Lady Adventuress 02 - The Education of Lord Hartley Read Free

scandalized. Only, at that moment, Maggie cared nothing for propriety or for her aunt’s opinion.
    Hart was looking at her expectantly now, waiting for an answer to something. But what? She couldn’t think what to say, so all she said was, “I’m all wet.”
    She regretted it instantly.
    Of course she was wet. She was wearing most of a pitcher of lemonade.
    What a stupid thing to say, Maggie thought, wincing at her own inanity. Somehow, she found that she often said stupid things in front of Hart.
    The marquess took in her appearance from head to toe. Something in his eyes made her shift restlessly in place.
    He raised an elegant eyebrow. “Yes, rather like a drowned rat.”
    Frederick laughed as he emerged from the trees behind Maggie, having retrieved the shuttlecock.
    “Would you like me to dry you off?” Hart whispered, ignoring Frederick and reaching into his pocket for a handkerchief.
    The insinuation, the question itself, was utterly scandalous, given the situation. Maggie’s eyes flew to his. She was unable, once again, to come up with a reply, momentarily lost in imagining his hands on her body. Perhaps too much sun really was bad for a lady’s well-being – not to mention her virtue.
    When she failed to answer, Hartley gave her a triumphant grin. “Or perhaps I should just throw you in the lake, like old times?”
    “You wouldn’t,” she stammered, preparing to run.
    “I wouldn’t?” he challenged, lifting his eyebrows and tilting his head.
    The challenge in his eyes was very familiar. She’d seen it a hundred times before, usually just before Hart did something terrible and daring.
    She spun around and took off at great speed, running toward the house. Hart gave chase and caught her by the hand in record time.
    It seemed an afternoon for scandal because then, to her utter astonishment, he moved to pick her up and deposit her in the water.
    “Oi!” Frederick exclaimed, stepping forward with the shuttlecock in his hand. “All right, Hart, that is quite enough excitement for today! Do observe some propriety – wouldn’t want to compromise my sister, would you?”
    Frederick and Hart laughed, thinking the very notion of such a thing to be a supreme joke. “Besides, she would never forgive either of us if you threw her in the lake, and then I would be the one to pay the price.”
    Maggie felt her face flame. Before anything else could be said she picked up her skirts and continued running back to the house as fast as she could, leaving her book and spectacles behind on the table. She didn’t stop running until she reached her aunt’s room, short of breath.
    Maggie really wanted to see Aunt Verity – but she wasn’t certain what she could really say. She could hardly walk in and ask her aunt’s advice on getting Hart to see her as a woman.
    She hesitated at the door, adjusting her dress and hair. She tried her best to disguise the signs of her improper haste, and of the even more improper kiss that had preceded it. Was it written all over her face?
    She could smell lemons on her, and the faintest hint of cedarwood and nutmeg. Hart.
    She didn’t wish to disturb her aunt, but suddenly Maggie desperately needed her comfort.
    She knocked on the door, and when her aunt’s voice invited her in, Maggie stepped gingerly into the room.
    Aunt Verity had been staying with them for the last month, invited by Lord Chenefelt in an attempt to ‘reform’ Maggie and help her prepare for her first Season. This meant that she spent a great deal of time writing letters home to her husband, the mild-mannered ornithologist Sir John Compton. Maggie wondered if she would ever find the kind of marital felicity enjoyed by her aunt and uncle.
    She liked her Uncle Compton a great deal for the calm, sensible air he always possessed. He didn’t seem to disapprove of her when she spoke out of turn or accidentally committed yet another gaffe.
    Lady Compton, on the other hand, did disapprove. Maggie knew that she was