Engaging the Earl by Diana Quincy Read Free Book Online Page A

petted the creature. He looked a little pale, almost haggard, but the stern countenance that belonged to this new version of Edward eased as he murmured something to the dog.
    He looked up at her with a smile in his dark emerald eyes that made her stomach flip. “This messy-looking creature can’t possibly belong to you.”
    “She does indeed. I have been looking for her for forever. She ran off a half-hour ago. Vera, come.” But the blasted creature just rolled over on her back with her paws in the air, her panting smile inviting him to scratch her belly. “And why can’t she possibly belong to me?”
    “I’d expect an incomparable such as Lady Kat to own the best-groomed canine in town.” He smiled down at the dog. “Not a hopelessly mangy whelp like this fellow.”
    “Now you’ve gone and insulted a lady.”
    He looked up quickly. “I meant no insult to you.”
    “Not me,” she said, amusement in her voice. “That messy fellow is female.”
    He grinned at her and light came into his eyes. For a moment they fell back six years—to when they had talked easily and enjoyed each other’s humor. “Ah, then I must offer my apologies.” He favored Vera with a doubtful look. “Although, while she may be female, she does not appear to be a lady.”
    She looked at Vera, sprawled out on her back with her loose hanging tongue, her fur matted and wet. The dog looked utterly relaxed, half asleep actually, thanks no doubt to Edward’s ministering hands on her belly. “I’m afraid you have caught her at her worst. She decided to take a dip in the pond.”
    He came to his feet, as if belatedly realizing he’d been sitting in the presence of a lady. “That explains the malodorous scent.”
    He was dressed in a casual manner which still retained a certain military precision. The form-fitting nature of his clothing emphasized how lean he’d become. His chocolate jacket was slightly wrinkled from his crouched stance against the tree, and his mushroom-colored breeches bore traces of grass and twigs.
    Vera remained on her back, watching Edward with one open eye, clearly hoping he’d return to the task of scratching her belly. After a moment, she appeared to give up because she rolled over onto her legs and sauntered over to press her nose against Kat’s thigh.
    She petted the dog’s damp, furry head. “Suddenly Vera recalls that she belongs to me.”
    “Vera, is it? What breed is she?”
    “No one really knows. We’re not certain how my father’s Pomeranian came to be enceinte at the country estate.” Her face warmed to be discussing breeding with him.
    Turning his attention back to Vera, he didn’t appear to notice her discomfort. “She has the look of a pointer to her. Perhaps her mother had a clandestine meeting with a neighbor’s hunting dog.”
    “A female of easy virtue.” She arched a brow after Vera, who wandered away, distracted by a fluttering butterfly. “Thereby proving your point that Vera is no lady.”
    He laughed out loud, a chest-deep expression of amusement this new Edward had seemed incapable of until now, and she noted his complexion had lost some of its pallor. “I’m surprised to encounter you here. Isn’t Kensington Gardens a little out of the way for a shining star of the ton ?”
    She brushed a hand down her skirt, his perusal making her self-conscious of her appearance. She wore a simple old day dress, nothing like her usual modish ensembles that set young ladies of the ton rushing to their modistes to copy her latest look. “I like it because it is quiet here.”
    “I thought it paramount for all of the incomparables to appear in Hyde Park to see and be seen.”
    She lifted a shoulder with deliberate insouciance. “Haven’t you heard? I, sir, am the only reigning incomparable this Season.”
    “And have been for many years, from what Tobias tells me.” He regarded her with obvious appreciation. “I can’t say I’m surprised.”
    Her insides warmed under his gaze. She