Lords of Desire Read Online Free Page A

sorry condition. She sensed intangible remnants left floating in the very air like dust motes. She spun around, dancing a solitary waltz, and let her head fall back as she gazed up at the vaulted ceiling. “Ilove this castle!”
    Tory was eager to explore Bodiam’s towers. The castle had a round tower at each of its four corners and square ones midway between. She was traversing a long passageway that led to a round tower, when suddenly she heard a faint noise of padding feet behind her. She turned, fully expecting to see a dog. Her eyes widened in shocked disbelief. “It’s a leopard!”
    She started to run, her heart pounding with fear. She glanced back, hoping she had been mistaken, but she was gripped with terror when she saw the large spotted cat was now chasing her. She reached the end of the passageway and in desperation began to climb the spiral staircase of the round tower. She could hear the animal gaining on her and ran faster and faster. Her silk bag slipped from her fingers as she frantically hoisted up her skirts so she would not trip. Her breath was exhausted and she had a painful stitch in her side when she saw a door up ahead. Hope plummeted as she realized she had reached the tower’s summit. “Please let it be unlocked!” she beseeched heaven.
    Tory lifted the latch and pushed hard. The heavy oak door swung open. She stumbled through it, slammed it shut, and leaned back against it, weak with relief and gasping for breath.
    “Who the devil areyou and what the hellfire are you doing here?” a deep masculine voice demanded.
    Victoria found herself in a luxuriously appointed chamber at the top of the round tower.
    “Peregrine, is that you?” she asked breathlessly. “There’s aleopard outside this door!”
    He advanced toward her. “The leopard lives here. It’s your identity that is in question.”
    Tory stared at the man who looked like Sir Peregrine and yet he was somehow different.Perhaps it’s his brother. “You are wearing a wig,” she blurted.
    His hand swept off the powdered wig and negligently tossed it onto a gilt chair. His own black hair fell to his shoulders. “And you are wearing the ugliest garment I’ve ever seen.”
    Tory looked down at her gray cambric dress with its leg-of-mutton sleeves and was highly offended.
    “You are extremely rude!”
    “Rude, crude, and tattooed,” he affirmed. “What is your name?”
    She lifted her chin. “I am Victoria Carswell.”
    “Carswell?”He spat the name as if it were an abomination. “If you’re Thomas Carswell’s offspring, you’re here to spy on me.”
    “My father, the Right Reverend Thomas Carswell, is deceased.”
    “Reverend? You must think me simple in the head! He’s the bloody customs officer who just gibbeted George Chapman on the village green.”
    Oh heavens, the man is mad…it must run in the family.Tory backed away from him.They keep him locked up here in the tower.
    He picked up a sword and took a threatening step toward her. “D’you know the fate of a spy is imprisonment, or worse, wench?”
    “Please…I was merely exploring the castle…. I’m not a spy.”
    He bowed gallantly. “Ah. In that case, feel free to leave.”
    She moved toward the door and remembered the leopard.
    He gave her a wicked grin. “Exactly.”
    “You cannot keep me here,” she gasped.
    “I can.” He flourished the sword. “You might as well make yourself comfortable.” He swept her with a critical glance. “If we are to dwell together, I must rid you of your offensive garb.” With a deft flick of his wrist, the slim blade of his sword swished through the air and slashed her dress from neck to hem.
    Tory screamed, then stared in dismay as the gray cambric parted to reveal her corset and drawers. “You lecherous swine!”
    The wicked grin returned. “Lord Hawkhurst, at your service.”
    The name was familiar to Victoria from the history books she read. The town of Hawkhurst had been named after the noble lord who had