Gayle Buck by The Hidden Heart Read Free Book Online Page B

that if he had chanced on such a scene he would have thought exactly what Lord Trilby’s stiff-necked manner appeared to convey. He had privately always considered the earl to be something of a fashionable fribble compared to himself, and it cut him to the quick to be the object of the gentleman’s censure. “I assure you, I meant no disrespect to the lady.”
    “Indeed?” Lord Trilby made of it a derisive question.
    Lord Hathaway blew out his cheeks. There was no reasoning with the fellow, he thought. His perception of himself had been badly shaken and he resented the author of that discomfiture. He made a stiff bow to Lady Caroline but completely ignored the Earl of Walmesley as he stalked from the room.
    With grim satisfaction Simpson closed the door, leaving his mistress with one who he thought could be better trusted to toe the line with her ladyship.
    “That is a most pompous donkey,” Lord Trilby observed. “I don’t know why ever you receive him, my dear.”
    Lady Caroline laughed, her embarrassment vanished. She went to him with outstretched hands. “For shame. Miles! You must know that his lordship means to make me his wife. I am of half a mind to accept him.”
    Lord Trilby caught her fingers and carried them to his lips. Without releasing her hands, he shook his head. “Much better not to. His lordship is such a stiff stick that he’ll bore you to distraction in a fortnight. Either that or you will drive him to apoplexy.”
    Lady Caroline’s lips quivered with amusement. She said demurely, “Lord Hathaway said that I am in need of a firm hand.”
    “That is indisputably true. I have known it for ages. It is why I never made an offer for you myself. I am too easy a fellow for us ever to have suited,” Lord Trilby said, smiling down at her.
    Lady Caroline’s own smile faltered. She gently pulled her hands free of his warm, easy clasp. “You will have tea, I expect.”
    Lord Trilby regarded the remains of the previous tea with disapprobation. “Good God, rum-and-poppyseed cake.” He grimaced. “Thank you, my lady, but I shall decline tea.”
    Lady Caroline laughed as she went to pull the bell rope. Before she had done more than give a short tug, the drawing-room door opened and Simpson came in carrying a tea tray.
    “I have taken the liberty of bringing up a fresh pot of tea and sandwiches for his lordship, my lady,” the butler said.
    Lord Trilby’s eyes lit up at sight of the stacked sandwiches. “Good man, Simpson! I shall recommend you for a bonus in your wages.”
    The butler merely smiled. After placing the tea tray on the side table, he cleared away the old tray with its remnants of cake and biscuits.
    Lady Caroline saw that the earl was settled with tea and a plate of sandwiches before she said, “Your sudden appearance came as quite a shock, my lord.”
    “So I gathered when I so ineptly interrupted that charming tête-à-tête,” Lord Trilby said dryly.
    Lady Caroline laughed, even as a tinge of color stole back into her face. “You know very well I meant nothing of the kind by my statement, my lord! I must own, however, I was glad to see you at just that moment. I was never more shocked in my life than I was at Lord Haulaway’s strange behavior.’’
    The Earl of Walmesley cast over her an encompassing glance. She was looking particularly fetching in an afternoon dress of cerulean blue trimmed lavishly with lace at the bosom. Her hair was swept up in masses of glorious chestnut curls, held in place by copper and inlaid combs. “My dear Caroline, you malign your own charms. I would have been more surprised to learn that you did not excite such behavior.”
    Lady Caroline thought she knew better than to place any deep underlying construction upon his compliment, and she accepted the accolade with a gracious nod. “Thank you, my lord. But what I meant was that I received your last letter not above a day ago and you made not one mention of surprising me in this fashion, wretch