How to Live Indecently by Bronwyn Scott Read Free Book Online Page B

later the guilt would eat at him and he’d want to go back. Tonight was about running away; it was about a chance to break the rules, a chance to be free one last time. They both had responsibilities waiting for them. She knew it just as well as he did.
    The Strand was nearly empty this time of night. A few people still tottered home from pubs, but no one was interested in troubling them. Daphne unfolded the blanket and wrapped it around her shoulders. The night was only a little bit cold, but the thin material of her gown wasn’t enough. Overhead, the sky was surprisingly clear, the coal-smoke haze of London had dissolved enough to let a few stars peep through.
    Jamie noticed her looking at them. “If it were daytime we could take the train to Greenwich and go to the observatory.” The Euston Station train was a marvel, cutting down the hour-long carriage drive to Greenwich to a mere ten minutes on the new rail.
    She laughed. “If it were daytime, the stars wouldn’t be out. I think they should run a night train, then again it might encourage star-crossed lovers to run away from Mayfair balls more often.”
    Jamie shot her a wry grin. “Is that what you think we are? Star-crossed lovers?”
    She leaned her head against his shoulder. “Well, what do you think happens after tonight? After we go back to the ball? We’ve already sworn not to see each other again.”
    “No, we haven’t. We just decided not to use full names,” Jamie protested.
    “But we both know the reason for that. We won’t be able to find one another. You said yourself it would be better this way.”
    “So what do you think happens? Do we have an ‘unmasking’ of sorts? At the end of the night I tell you who I really am and you tell me. Maybe we make a pact to meet once a year at the Coal Hole.”
    Jamie shrugged his dissatisfaction. She could feel the movement of the gesture where her head rested against him. “Ugh, those ideas are positively horrid. I don’t want to cheapen this night with anything like that. Besides, I already know who you are in all the ways that matter. A name can’t change that.”
    She had no adequate response. She let him drive, enjoying the silence and the quiet delight of resting her head against him. They were back in the west end nearing St. James. Gambling establishments and gentlemen’s clubs were still filled with light.
    “You pick our next adventure, Daphne. What have you always wanted to do?”
    “We can’t do it.”
    “Why? Nothing is impossible. Tell me what it is and I’ll see it done.” Jamie sounded supremely confident. And why shouldn’t he? The evening had been made to his order.
    “I want to climb St. Paul’s and watch the sunrise, but we have to be back long before then.”
    “Unless we can get the sun to rise earlier.” Jamie mused. “Barring that, what else is on your list?”
    “That!” She pointed rather suddenly to a space off to his left.
    “Green Park? Your great dream is to go to Green Park? It’s open every day, you know. In fact, it’s open now for those who are intrepid enough.”
    “No, no, no, not the park itself. I want to go swimming in the Tyburn Pool.”
    “You do understand it’s been fenced off?” Jamie asked.
    “Yes, and it makes me mad. The model yachters had to move to the Serpentine and now no one can go wading or anything.”
    Jamie shot her a bemused look. “It’s only a fence. It can be climbed. A swim wouldn’t be a bad idea. We can get the smell of the Coal Hole off us.”
    “Then what are we waiting for? Tyburn Pool it is.”
    “This time of night, the park is relatively safe. Thugs have gone home to sleep and duelists won’t show up until sunrise.” Jamie tooled the carriage along the path toward the pool.
    “Duellists? You’re joking.”
    “Oh, no, my dear, I never joke about duels.” Jamie found a spot close to the pool and parked the phaeton.
    “Have you been in one?”
    “What a leading question.” Jamie tsked playfully,