And the Miss Ran Away With the Rake by Elizabeth Boyle Read Free Book Online Page A

tried to breathe. What was wrong with her? Dishforth was expecting a sensible, respectable partner.
    I opened my window tonight and called to you, softly and quietly, certain the breeze would carry my plea to you. And then I waited. For you to come and stand beneath my sill and implore me to follow you. I would, you know. Follow you. Into the night.
    Well, mostly sensible and respectable, she conceded. In her own defense, she’d written those lines far too late into a sleepless night, and after one too many comfits.
    They swirled and turned about the dance floor. Near the edge of the crowd, beside that invisible line which divided the dancers from the rest of the crush, stood Tabitha and her beloved Preston.
    Daphne and her partner whirled past, and in a blur, she watched first Tabitha’s mouth fall open, then Preston’s.
    There wasn’t even time to mouth the words, I think this is him . But if the expression on Tabitha’s face, a mixture of amazement and shock, said anything, Daphne felt assured she’d uncovered the man she’d risked so much to find.
    Then her partner echoed her very thoughts. “I have been searching for you, my little Miss Conundrum.”
    He had?
    “You have?” she gasped, then tried desperately to rein in her hammering heart, all the while adding another check to her list.
    He’d been looking for her. If that wasn’t enough evidence . . .
    Daphne, don’t get ahead of yourself, that ever-present voice of reason warned.
    “Of course,” he told her. “That is why we needed no introductions.”
    None whatsoever, she mused as she looked into his deep blue eyes, which shone with a rich, dangerous desire for her and her alone.
    He was all but telling her who he was.
    But not quite.
    Straightening, she returned his sally. “I rather thought you had avoided propriety in an attempt to circumvent my chaperone.”
    He peered at the edges of the ballroom. “A regular old dragon, is she? I had rather thought the invitation list a tad more exclusive.”
    She laughed. “She is well disguised, but don’t say I didn’t advise you. She’s ever so fearsome.”
    “I stand warned,” he said, again scanning the room as if he thought to catch sight of this fierce creature.
    “Would she have stopped you from asking me to dance?”
    His brow furrowed. “How fearsome are we talking? Is she the fire-breathing sort, or just the more common menacing type, all scales and teeth?”
    Daphne giggled. “Oh, most decidedly fire-breathing.”
    He nodded. “I’ll make a note to fetch my suit of armor before you introduce me.”
    She saw her opportunity and leapt in. “And to whom would I be introducing her?”
    Yet her partner was just as wily. He shook his head and refused her even a tidbit. “That is up to you to discover, that is if you haven’t guessed.”
    “That won’t do,” she told him.
    “It won’t? You don’t want to discover who I am?”
    “Oh, yes, I would love to know who you are, but it will be ever so difficult to identify you once my chaperone has burnt you to a crisp.”
    This made the rogue grin widely. “Then you must endeavor to discover who I am before that unfortunate occurrence, if only to let my family and friends know of my brave demise.”
    “And again, whom should I inform?”
    “I doubt very much I need to tell you,” he replied. “I daresay you already know who I am.”
    “I might,” she admitted.
    He leaned down and again his lips were right above the curl of her earlobe. “I knew you in an instant.”
    T he Earl of Roxley edged over and filled the space vacated by Daphne.
    Harriet glanced over her shoulder. “My lord.”
    “Miss Hathaway.” He smiled at her. “Enjoying your evening?”
    Harriet nodded and tamped down the retort that was even now fighting for an airing.
    I’d enjoy it far more if you’d ask me to dance, you lowly cur.
    Yes, well, unfortunately ladies were not allowed to be honest in their interactions with gentlemen.
    Of course that implied she