Caroline Linden Read Online Free Page B

pulled her close, right into his arms. Charlotte barely managed to restrain her gasp. “What—?”
    “The next dance will be a waltz,” he said, refusing to let her back away. Around them, she saw other people eyeing them in surprise. The musicians hadn’t started yet, and the waltz was still rare in the country. Very rare.
    “It will not. This is Kent, not London.” His arm was like iron around her. She pushed as inconspicuously as she could, with no effect. Everyone was staring at them still, and even though it made her wildly uneasy to be this close to him, she didn’t want to cause a scene by struggling with him on the dance floor. She settled for pinching the inside of his thumb.
    His smile was wolfish, and he simply squeezed her hand until she had to relent. “And Lady Kildair has just learned no hostess in London does not include at least one waltz. I gather our hostess doesn’t wish to be countrified, even if she lives in the country.”
    “Persuading Lady Kildair to play a waltz does not improve your standing with me.” The musicians were, in fact, beginning a waltz. She hadn’t danced it in over a year, but soon found it hardly mattered. He was a dominant partner, leading her through the steps with a forceful control Charlotte disliked. Even allowing for the fact that they were moving completely as one, she hated being steered along almost without any effort or will on her part. “You needn’t turn so hard,” she snapped. “I know the steps.”
    He quirked an eyebrow. “My apologies. Perhaps you would like to lead as well?”
    “Mr. Drake,” she said coldly, “I did not wish to dance at all. You have already had your answer to your suit. Leading Susan on in this manner will only make it harder on her when you leave.”
    “You’re very sure I’m going to turn tail and run at the first black look from you.”
    Charlotte was surprised into a short laugh. “Black look? Goodness, I thought it was so much more! Have I mistaken the matter? Are you in love with Susan after all?”
    “No. I have never professed such a thing, not even to her.” He was still smiling, the wretch. “Not everyone willfully misrepresents themselves.”
    “I did nothing of the sort. You assumed a great deal.” Something changed in his face, slight but significant, and Charlotte felt suddenly even less in control. Her hand was still tight in his, his arm was around her waist, and he was moving her around the ballroom so effortlessly Charlotte was sure they would continue waltzing even if she stopped participating altogether.
    “I assumed what a normal man would assume. Surely you know that. Or perhaps you’ve never seduced a man before?”
    “I didn’t seduce you,” she hissed, trying to wriggle her hand free. He refused to let go, and that unsettling light in his eyes burned brighter.
    “Then you should learn not to tease a man. He might get the wrong idea.”
    “Oh, of course!” She pulled a face. “I might have known you would fail to comprehend what any sensible person would see at once. Let me make it clear, then: you shall never, under any circumstances, marry Susan. I hold fortune hunters in the lowest possible esteem. I will not change my mind.”
    “Every woman changes her mind, even, I daresay, withered old witches.”
    Charlotte jerked, but his grip tightened again. “You understand nothing of women if you think that.”
    He laughed under his breath. “I know a great deal about women.”
    “All men think that. Fools, every one.”
    “A fool for a woman? Why, yes, I believe most people would agree with that. I’ve been a fool for more than one woman, after all. I just can’t help myself; I like them too much.”
    “Particularly those of good fortune.”
    Another wicked smile gleamed down at her. He was devilishly handsome with that smile. “Of course. Often it is a woman’s finest attribute.”
    Charlotte gave him a condescending smile of her own. “Naturally. When that’s all you want in a