A Most Improper Rumor Read Free Page A

possible.
    When she rose to leave, she hesitated and turned back to look at the tall man still standing with one shoulder propped against a bookcase filled with dusty volumes of ancient books with faded gilded letters in Latin on the spines. Lord Heathton looked back with an eyebrow raised in inquiry.
    “I do not wish to make you reconsider, for I am more grateful than you know, but why did you agree to aid me?”
    “Why?” Hazel eyes looked at her with enigmatic detachment. “Because if you are telling me the truth, you face a rather formidable enemy, and it would be my pleasure to best him.”

Chapter 2
    A licia Wallace swirled in rhythm to the music, smiled politely at her partner when the waltz ended, and went in search of her husband.
    He wasn’t in the card room, she discovered when she asked, but then again, he rarely played. He tended to win when he did, probably because he had an analytical mind that allowed him to predict the probability of the chance of getting the cards he needed, but he’d said once it bored him.
    Still, where on earth was he?
    In exasperation, she surveyed the crowded ballroom, and luckily, because of his height, was finally able to spot Ben. He stood with the prime minister and several other prominent men in Parliament, which was frustrating because what she wanted more than anything was to go home.
    It was entirely too hot in the crowded space, and truthfully, she was a bit fatigued.
    After a moment of consideration, she decided that though she didn’t wish to interrupt, there wasn’t much choice.
    Ben saw her first, but then again, he would. His gaze caught hers, and there was a moment of communication. She could have sworn—but maybe she was just a hopeful romantic—that he instantly understood why she was looking for him.
    “Lady Heathton,” Lord Liverpool said gallantly when she approached, bending over her hand. “You are as dazzling as ever this evening. Have we been monopolizing your husband? My abject apologies.”
    “Not at all, my lord.” She rather liked Liverpool, even if she took some issues with his policies. “I was just thinking of going home, though I realize it is early.” She turned to Ben. “I can have the carriage sent back if you’d like.”
    Her husband put his hand at her waist. “Not at all,” he said with equanimity. “I wouldn’t dream of not escorting you. Gentlemen, will you excuse us?”
    When they stepped outside into an evening that included a sky speckled with a dusting of brilliant stars, he muttered, “Thank you. As you know, I am never fond of such crowded affairs.”
    She did know. He spent entirely too much time in his study, however, and she’d decided six months into their marriage that he needed some coaxing when it came to intimacy between a husband and a wife. Happily, though idyllic was probably not accurate, their relationship had improved considerably since she had taken the initiative to insist on more time together.
    That was why she had some trepidation over changing it now, but little choice.
    Allowing him to hand her into the carriage, she watched as he climbed in and settled on the opposite seat, his long legs extended, and when he rapped on the roof and the vehicle pulled away, she said without preamble, “When one of the most beautiful women in England calls on your husband, a wife is surely allowed to ask why.”
    His mouth curved into a cynical smile. “Is that why you have been so abstracted all evening?”
    No, it wasn’t. At least not entirely. She settled for responding, “I think I am entitled to ask a question or two. You did not join Aunt Heloise and me for tea.”
    And since he’d gone out right afterward, and then when he returned they’d had guests for dinner, there had been no opportunity to discuss the unusual visit.
    “Yeats told you of Lady DeBrooke’s visit, I suppose,” he said with resignation in reference to their butler, looking handsome and elegant in his stark black-and-white evening