Stealing the Bride Read Free

measured, yet tentative steps forward.
    It was then that Diana spied him rising from the ground, holding a small pistol, his jaw set in a line of fierce determination.
    He lived.
    Her heart lurched into a wild tattoo of celebration. Temple was alive.
    And Diana realized something else.
    He’d lied. He’d lied to the ton with his pandering masquerade, his light quips, and his foolhardy antics as the town fool. Yet of all his sins, the one that scorched her short-lived happiness into a livid anger was that he’d lied to her .
    Temple shot a brief glance at one opponent, then the other, before turning his attention to Mademoiselle de Vessay. “Are you hurt? Have you been harmed, Lucette?”
    Lucette? He was on such intimate terms with the lady that he called her by her given name?
    Diana’s anger started to boil over.
    “ Non. Oh! Chic alors , you have saved me yet again, Temple.” She reached up, a lacy handkerchief in her hand, and dabbed ever so gently at his mouth, her gaze locked on the curve of his lips.
    Diana had the urge to reach out and give the flirtatious French girl a good shaking. Why, the saucy minx was all but begging Temple to kiss her!
    Something Diana knew a little bit about.
    “And now you have saved me,” he said softly, his fingers twining around Lucette’s hand before he took the handkerchief from her and finished the task of cleaning his bloodied face without her overly attentive assistance. “Thank you, mademoiselle, for your warning. If you hadn’t cried out, I fear I would not be here.”
    Lucette shook her dark head. “Monsieur, it was not—” Then she glanced up where Diana stood hidden in the shadows of the doorway and stopped, her eyes widening. If she saw Diana, she gave no indication to Temple, for she quickly returned her adoring gaze to him. “It was really nothing, monsieur, considering all you have done for me and my mother. You have saved my life twice now, and my small act today is nothing in comparison to your endless and selfless bravery.” She paused, so utterly poignant in her emotion, as only the French could be before she finished with a simpering, tear-laden declaration, “I will remain forever in your debt.”
    Diana’s hand covered her mouth to stifle a gasp. The de Vessays’ savior was Temple? Temple in Paris? During the Reign of Terror? Impossible.
    And yet…perhaps not. From what she had seen today, it was possible to believe that Temple was capable of anything.
    Including deceiving her into thinking he wasn’t the man she’d loved.
    Temple began straightening his waistcoat, then smoothed back his hair into some semblance of order, the fop starting to replace the hero. “Lucette, I have never thought of our past as a debt to be repaid. I did what was necessary—what any honorable man would have done that day.”
    They stared at each other for a moment, as if both reliving an experience that neither of them was likely ever to forget, and Diana felt a pang of jealousy run through her.
    That Temple had shared so much of his life with this…this…other woman, while she had been led to believe otherwise about him, left out of his life, his secrets…well it stung Diana to her very core.
    “You have taken your last assignment, Lucette,” Temple was saying. “Now that the French are aware of your work for Pymm and the Foreign Office, you will no longer be safe in London.”
    “But mon cher —”
    Her words ended as he put his forefinger to her lips. “No protests. I shall not hear them. You can no longer be a part of this dangerous work.” He nodded toward the end of the alley. “There is Elton with the carriage. He will see you safely to your apartment. Then you and your mother are to leave town. At once.”
    The lady took one glance down the alley, and then shook her head. “ Non, non . I cannot do this thing you ask.”
    Diana was of a mind to offer to help the girl pack.
    “Lucette, do not try your wiles with me,” Temple said. “I know them