Season For Desire Read Online Free Page A

green, squinting wariness; a strong nose and cheekbones under shadowed skin; a full mouth, pursed as she held his gaze. Every clean line of her face held pride, but something else, too. Shame, he thought it was. She must be feeling confused. Betrayed. Even a little afraid.
    All in all, it was a dreadful expression, as pained as it was painful. The force of it made Giles step back again. “I do believe you,” he said. “And I’m sorry.”
    This time, it was not so much an apology as a statement of human feeling. Richard, Giles thought wryly, would have been gratified to hear his eldest employ such politeness.
    Again, he extended a hand—just to guide her, not to touch her at all—and together they made their way to the Rutherfords’ parlor. Which was now a minor holding of the Earldom of Alleyneham.
    “There they are,” barked an unfortunately familiar female voice as soon as Giles pushed open the door. “Satisfied that you’ve starved us long enough, Rutherford? May we have the dinner brought in now?”
    Lady Irving . Giles had met her once in London, during the Rutherfords’ brief venture into the settled bits of England. Richard had, at the time, been sure that he had only to ask and wave about his dollars, and the English would turn over their fusty old jewels to be reset anew.
    Just as she had been in London, Lady Irving was dressed in silk brighter than any color in nature, her turban and gown clashing hues of red and orange. Though about the same age as Richard, her expression had none of the elder Rutherford’s patient good humor. She was sharp: aquiline nose, angled eyebrows, hard jaw, set mouth. And her voice was the sharpest of all.
    Giles ignored her barking as he would that of a misbehaving dog. “Father, you waited for us? I thought you’d have dined already.”
    Richard paused as a platter of roast meat was laid on the table, then drew back chairs for Giles and the troublesome daughter of Lord Alleyneham. “I thought it only polite since you were doing a favor for the earl and his companion.”
    “We require brandy,” Lady Irving informed a servant, then fixed bright brown eyes on Richard. “You’ve got it all wrong, man. I’m already doing a favor for the earl, so your son cannot be doing a favor for me.”
    “Surely that’s not so.” Richard smiled. “One good deed doesn’t preclude another.”
    “You forget to account for haughtiness, Father.” Giles served out a plate of meat and vegetables, then placed it before Lady Audrina at his left. “Hungry?” The lady shook her head violently, as though he’d handed her a plate of smashed toads. After a pause, Giles took the food for himself. “Perhaps I forgot to account for haughtiness, too.”
    There were far too many nobles in this room, rarefying the air by putting up their noses. And the servants! Giles was unused to the presence of servants everywhere, slipping about the edges of the room, ever present yet ignored. Upon the arrival of his master, the tired footman had been required to hoist himself from his chair. Leaning against the wall by the brick hearth, he had fallen into a doze despite the argument that seemed to be ongoing between Lady Audrina’s father and—
    Well, everyone.
    “As I was saying,” the earl boomed above the din of his own cutlery, “I shall escort Llewellyn back to London myself. He must be seen to return to town without my daughter, so society will not connect their disappearances.”
    “Could I not travel to London with you instead, Papa?” Lady Audrina asked. “I tell you, Llewellyn took me from home against my will. Surely if I returned with you—”
    “Your will does not enter into the matter.” Lord Alleyneham smacked the table with the flat of his knife. “Were this situation to become known, it would not matter whether you intended to flee London or not. Your departure and your guilt are the same.”
    His daughter opened her mouth, and the earl held up a beefy hand. “No. No