turned to face what was left of the fire, allowing her cloak to fall open as she stood in front of the glowing embers. The large red gem above her breasts glowed with the reflection of the flames.
Harry caught a glimpse of the sweet curves revealed by the low neckline of Augusta’s gown and stared.
Good lord, he could almost see her nipples peeping out from behind a couple of strategically placed satin roses
. His imagination soared, providing a vivid image of those barely concealed buds. Firm and ripe, they would be made for a man’s mouth.
Harry blinked, suddenly aware that he was already half aroused. He fought for his normal, unshakable self-control.
“I suggest you start the explanations, whatever they may be, immediately. It’s getting late.” Harry propped himself against the edge of his desk. He folded his arms across his chest and contented himself with an expression of severe reproof. It was hard to maintain the scowl when what he really wanted to do was pull Augusta down onto the carpet and make love to her. He sighed inwardly. The woman had bewitched him.
“I came here tonight to warn you that a disaster is imminent.”
“May I inquire as to the nature of this disaster, Miss Ballinger?”
She turned her head to give him an unhappy look. “There has been a dreadful mistake, my lord. You apparently paid a visit to my uncle this afternoon?”
“I did.” Surely she had not pulled this stunt just to tell him she was going to reject his proposal, Harry thought, seriously alarmed for the first time.
“Uncle Thomas misunderstood you, sir. You see, he thought you were offering for me, rather than my cousin. Wishful thinking on his part, no doubt. He has been fretting about my spinster status for ages. Feels he has aduty to see me wed. In any event, I fear he has already sent the notices off to the papers. I regret to inform you that the announcement of our betrothal will be all over town tomorrow morning.”
Harry jerked his gaze away from the satin roses and glanced down at the highly polished toes of his Hessians. In spite of the growing heaviness in his groin he managed to keep his voice free of any inflection. “I see.”
“Please believe me, my lord, it was an honest mistake on my uncle’s part. I questioned him carefully and he was quite certain you meant to offer for me. You know how he is. He lives in a different world most of the time. He can remember the name of every one of his ancient Greeks and Romans but he can be distressingly vague about the names of the members of his own household. I expect you can understand that.”
“Hmmm.”
“Yes, I thought you would. You no doubt suffer the same problem. Now, then.” Augusta swung around, her cloak sweeping out behind her like a dark velvet sail. “All is not lost. It will be difficult for both of us tomorrow when the news bursts upon the world, but never fear, I have a plan.”
“God help us,” Harry said under his breath.
“I beg your pardon?” She pinned him with a glare.
“’Twas nothing, Miss Ballinger. You said something about a plan?”
“Precisely. Listen closely, now. I know you have not had much experience with schemes and such due to your interest in scholarly matters, so you must pay strict attention.”
“I assume you have had experience with this sort of thing?”
“Well, not this sort of thing precisely,” she admitted, “but with schemes in general, if you see what I mean. There is a knack to carrying out a good scheme. One must be bold. One must act as if nothing at all is out of theordinary. One must be calm at all times. Do you comprehend me, my lord?”
“I believe so. Why don’t you go over your plan briefly so that I can get the general outline of it?”
“Very well.” She frowned intently and studied a map of Europe that hung on the wall. “The thing is, once the notice of our betrothal is in the papers, you cannot honorably withdraw your offer.”
“True,” he allowed. “I would not
Harry caught a glimpse of the sweet curves revealed by the low neckline of Augusta’s gown and stared.
Good lord, he could almost see her nipples peeping out from behind a couple of strategically placed satin roses
. His imagination soared, providing a vivid image of those barely concealed buds. Firm and ripe, they would be made for a man’s mouth.
Harry blinked, suddenly aware that he was already half aroused. He fought for his normal, unshakable self-control.
“I suggest you start the explanations, whatever they may be, immediately. It’s getting late.” Harry propped himself against the edge of his desk. He folded his arms across his chest and contented himself with an expression of severe reproof. It was hard to maintain the scowl when what he really wanted to do was pull Augusta down onto the carpet and make love to her. He sighed inwardly. The woman had bewitched him.
“I came here tonight to warn you that a disaster is imminent.”
“May I inquire as to the nature of this disaster, Miss Ballinger?”
She turned her head to give him an unhappy look. “There has been a dreadful mistake, my lord. You apparently paid a visit to my uncle this afternoon?”
“I did.” Surely she had not pulled this stunt just to tell him she was going to reject his proposal, Harry thought, seriously alarmed for the first time.
“Uncle Thomas misunderstood you, sir. You see, he thought you were offering for me, rather than my cousin. Wishful thinking on his part, no doubt. He has been fretting about my spinster status for ages. Feels he has aduty to see me wed. In any event, I fear he has already sent the notices off to the papers. I regret to inform you that the announcement of our betrothal will be all over town tomorrow morning.”
Harry jerked his gaze away from the satin roses and glanced down at the highly polished toes of his Hessians. In spite of the growing heaviness in his groin he managed to keep his voice free of any inflection. “I see.”
“Please believe me, my lord, it was an honest mistake on my uncle’s part. I questioned him carefully and he was quite certain you meant to offer for me. You know how he is. He lives in a different world most of the time. He can remember the name of every one of his ancient Greeks and Romans but he can be distressingly vague about the names of the members of his own household. I expect you can understand that.”
“Hmmm.”
“Yes, I thought you would. You no doubt suffer the same problem. Now, then.” Augusta swung around, her cloak sweeping out behind her like a dark velvet sail. “All is not lost. It will be difficult for both of us tomorrow when the news bursts upon the world, but never fear, I have a plan.”
“God help us,” Harry said under his breath.
“I beg your pardon?” She pinned him with a glare.
“’Twas nothing, Miss Ballinger. You said something about a plan?”
“Precisely. Listen closely, now. I know you have not had much experience with schemes and such due to your interest in scholarly matters, so you must pay strict attention.”
“I assume you have had experience with this sort of thing?”
“Well, not this sort of thing precisely,” she admitted, “but with schemes in general, if you see what I mean. There is a knack to carrying out a good scheme. One must be bold. One must act as if nothing at all is out of theordinary. One must be calm at all times. Do you comprehend me, my lord?”
“I believe so. Why don’t you go over your plan briefly so that I can get the general outline of it?”
“Very well.” She frowned intently and studied a map of Europe that hung on the wall. “The thing is, once the notice of our betrothal is in the papers, you cannot honorably withdraw your offer.”
“True,” he allowed. “I would not
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