Regency Debutantes Read Online Free Page B

vouch for its healing properties.’
    Georgiana’s gaze flicked from the strong tanned fingers that curled around the handles of the tray to the dark warmth of his eyes. Lord Nathaniel had brought her the broth, in person! Unwittingly a crinkle of suspicion crept across the bridge of her nose. She wetted her suddenly dry lips and looked at the cook.
    ‘That he can, miss,’ beamed Mrs Tomelty. ‘Could never get enough of my broth, could Lord Nathaniel. Always had to have a bowl full to the brim every time he fell out of a tree or come off his horse. Never known a little ‘un like him for getting himself into mischief. Why, I remember the time him and Lord Henry were swimming, bare as the day they were born, in the—’
    ‘Thank you, Mrs Tomelty,’ said Nathaniel rather forcefully.
    A smile tugged at the corners of Georgiana’s mouth. Suddenly the tall, athletic gentleman standing only a few feet from where she lay in bed didn’t seem quite so intimidating.
    Mrs Tomelty moved forward to pat Georgiana’s hand. ‘Now, duck, you eat that up, and it’ll do you the world of good. I’ll be just over there in that chair by the fireplace so that there won’t be no problems ‘bout Lord Nathaniel bein’ in a young lady’s bedroom.’ The elderly servant remained blissfully unaware of the ghost of a grimace that flitted across Nathaniel’s face. She hobbled the distance to the fireplace, eased herself into the rose brocade chair, and made herself comfortable.
    ‘Please forgive my intrusion, Miss Raithwaite. I know that I should not be here, but I wished to speak to you…alone…to reassure myself that you are well.’ There was a slight uneasiness about him, as if he wanted to say something, but didn’t know quite how to go about saying it.
    Georgiana’s suspicion should have escalated, but it didn’t. Instead, it fizzled away to be replaced with an intrinsic trust.
Has your experience with Mr Praxton taught you nothing of gentlemen?
the little voice inside her head insisted. But somethingoutside of logic and common sense assured her that the man standing before her now was nothing like Walter Praxton. Mr Praxton revolted her, but Lord Nathaniel…A shiver tingled up her spine and she deliberately turned her mind from that vein of thought. ‘I am very well, thank you, my lord,’ she managed with a politeness of which Mama would have been proud.
    He was looking at her as if he knew the words that tripped from her tongue for the lie that they were.
    The pause stretched.
    Georgiana felt the first hint of a flush touch her cheeks. Lord, but he couldn’t possibly know the truth. She must stop acting like a ninny-hammer and pull herself together.
    ‘I wanted to ask you about your accident. Were you alone with Mr Praxton when it happened?’
    The gentle hint of colour in Georgiana’s face ignited with all the subtlety of a beacon. Her heart set up a thudding reverberation in her chest. She swallowed once, and then again. ‘Yes.’ Her fingers moved to gather hold of Mrs Radcliffe’s book lying atop the bedcovers. She gripped the ornately gilded leather and took a deep breath. ‘Yes.’ This time more strongly. ‘Mr Praxton wished to show me an interesting botanical species that grows close to the river.’
Or so he said.
‘My parents and their friends were following in a walk of their own.’
    One dark eyebrow raised in a minuscule motion.
    Georgiana saw it and found herself swamped in a feeling of wretched shame and anger. She knew very well the path his mind was taking. ‘We were not alone for long.’
Long enough for Walter Praxton to make clear the exact nature of his intent!
She knew she was only exposing her own guilt. Drat the man, why was he looking at her like that? She had a sudden urge to confess all, tell him exactly what Mr Praxtonhad done and why. But when all was said and done, Nathaniel Hawke was a stranger and a man…a very attractive man. And she couldn’t reveal such sordid details,