A Slight Miscalculation Read Online Free Page A

nodded, as if that were the desirable
state.
    “Don’t you see? Change can be good. You
stepped into those girls’ lives a few days ago—and changed them for
the better.”
    He looked struck by that simple truth. “I
didn’t mean to.”
    “And you couldn’t have predicted it, either.
That’s what’s reassuring. It’s the variations in fate and the
unpredictability in people that can make life grand.”
    He frowned. “Not all people are worthy,
Jane.” He tried to use her words against her.
    She couldn’t let him.
    “No. Some are not. That’s the beauty and
purpose of life, I think. We move through the chaos, touching,
learning, comparing, testing. And when we find someone who fits
with us—we make a connection. A lasting friendship, a partnership.”
She blushed. “A romance.”
    She breathed deeply. “Like you see patterns
among the stars to make constellations—we’re forging our own
constellations down here.” She smiled. “And every connection fuels
us. Makes us shine brighter.”
    He looked stunned. Almost sick, as if she’d
shot him with another arrow. The girls were leaving the stage now,
to applause from Liberty and Middleton. But she was suddenly caught
up in Worthe’s arms.
    Renegade pleasure shivered through her as he
pulled her close. Space and air between them grew scant—but charged
with the heated sting of want. Worthe’s eyes shone a bit wild—and
hers closed as he leaned in and captured her mouth. His kiss
pressed, demanding. Slightly shocked, but thoroughly thrilled, she
kissed him back.
    He gentled, and she reveled in his embrace,
marveled at the whimsy of fate that had brought them together, made
them such a perfect fit for each other. In this way, too. Her blood
was alight. Her hands wandered across hard, unfamiliar planes even
as she softened beneath him, inviting, encouraging, asking for
more.
    Almost as abruptly as he’d begun, he pulled
away. His finger drifted across the bridge of her nose and across
her cheek. “There’s something I must do,” he said hoarsely. He
gripped her shoulders. “Be ready to attend the opening night.”
    And he was gone.
     
    Worthe’s head was spinning. There were
moments of elegance in science; brief seconds of peace,
satisfaction and certainty when one at last understood a truth that
fit into the puzzle that was the universe.
    Jane Tillney had just handed him the
sweetest puzzle piece he’d ever encountered—and he’d instinctively
recognized the extreme correctness of it. More than an elegant
moment, it had been a turning point on the path of his life.
    It took a while to get back to Mayfair from
Islington, but he arrived before the start of fashionable visiting
hours. Ignoring her butler’s protest, he barged right in to his
mother’s home and on up to her rooms.
    She sat in front of her mirror, applying
cream to her face. “Worthe!” she gasped. “Is everything all
right?”
    “Everything is fine, Mother.” He stepped in
and perched upon the nearby bed. “I have so much to tell you.”
     
     

Chapter
Five
     
     
    “I’ll hear no more about the theater!” Lady
Tillney called as she swept out of the room. “We’re going to Lord
Dayle’s ball. Fetch your wrap.”
    Jane rose languidly. Two
days had passed since Lord Worthe had kissed her so beautifully—and
she’d had no word since. Sighing, she took her cloak from the maid.
Perhaps she would look for a German prince tonight.
    She’d worn her best, a jeweled ivory satin
over a brilliant green under dress. For naught, it would seem. She
fought back tears as she started down the stairs.
    “Good evening.”
    Jane gasped. He was here at last, looking
dashing in evening finery, standing in the entry below and smiling
up at her. An unfamiliar lady, decked in jewels, waited behind
him.
    “I wondered if you would mind changing your
plans?” He shot her a grin. “I understand there is a very fine play
debuting tonight in Sadler’s Wells.”
    “Who’s this? What’s