Surrender Read Online Free Page B

very narrow line during this courtship.
      She is well educated, I take it?" Lucas
    asked.
      Some would say extraordinarily so. I've
    heard that Lady Nettleship assumed most
    of the responsibility for educating her niece
    and one can certainly see the results. Miss
    Huntington would undoubtedly have come
    to grief in Society long ago were it not
    for the fact that her aunt's position is
    unassailable."
      What happened to Miss Huntington's
    parents?"
    Lady Atherton hesitated, then spoke
    evenly.   Dead. All of them. Quite sad,
    really. But the Lord giveth and the Lord
    taketh away."
      He certainly does."
    Lady Atherton cast him an uncertain
    glance and then cleared her throat.   Yes,
    well, the father died when Miss Huntington
    was a small child and her mother
    soon remarried. But Caroline Huntington
    was killed in a riding accident a little
    over eighteen months ago. Then Miss
    Huntington's stepfather, Samuel Whitlock,
    died less than two months after his wife.
    A terrible accident on a flight of stairs,
    I am given to understand. Broke his
    neck."
      A strange list of tragedies, but it does
    have the net effect of leaving Miss
    Huntington free of parents who might
    feel obliged to inquire deeply into my
    finances. The useful rumor of my uncle's
    hoarded wealth would not hold up under
    close scrutiny."
    Jessica pursed her lips in disapproval.
      I fear there's no getting around the fact
    that Miss Huntington spent the minimal
    amount of time in mourning after her
    stepfather's death. She made it quite clear
    she mourned only her mother, and even
    that ended as soon as it was seemly to
    do so."
      You reassure me, Jessica. The last thing
    I want is a woman who enjoys such
    entertainments as extended mournings.
    Life can be very short and it's a
    shame to waste it in a lot of useless
    grieving for what one cannot have, don't
    you think?"
      But one must learn to endure the
    tragedies thrust upon us. Such things build
    character. And one must also be conscious
    of the proprieties," Jessica admonished,
    looking faintly hurt.   In any event, Lady
    Nettleship, the aunt, is an excellent female
    with fine connections, but there is no
    denying she is a trifle odd in some ways.
    I fear she has allowed her niece to run a bit
    wild. Do you think you can tolerate Miss
    Huntington's rather unusual manners?"
      I think I can manage Miss Huntington
    very well, Jessica." Lucas took another
    swallow of champagne, his attention on
    Victoria, who was still dancing with her
    middle-aged baron.
    She was not what he had expected,
    Lucas reflected with a curious sense of
    relief He had been prepared to do his
    duty to his name, his title, and the many
    people for whom he was now responsible,
    but he had not expected to be able to
    enjoy himself in the process.
    Definitely not what he had expected.
    For one thing, he had not anticipated
    this near-violent rush of physical attraction.
    Jessica had informed him that Victoria
    Huntington was presentable enough, but
    that was as far as the description had
    gone.
    She was taller than he had been led to
    believe, much taller than the majority of
    the women around her. But Lucas was
    a tall man and it was good to find a
    woman who's head would rest nicely on
    his shoulder instead of somewhere down
    around the middle of his chest.
    Not what he had expected.
    And she moved with a long, graceful
    stride that had not a trace of the customary
    mincing quality women so often affected.
    She also danced well, he realized, not
    without a small pang of annoyance. He
    knew he could not even compete with
    the middle-aged baron when it came to
    partnering her.
    Lucas watched as Victoria's baron guided
    her effortlessly under a glittering chandelier.
    The massed lights revealed the
    golden highlights in her rich, tawny
    brown hair. She wore the thick stuff
    cut entirely too short for Lucas's taste.
    But the short, artfully careless style did
    reveal the delicate, enticing line of her nape
    and framed her