The Rogue's Reluctant Rose Read Online Free Page A

pleasant man, decided Araminta, as he walked with them through the fashionable West End. His good-natured, handsome face was animated as he spoke to the young ladies, and he seemed very enamoured with Susan.
    “You know, my dear Miss Sutton,” Harris was saying, “I have recently purchased a new curricle for the use of my mother and sisters, and I have yet to test it out myself. Perhaps a turn abound Hyde Park would do the trick. What say you?”
    “It certainly might,” agreed Susan, smiling beautifically through lowered lashes.
    “Of course, I shouldn’t think I’d like it at all, if I were to go in it alone.”
    “Quite understandable, my lord. And it simply would not do for you to dislike it for so silly a reason.”
    “Oh, yes. What would you suggest, Miss Sutton, to help me out of such a sorry plight?”
    “I couldn’t rightly say, my dear sir. Perhaps you ought to set out with some company instead?”
    “Hmm. I must say, I like your idea. Perhaps, Miss Sutton, you would do me the honour of accompanying me? With your father’s permission, of course.”
    “I’d be delighted — ”
    Araminta, only half-listening to the conversation, did not catch the rest of her cousin’s reply. Her eyes were caught on a tall figure heading towards them down the street. It was, unmistakably, the Marquis of Chestleton. Araminta felt her breath catch and her pulse quicken. He did not appear to have seen them yet, preoccupied as he was in conversation with the shorter gentleman with whom he was walking. His strides, noticed Araminta, were strong, with a kind of coiled power behind his every movement.
    She felt a moment of panic as she wondered how she could avoid a meeting. It would not do to be seen with him, and she could not be sure of her own reaction upon encountering the virile lord once again. She had yet to catch his notice, but it was just a matter of time. Walking on the same side of the street, they would be obliged to stop and exchange greetings. She considered crossing the carriageway, but she did not know how she would explain it to Susan and Lord Harris, and there was no conceivable way to cross the street unmarked. She knew she would make a fool of herself if she were to try. Araminta considered simply quickening her step and pretending not to have noticed him, but dismissed it quickly. Nor could she turn back the way they had come. Looking around quickly, the solution caught her eye.
    “Just a minute, Lord Harris, Susan,” she said, trying to look un-harried.
    “Why, my dear Miss Barrington, are you quite alright?” Harris sounded concerned. “You look very flushed.”
    “Do I? Oh, it is nothing, I promise you. Merely the exertion of the stroll. I am quite well: I only wondered if you would mind terribly if I were to step into Goodman’s Books for a moment. There is a volume there which I would very much like to look at. I should not be at all long.”
    Harris laughed. “No, no, by all means, do go in. We shall go in also, Miss Worthing, if you do not mind?”
    Susan did not, and Araminta shot an anxious look ahead of them at the much-nearer marquis, who still did not appear to have spied her, before quickly stepping into the establishment.
    ***
    As she made her way through the shop, surrounded by shelves piled high with many different tomes, Araminta felt her breathing return to normal. The sudden sense of relief made her smile brightly at the proprietor, as she returned the man’s polite greeting.
    Lord Harris and Susan lingered by the philosophy shelves at the front of the shop, talking softly under the watchful eye of Dorothy, Susan’s maid.
    Araminta quickly made her way over to the shelves piled high with novels. Gentlemen, she had heard, did not endeavour to read novels very often. There would be little chance of Chestleton coming across her there, should he by some chance venture into the little book shop.
    Her heart light with relief, she picked out a tome. Araminta’s lips curled into a