Dawn in My Heart Read Online Free Page B

are insulting!” she said through stiff lips.
    He gave her a thin smile. “But nevertheless honest. Until tomorrow afternoon then?”
    Leaving her no chance to reply, he turned and left.

Chapter Two
    L ord Delaney approached Tertius as soon as he saw him alone.
    â€œWell, how goes the courtship?”
    Tertius hid a yawn behind his gloved hand. “Normal, I expect.”
    â€œI must say you make a fine couple.” He cleared his throat. “You haven’t taken it amiss your father’s ordering you to marry and choosing your bride for you?”
    Sky shrugged. “As long as my affianced has received the proper upbringing and is a virtuous young lady, the two of us should make out tolerably well together.”
    Lane smiled. “You can rest easy on that score. Lady Gillian is a diamond of the first water. Your father has chosen the best of the season’s crop.”
    Sky’s lip twisted. “I’m sure that was no hardship for him. Women are his specialty.”
    Delaney laughed. “Lord Caulfield is an expert in the field of beauty and wit.” He rubbed his hands together. “Speaking of which, the evening is still young. What say we leave this establishment and find greener pastures?”
    Sky raised an eyebrow at his friend. “What had you in mind?”
    â€œSince you’ve been away from London so long, why don’t we start by getting you reacquainted with some of the—er—delights of town?”
    â€œThe only delights I recall are waking up with my head about to split open like a ripe melon and going to my father like a young whelp, begging him to cover a debt of honor incurred the night before.”
    Lane chuckled. “London hasn’t changed much, but I trust you have. You are a man of means. You don’t have to go to your father anymore, do you, to cover your gambling debts?”
    â€œThat is one thing that has changed for the better. I also know how to hold my liquor,” he added as the two headed out of the ballroom.
    â€œI have the most delicious thing to show you.”
    â€œYes? Whereabouts?”
    â€œDrury Lane.” He removed his watch. “We’re in time for the second show. Come along. You shan’t regret it.”
    Â 
    Once seated in Lord Delaney’s box at the theater, Sky observed that the earlier show had been a performance of Richard the Third with Kean. He would have preferred seeing the debut of the actor who was causing such a stir on the London stage to the farce being enacted now.
    â€œSee, what do you think?” his friend asked him, leaning forward in his seat.
    Taking up his opera glasses, Tertius regarded the players on the stage. He lingered on a pretty actress before replying to Delaney. “The one playing the maidservant?”
    â€œIsn’t she divine? Look at that leg, that shapely calf!”
    â€œYes, she is the handsomest of the lot,” he said, continuing to eye the young woman who was retorting to a male actor. As she swiveled around, he gave her a slap on the backside. The crowd roared with laughter.
    â€œHandsome? She’s beautiful. A goddess.”
    Tertius nodded. She was beautiful, even beneath her painted face and atrocious wig. He recognized the classical features. Suddenly she looked straight at him and acknowledged his scrutiny with a saucy wink before performing a pirouette away from his end of the stage. He could say the wink wasn’t meant for him for all the attention she paid him after that. But he knew it was real. He had enough experience to know.
    â€œI tell you,” Lane waxed on, “I shall have her before another fortnight is out. She has been holding off, but she won’t be able to resist me much longer. Everyone in town is vying for her affections. I have sent her flowers, candies, baubles. Yesterday, I sent her a pair of silver bracelets. I promised their duplicate in gold the day she allowed me to visit her after a