Compromised by Christmas Read Free Page B

asked your permission first."
    "How could you?" said Julia. "We were just discussing
it before you came, Max. It is only a little grown up. Roxy said it
would not be appropriate to dress as if I were out. You should see
her dresses. She has the most splendid ball gown in red silk."
    The Duke of Trent coughed, then patted Julia's knee.
"I'm sure I will have the privilege during the festivities. So do
you often design gowns, Miss Winston?"
    She ran a finger over a seam. "I dabble a bit."
    Roxy had not meant to be so transparent with her
ambitions. She just desperately needed to know if her designs would
fly in fashionable circles. She'd been told her creations were to
die for, but she had never been within an ames-ace of London to
really see for herself. She sucked in a deep breath and then said,
"A dressmaker in my village made up my wardrobe. She wants to open
her own shop in London."
    It was only a small untruth, since she was the
dressmaker. While here, she hoped to discover if members of the ton
liked her dresses. Well, that and to follow her mother's
instructions to get herself compromised, not exactly to the
letter.
    She stole a glance at the Duke of Trent. The very
thought of what she would have to do to accomplish her mission made
her go hot, then cold, as if she were struck with a bad case of
ague. Until now, the man she would need to enact her plan had been
a shadowy, unreal figure, not a real, flesh-and-blood man. Not that the duke would be the man she picked to be her pawn.
    He turned toward her, as if aware of her gaze.
    Doubt that she could accomplish her mission clawed
icy fingers around her neck. She was not usually so false, and Roxy
did not know if she could manage this deception well. But then, she
had no choice. This was her only chance to be free of her father's
household and keep the rest of her family from the poorhouse. As
her mother had said, it was all up to her. And she would not fail
them.
    *~*~*
    "So you see my dilemma, do you not?" Fanny wrung her
hands and crossed the drawing room, empty except for her and Max.
"She is very alluring and I cannot adequately chaperone a creature
like that with all my duties as hostess."
    Max paused in writing an invitation to a friend. He
considered that his first thought about Miss Winston had been
sinful. He found a small amount of relief that Fanny expected that
sort of reaction from men, but that did present a bit of a problem.
A chit like her could never be left alone with a gentleman, a
prospect that was unavoidable at the house party. A less attractive
young lady could be allowed a longer leash. Given that she was on
the hunt for a husband, Miss Winston would be treading a thin line
between respectability and temptation.
    "I will watch over her," Max said.
    Fanny spun and faced him. "I can hardly ask that of
you. She is my responsibility."
    "Worry no more. You know that you may trust me to
keep her reputation safe. She is my guest too. And her family has
seen fit to entrust her well being to us."
    "You have duties too. You can hardly provide escort
for her every moment when I cannot."
    Max put down his pen. He would have to lead the
gentlemen on afternoon shooting expeditions and arrange a fox hunt
as well as daily rides. "I am sending for Scully. I will tell him
if he wants to please you, he will focus his attentions on guarding
Miss Winston."
    Fanny frowned. "Can you think of no one else? I know
I can trust you to do the proper thing, but asking Scully to help
is a bit like asking a wolf to guard sheep."
    "He has six sisters. He of all people knows how to
keep a young lady in line." Max dismissed Fanny's distrust of his
friend. Scully may be a ladies' man, but he knew which women were
off limits. He never preyed on innocents, either. "Between the
three of us, we can protect Miss Winston's reputation."
    Max wondered what Miss Winston might have on today.
Yesterday, she had worn the same green gown to dinner. She'd
removed the fichu around her neck and added