In Your Arms Again by Kathryn Smith Read Free Book Online Page A

dessert. Eden’s chef was a master.
    After eating, Octavia suggested that Spinton visit the gentlemen’s section of the club while she and Beatrice visit the ladies’. Eden was designed so that the sexes could spend the evening segregated or together, with a male side, a female side, and then rooms in the center where the two could meet. It didn’t take much prodding. Kind as Spinton was, he was still a man, and talking with his own kind would no doubt always be preferable to hanging about two ladies.
    “I will not be long,” he promised.
    Octavia smiled. “Take your time.”
    Once he was gone, she turned to Beatrice. “I am going to one of the suites to see an old friend. Will you join me?”
    Her cousin shook her head. “No, thank you. I see some acquaintances of my own here. But what do I do if Lord Spinton returns?”
    Octavia shrugged. “Discreetly send one of the servants to find me. I am certain you can entertain Spinton until I return.”
    “But what do I talk to him about?”
    Good Lord, did her cousin have no imagination? Octavia was giving her time alone with an attractive man; certainly Beatrice could think of something.
    “Ask him about his new horse,” Octavia replied, already inching out of her seat. “He will talk until your ears fall off.”
    Smiling at her cousin’s dubious expression, Octavia waited until both Beatrice and Spinton had been swallowed up by the crowd, before slipping off on her own. She wasn’t as familiar with the club as some of the other women there, but she didn’t want to look as though she didn’t know where she was going. Someone might think she was sneaking off for an assignation, and that was the last thing she needed the gossips to speculate about. Spinton might wonder as well.
    A helpful footman discreetly pointed her in the right direction, and Octavia slipped through a doorway and up a flightof highly polished stairs that led to the party rooms above. Appropriately enough, Maddie’s party was in the Green Room, no doubt in reference to her profession. The man at the door recognized her as soon as she gave her name—her old name—and let her inside without hesitation.
    A few people recognized her as she entered the room—marvelously appointed in shades of sage and forest green. It wasn’t a large crowd—but it would definitely grow as the evening wore on. Octavia would no doubt be gone by then. She would not be able to stay as long as she liked.
    Madeline’s eyes went wide as she saw her. Her little bow of a mouth dropped happily and she spread her arms wide. “Octavia!”
    Grinning foolishly, Octavia allowed herself to be swept into the girl’s exuberant embrace. She didn’t care that they were being watched, that some onlookers even applauded. She was safe here. Her secret was safe here. These people would never betray her to the ton . They were more loyal than society could ever hope to be.
    They laughed and chatted as they embraced, both gushing about how wonderful it was to see each other, and Octavia laughed in disbelief at just how lovely the young girl had grown up to be. A pudgy child, Madeline had blossomed into a full-figured, stunning woman.
    “You look wonderful, Maddie!” Octavia took a step back and surveyed the younger woman head to toe. “Just wonderful.”
    “I could not agree more,” came a voice from behind her.
    Octavia didn’t have to turn to recognize the voice. Deep, a little rough, and oh-so-musical, with a touch of Scottish accent still clinging to every vowel. The very sound of it twisted her heart into a tight knot.
    Madeline threw herself at him, and he laughed as hecaught her in his long arms, the dark fabric of his coat pulling tautly across the broad width of his shoulders. Octavia watched, a strange, prickling cold-heat shaking her entire body. She drank in every inch of him, committing him to memory, so certain she was that this was a dream and any moment he’d fade away.
    But it wasn’t a dream. She realized