Dilemma in Yellow Silk by Lynne Connolly Read Free Book Online Page A

members of any gathering here. It had formed the backdrop to not a few downfalls of young maids. Lady Strenshall had more than once demanded it razed to the ground. Perhaps that was behind her desire to remodel the gardens. The work would give her a chance to rid herself of the hated maze.
    Hedges rose higher than her head, the box-trees so dense she could not see through them. Too private. But Mr. Stewart was a boy, barely capable of overcoming her.
    Once inside and a few paths in, he turned and backed her against a hedge. Her spirits sank. She had no mind to upset his lordship’s guests. But if she had to, she knew how to bring her knee up and depress a few pretensions.
    “You should not allow my sister to speak to you in that way,” he said.
    She liked him for that. “She is a guest, and young besides.”
    “So are you, but you never traduce anyone.”
    She smiled. “Not within their hearing, at any rate.”
    His smile broadened. He was a good-looking man. In a few years he’d be a heartbreaker. “So we’re to dance. What if I want more?”
    “You will have to want.” Her heart beat faster. He was becoming too bold. If he tried to kiss her, how would she deter him without offending him? “Sir, we should be seeking your mother.”
    “We will, in a moment. You know my sister means to have the earl?”
    Viola tried not to laugh. “Why does she think she will succeed when so many have failed? The whole of eligible London seeks his hand.”
    “She means to trap him before that time.”
    She would not tell him Marcus was leaving the next day. Otherwise he might tell his sister, and then she might do something foolish, like try to entrap him. Marcus would be adept at avoiding his fate.
    That made their kiss even more inexplicable. Why would he kiss her alone in a room where they could be interrupted at any minute? What had pushed him to take that step? Not hard for her, because she had wanted to kiss him for a long time. But him? She doubted he thought of her from one end of the year to the next. Not half as much as she thought of him.
    If she hadn’t had on her full armor of gown, stays, and petticoat, the hedge would be pricking her back. Mr. Stewart was pressing too hard. “We should really return.” Ah, now she understood what was going on. “You’re helping your sister now, are you not?”
    His smile turned wry. “I’m afraid so. She bribed me with five guineas and time alone with you. You’re worth more than the guineas.”
    “I should hope so.” If she tried to leave, she’d have to get past his body. He really had grown since she’d seen him last. Should she risk getting close to a man twice in two days? This time with none of the eagerness she’d experienced with Marcus.
    As if she’d summoned him, his voice drifted over the hedge. “Miss Gates?”
    “Here!” she called out before Mr. Stewart could prevent her. “We are trapped in the maze!” It seemed like the most expedient explanation, although she knew the place better than she knew her own bedroom. Oh, no, why did she have to think of bedrooms?
    “If you follow my voice, you will find your way out. It’s really not difficult.” He continued to talk, probably because that assured them that he was doing nothing he should not. And so that Miss Stewart could not claim anything of the kind.
    Within five minutes, including a detour she took for appearance’s sake, she’d left the maze. Miss Stewart had her hand on Marcus’s arm, but he appeared unharmed, positively cheerful.
    Miss Stewart glared at her. “You are quite disheveled, Miss Gates.”
    Viola plucked a twig from her hair. “So I am. When we return to the house you must excuse me while I right my appearance.” And change into a gown more suited to dinner, although she would not say that. She stuck her chin in the air and walked past them. “Thank you for rescuing me, my lord.”
    “Think nothing of it,” he said, humor coloring his voice.
    He must know she needed no