Debra Mullins by Scandal of the Black Rose Read Free Book Online

behind her mother.
    It was him .
    The earl returned with the newly arrived guests in tow. As he performed the introductions, Anna kept her eyes demurely lowered, panic screaming through her mind. It was him. Dear God, it was him, and her secret would be exposed!
    “And may I also present Miss Anna Rosewood. Miss Rosewood, this is my aunt, Mrs. Devereaux, and my cousins, Mrs. Lavinia Emberly and Mr. Roman Devereaux.”
    Forced by good manners to look up, Anna first acknowledged Rome’s mother, a woman about her own mother’s age with kind green eyes. Thenshe greeted Lavinia, a young woman with an infectious grin and bouncing dark curls. Finally, pulse skittering, she looked into the face of Mr. Roman Devereaux.
    And saw familiar green eyes that held no recognition at all.

Chapter 3
    R ome had always enjoyed the food prepared by the Haverford chef, and this evening was no exception. As he ate heartily, he listened with interest to Admiral Rosewood expound on his views of the newly restored king of France and the ex-emperor, Napoleon Bonaparte.
    The admiral paused for a breath, and Rome glanced down the table at his mother. She conversed with Mrs. Rosewood, and her laughter carried to him at the opposite end of the table. He couldn’t help but smile as he watched her. His mother hadn’t laughed nearly enough in the last ten years.
    Lavinia was chattering away at Marc. Aunt Phyllis had fallen asleep at the table, and Miss Rosewood stared only at her plate, moving thefood about with her fork, though not a bite of it passed her lips.
    This was the woman Marc intended to marry? This quiet mouse who dared not meet anyone’s eyes?
    Society would eat her alive.
    She glanced up at him and caught him studying her. For a long moment she held his gaze. He had expected shyness to be lurking in her wide doe eyes, but instead he saw intelligence and a hint of feminine awareness that took him by surprise. Then she looked away, her cheeks pinkening.
    Good Lord, was she flirting with him?
    He frowned. This woman was going to be his cousin’s wife, so he doubted she was trying to capture his attention. Perhaps he had misread her expression.
    Then she glanced back at him, a very feline look in her soft brown eyes, as if she knew his every secret desire and wanted to make them all come true. It was the look Eve must have worn when she held out the apple, and he could no more resist than Adam. His blood quickened despite the impropriety of the situation. Then Miss Rosewood cast down her eyes and once more moved food around her plate with her fork, biting her lower lip.
    Dear Lord, that mouth.
    Marc laughed at something Lavinia said, jerking him away from his lusty musings. What was the matter with him? Miss Rosewood was hiscousin’s fiancée—or very nearly so—and he had no business thinking about her as anything more than a potential cousin.
    But she seemed to have no such compunction. She kept sneaking glances his way. Whenever he caught her at it, she turned away quickly, blushing. The light played over her curling hair, accenting the exotic-looking structure of her cheekbones. Her lush mouth drew his attention again and again.
    Damn it, this was his cousin’s woman! He loved and respected his cousin too much to ever cause him sorrow. Marc didn’t deserve that.
    He wasn’t his father, blast it. There would be no more gossip about a Devereaux stealing another man’s bride.
    But what if the bride was trying to attract him ?
    There was no doubt about it—she kept looking his way, and the gleam in her eyes was far too knowledgeable for the schoolroom miss she was purported to be. What sort of female was Anna Rosewood? On the outside she looked to be a demure and proper lady, but no society maiden had ever looked at him like she was starving, and he was a sweet pastry.
    None that were innocents, at any rate.
    Damn it all! Had Marc attached himself to some sort of wanton? Did the jade only want to marry Marc for his money and title? Was