heavy lids looked on life with lazy amusement, that did not mean that he was not a man of honor.
    “I... I am sorry,” she said humbly. “But I have known few lords.”
    “Except in romances,” said the Vis-count, his tone considerably lighter. “I collect there are many