Kissing Cousins Read Online Free Page A

your bonnet, ” he said.
    “ Miss Donaldson knows I shall be going to Brighton, ” Samantha replied, fingering the velvet squabs of the carriage and running her eye over the glitter of what was probably silver appointments. “ I brought my bandbox with me. ”
    “ You will want to change your bonnet, in any case. ”
    “ The servants have gone on ahead to Drumquin with most of our trunks, ” she said, although she had, in fact, kept another bonnet behind, as this one was considered too fine to subject to the long journey home. “ You don ’ t seem to realize, Cousin, speed is of the essence if we hope to keep Darren out of Newgate. ”
    Jail! He could almost hear the door clang, and the death knell of his own aspirations. Salverton was perfectly alive to the urgency of the matter and decided no one who mattered would see the garish bonnet.
    “ Spring ‘ em, Foley, ” he called to his coachman, and the carriage lurched into motion.
     

Chapter Three
     
    The first glimmering that this trip was not to go as smoothly as Salverton hoped occurred before they got out of London. In fact, it was at the corner of Piccadilly that Lord Carnford, a fellow Tory and colleague, recognized Salverton ’ s carriage and signaled his coachman to stop.
    Salverton uttered a mild profanity, apologized, and said to Samantha, “ Sit in the shadows and don ’ t speak. ”
    Samantha crouched in the farthest corner as Carnford hopped out of his carriage and advanced to the window of Salverton ’ s rig. Before nightfall, even the darkest corner was not very dark, however, so she turned her head aside, hoping to conceal her face by her bonnet.
    “ Glad I bumped into you, Salverton, ” Carnford said. “ I wonder if you would mind delivering my apologies to his grace. I was to dine at Derwent House this evening, but I have had a frantic note from my aunt Hettie. It seems her husband has suffered a stroke — died this afternoon. She needs me to handle the arrangements for her. Derwent will understand. I wrote my apologies, of course, but did not take time to give a reason. ”
    “ I ’ m very sorry to hear of your trouble, Carnford, but it happens I had to cancel the dinner party myself. ”
    “ Indeed? ” Carnford waited, fully expecting to hear a tragedy outpacing his own, for he knew Salverton would not willingly offend the duke.
    “ A family emergency, ” Salverton said briefly.
    Carnford ’ s sharp eyes strayed over his friend ’ s shoulder to the fetching blond lady trying to hide in the corner. His jaw fell an inch. “ Ah, just so, ” he said in a high, disbelieving voice. Salverton with a lightskirt! He wouldn ’ t have believed it if he hadn ’ t seen her with his own eyes. Lord Salty was back to his old tricks! A reckless grin formed on his lips and he said in a low, insinuating voice, “ Mum's the word, old chap. ”
    Salverton replied coolly, “ This is my cousin, Miss Oakleigh, from Drumquin. ” Samantha pulled herself farther into the corner, trying to disappear. “ Don ’ t you want to meet Lord Carnford, Cousin, ” Salverton said grimly.
    “ I am certainly eager to meet your cousin, ” Carnford leered.
    Samantha leaned forward and smiled. The setting sun shone on her garish bonnet, and illuminated her pretty face, with a few wayward curls slipping over her cheeks. “ Ever so pleased to meet you, milord, ” she said with an uncomfortable smile.
    “ The pleasure is mutual, Miss Oakleigh, ” Carnford said, and went, laughing, to his carriage.
    Salverton turned on his cousin in wrath. “ Ever so pleased to meet you! ” he exploded. “ Where the devil did you pick up that ill-bred phrase? You sounded like a lightskirt. ” In his overwrought condition he failed to notice he had used improper language again.
    “ I daresay I had it of Wanda, ” she said in a small voice. “ All her friends say it. I thought it was the smart, London way of greeting, and didn ’ t want your friend to think me a flat.