Lord Love a Duke by Renee Reynolds Read Free Book Online Page A

dishabille."

    Miranda licked the syrup-covered spoon then
looked panic-stricken over Juliet's thought of an unforeseen
complication. Their families believed them at Belle Rèverie,
ostensibly retrieving forgotten items for Juliet. As they had been
traveling the paths between the two homes for so many years their
lengthy absence this afternoon was likely to go unremarked. To
return with their appearance in shambles would not. Juliet moved
about the cabin, shutting windows and returning things to rights,
when she remembered the stream that ran along part of this property
line.

    "I have it! Let us go for a dip in Cobble
Creek and blame that for our disarray." Juliet grabbed the pot and
poured the syrup into a small bowl then used water from the cistern
outside the door to rinse off the pan and spoon.

    "That's perfect," exclaimed Miranda. "We
shall kill two birds with the one stone and allow the syrup to
cool.” She looked around the cabin. “I think everything has been
returned to order. Are we ready for a swim?"

    Juliet looked at Miranda and began to laugh
in earnest, holding her sides. “Miranda, have you been eating our
syrup?” she asked when she caught her breath.

    Miranda's face fell with the realization of
what she did. “Oh no! I licked the spoon! Is my mouth the color
that I think it?” She stuck out her tongue and Juliet began
laughing anew. Miranda's tongue and teeth were a shocking shade of
violet-blue. Juliet told her friend as much and Miranda ran to the
cistern and began to vigorously scrub her teeth with a clean cloth,
rinse her mouth with the fresh water, then swish and spit like a
sailor.

    “Now that's some dignified and ladylike
behavior! Too bad your brother is not witness to this, or better
yet, your potential suitors. I shall be sure to extol throughout
the week your ability to spit prodigiously.”

    Miranda looked up from her ministrations and
glared hotly at her friend. “You most certainly will not. I
remember a time, as I know your poor mother will, when you spat
from the terrace onto unsuspecting guests below at a garden party
at your Town house. It was not that many years ago, if memory
serves.”

    Juliet flushed involuntarily at the reminder
of her past ill behavior, and stuck her tongue out at her friend
for reminding her of it. Miranda returned the action back and
Juliet noticed that the blue had faded to a much less shocking and
paler shade, and she informed her friend thus.

    “Well, thank heavens. I only wasted half the
contents of the well to clear it up. At least we know the syrup
works, and that it will come off with copious amounts of scrubbing
and rinsing.”

    “There is that small accomplishment, I
suppose.” Juliet glanced around the cabin that her father and
brothers had used to clean fish and as refuge during sudden storms.
It looked as if their presence had never been, save for the
remnants of the fire in the hearth. Juliet was not going to clean
that mess, but she did move some wood and kindling into the kitchen
area so it would be dry for anyone needing to use the cabin.

    Miranda laid a cloth over the syrup bowl and
carried it out of the door. Juliet followed, securing the latch,
and they made for the stream. Not even bothering to remove any
clothes, as they had been completely sweated through, the ladies
eased into the water. They proceeded to scrub their faces and
remove the soot, and any other evidence of their previous
activities. The water was almost painfully cold to their overheated
bodies, but they quickly acclimatised and floated on their backs in
a deeper stretch of the stream, enjoying the coolness of the water
as it seeped into their clothing. They were blissfully unaware of
time and situation until the loud snort of a horse alerted them
they were no longer alone.

    "I say, I seem to have found two lovely sea
creatures," rang out the voice of Lord Aylesford. The ladies were
startled and dropped to their knees in the shallow water. Juliet
was pleased to