A Necessary Husband by Debra Mullins Read Free Book Online Page B

Lady Agatha, who came awake with a loud, “Who’s there?”
    “Monsieur would like to try the waltz again, my lady,” Lucinda said respectfully, remaining close until the elderly woman gathered herself.
    “Well, why didn’t he say so?” Lady Agatha demanded.
    Lucinda went back to her place with Meg. Lady Agatha launched into a robust waltz, and Monsieur Collineau quickly took up the count again. “Now then…one, two, three, and one, two, three—smile, Miss Stanton-Lynch—and one, two, three…”
    Garrett chuckled as Lucinda spun haltingly around the room with Meg. He knew the exact instant that Lucinda caught sight of him standing in the doorway. Her eyes widened, and she stumbled.
    “Ouch!” Meg stopped dancing to hobble on one foot. “Lucinda, you stepped on my toes.”
    “I’m so sorry, Meg.” Lucinda turned her back on Garrett and helped the limping girl to a nearby chair.
    “I say, who is this?” Monsieur Collineau demanded, catching sight of Garrett. The dancemaster regarded Garrett’s simple attire through his quizzing glass. “Sir, this is a private lesson!”
    “I won’t interrupt.” With a bland smile, Garrett went over and seated himself in a chair beside the pianoforte, long legs sprawled before him. He nodded at Lady Agatha, then folded his hands over his stomach and prepared to watch the lesson.
    “See here!” the dance master burst out, puffing up with outrage.
    “I see no reason why my nephew cannot watch his sister’s dancing lesson, do you, Mrs. Devering?” Lady Agatha asked, her words stopping the dance master’s protests mid-breath.
    “Of course not, my lady,” Lucinda replied, looking as if she longed to say the opposite. She gave Garrett a furious look, then turned back to Meg.
    The dance master paled. “Your…er, nephew, Lady Agatha?”
    “Yes, my great-nephew, the Marquess of Kelton. He is Miss Stanton-Lynch’s brother. I trust you have no objections, Monsieur Collineau?”
    Garrett raised his brows in the most arrogant way he could.
    “Objections? Of course not!” The dance master cleared his throat. “Welcome, my lord. Please, stay as long as you like.”
    Garrett bared his teeth in a grin. “Thanks, I believe I will.”
    “Now, where were we?” Monsieur Collineau asked, looking back to Meg and Lucinda.
    “My foot hurts, and I’m tired,” Meg complained.
    Monsieur hurried over to his student. As both the dance master and Lucinda fussed over Meg, Garrett noticed Lucinda kept her back to him the whole time. Of course, this meant that he had a very nice view of her lovely backside. Despite the layers of petticoats and whatnot that ladies wore beneath their clothes, he could clearly make out the womanly curves of her buttocks and thighs.
    What would she do if she caught him staring? He thought of the glare she had given him, and couldn’t help the grin that tugged at his lips. She was still mad at him. And when she turned all that passionate anger in his direction, it made him hotter than a summer day in Savannah. Watching her bend over like that gave him a few ideas that would scorch her petticoats, if she only knew.
    Lady Agatha leaned forward and whispered, “What did you say to Mrs. Devering, you young scoundrel?”
    Startled from his lusty fantasy, Garrett tore his attention from Lucinda’s lovely bottom. “What?”
    “Come, now. What did you say to her? She’s furious with you,” the old lady confided in a lowvoice. “She’s a pretty thing. I know you like her.”
    “I—why wouldn’t I like her?”
    “Have you made untoward advances?” she asked, her dark eyes gleaming with something that looked like anticipation.
    “Of course not!” At least, not yet.
    “You didn’t?” His aunt seemed disappointed. “Too bad. I had such high hopes for you.”
    Before he could answer, Meg’s voice rose to a pitch he knew signaled trouble. “I told you, I’m tired and my foot hurts! Are you deaf? Shall I say it in French?”
    Monsieur Collineau’s