Sweet Deception Regency 07 - The Divided Hearts Read Online Free

There’s a room next to yours that’s just collecting dust.
Looks down towards the harbor. Just right for a boy. I’ll probably
regret having him tearing through the house, but I’ll manage.”
    “Gammon, you old fake!” Judith reached up
and put her arms around her father’s neck, pulling his shaggy head
toward her for an enthusiastic kiss. “That’s just because you’re
wonderful and I’m very fond of you.”
    “Devil take it, girl!” Simon blustered.
“What will all the tabbies think of your hoydenish behavior? Not
five minutes on the shore and already taking up republican ways.
Mingling with the common folk, and you a proper lady.”
    “Piffle!” Judith said, taking his arm again
and smiling up at the red-faced man.

    Nathanael Bellingham sat his horse on the
edge of the quay as he stared at the vision on the arm of Simon
Hallowell. He had heard that his friend’s daughter was coming for a
visit but he had never imagined that a child of Simon’s would
resemble a beautiful princess with a head crowned with shimmering
gold. Even in her black mourning gown and black veiled bonnet, her
face and figure caught the eye. He was sorry she was smiling up at
Simon because at this angle he couldn’t see the color of her eyes.
And somehow it was necessary to have this information. His knee
pressed against Viking’s side and the horse moved slowly through
the crowd.
    “Well met, my friend,” Simon roared in
welcome when he caught sight of Nate.
    As the black stallion approached, Judith
caught her breath at the sleek beauty of the animal. Muscles
rippled beneath the velvet skin and the depth of chest bespoke
power and stamina. A lover of horses, it was a several minutes
before Judith could tear herself away from her appraisal of the
stallion to examine the figure in the saddle. They were a perfect
match, she thought as she studied the rider.
    The gentleman had the same sleek build,
lightly muscled beneath the tanned skin. There was a hint of coiled
power in the erect body and gloved hands which controlled the
spirited horse. And what a glorious head! The man had a finely
chiseled nose and mouth and a granite hard jaw that spoke of either
stubbornness or authority. Above his noble forehead, the hair,
surprisingly powdered, was pulled back and tied at the nape of his
neck with a black velvet ribbon. On looks alone, both horse and
rider were aristocrats.
    “Your servant, Simon,” Nate drawled.
    At the first languid tones of the man’s
voice, Judith felt an almost physical pain of disillusionment. In
London she had met this man’s image, fops and dandies who flitted
through society, content to be conversation pieces rather than
actual members of any group. Now as she looked at the man, she
noticed that his fashionable apparel was worn with an air of
pompous arrogance that declared the wearer to be, at least in his
own opinion, an arbiter of taste.
    To the casual observer, the man’s buckskins
were the first stare of subdued elegance. It was the fawn color,
too light to be serviceable, and the touches of dark leather
detailing that gave a hint of the care taken to impress. The
brilliantly-white silk shirt had a touch too much lace at collar
and cuff. The brim of the beaver hat was slightly wider than
customary and the color had been bleached to match the coxcomb’s
polished top boots.
    Somehow Judith had thought America would
have been free of men such as this stranger. As her father nudged
her to regain her wandering attention, she drew herself up and a
mantle of cold civility settled over her.
    “My dear, I would like you to meet an old
friend,” Simon said, waving toward the mounted rider.
    The dandy swept his hat off, then reaching
into his breast pocket he extracted a quizzing glass and turned it
on Judith. “And this must be the lovely Lady Hallowell.”
    “My father tells me that while I am in
America, I am merely Miss Hallowell,” Judith answered icily.
    “To some, you will always be a lady.”
    The