Passionate Read Online Free Page A

from my horse.”
    He regarded her steadily for a moment, and she had the impression he was trying not to smile. “Then I must beg your pardon. I assumed your mount had run away with you.”
    Cheeks flaming, Lily lifted her chin. “It was not at all the case. I was only…” But how could she explain? Wasn’t it obvious that someone who had behaved as indecently as she had would flee the eyes of a stranger?
    “Lily!” Isabelle rushed up with Richard close behind. “Oh dear, what a dreadful morning you have had.”
    “That was quite a bit of horsemanship, sir,” Richard said, giving the stranger an admiring look.
    “Like someone out of the circus!” Isabelle added. “The way you swooped her from the saddle.”
    “Indeed,” the man said. “Perhaps I should seek out that profession, since I have been informed I have little prospect as gallant rescuer. My apologies to you all for the manner of my introduction. I’m James Huntington, down from London and looking for Sir Edward Strathmore of Brookdale Manor. Is this his residence?”
    “You have found it, sir.” Richard offered his hand. “I’m Richard Strathmore. Sir Edward is my father. This is my sister, Isabelle, and my cousin Lily.”
    “Lily’s girth broke,” Isabelle explained. “The saddle slipped and took her with it. That’s why she was—”
    “Isabelle, please!” Lily felt her blush deepen.
    “I was only going to say that it was lucky your fall was softened—by a nice muddy ditch.”
    Lily wanted to cover her face with her hands. Did this man have to hear every humiliating detail?
    “I have heard that some people pay dearly to lie in a bath of mud,” Mr. Huntington said. “Good for the complexion.”
    The tension burst.
    “Mud baths!” Richard laughed—the wretch—and Isabelle too.
    The so-witty Mr. Huntington smiled, humor sparking golden lights in his eyes. It was beyond mortifying.
    Lily could take no more. She swept them all with a glare, then turned on her heel and marched back across the pasture, dragging her ruined skirts as she went.
     
    James watched the woman’s retreating form. What an odd creature. She had charged off like some kind of bandit-queen, riding astride and leaping ditches. All she lacked was a dagger clenched between her teeth. A dagger she would have used on him when he pursued her, no doubt.
    Richard smiled. “You caught Lily at a severe disadvantage, sir. You will find her far more agreeable once she has had her bath.”
    James doubted it. He did not intend to find her at all—agreeable or not. He would consult with Sir Edward and be gone before the admittedly shapely Miss Strathmore had finished rinsing out her hair. She had a lovely pair of legs and he would not soon forget their display, but his business had nothing to do with the beauty who had sat so brazenly astride her mount.
    “Come, we will bring you to the house. Father will be in the library.”
    “You are most kind. Despite the awkwardness of our introduction, my errand demands that I see him.”
    After the grooms had taken their horses, Richard escorted James inside and rapped on a mahogany door.
    “Hello, Father. You have a visitor. Mr. James Huntington of London.”
    “Yes, yes, come in.” A balding man, shorter than James, with bright blue eyes and a ruddy, genial face, waved a hand lens at him. “Welcome, Mr. Huntington. I received your uncle’s letter and have been expecting you. Do sit down.”
    Sir Edward settled in the chair opposite. “I knew your grandfather—a fine man. We exchanged correspondence on matters botanical. His passing was a great loss for the scientific community—but I’m sure you didn’t ride all the way out to Brookdale just to accept my condolences.”
    “No—although I thank you for them. I need your help locating a valley my grandfather visited on one of his expeditions to North Africa.” James reached into his coat pocket for the letter and handed it to Sir Edward. “I would be interested to know