My Lady Mischief by Kathy Carmichael Read Free Book Online

stepped back.
    Thea curtsied as Hart bowed.
    "How do you do," said Hart in a perfunctory tone. Rising from his low bow, he glanced up and directly into her eyes. She grinned at his look of astonishment. "Good heavens! The parlormaid."
    "I've been eagerly awaiting this moment, my lord." Thea batted her lashes at him and was happy to note his discomfort. After the offer he made, this comeuppance was justly deserved. "Had you no suspicion? I was certain Mr. McCormack would have enlightened you."
    "He obviously felt it too good a joke to share, Lady Althea." As if unwilling to allow her such an easy victory, he asked, "Do you frequent masquerades?"
    Thea felt her color rise. Then she gleamed wickedly at him. "Do you always make advances to parlormaids, my lord?"
    "Do you never discourage such advances?"
    "Touché Lord Hartingfield," said Thea with a laugh. He'd hit rather close to home on that one.
    " I do begin to perceive that I am made an ass." He shot her an ironic smile.
    "Indeed, my lord." She recognized the quotation from Shakespeare. At least the cur was well-read. In spite of her desire to put him on the spot, her lips twitched in appreciation. "Egregiously an ass," she quipped back.
    "Please accept my apologies, Lady Althea." Despite his words, he gave no indication that he regretted his behavior. She smiled at him nervously.
    "I hope you will permit me to make amends for my earlier behavior." He took her hand in his and placed a kiss upon it.
    Her smile died. Although his words were clear, his tone was not. "I will permit you to make the attempt, my lord."
    He deliberately held her hand a little longer than necessary. She pulled it back as she suddenly recalled the watchful eyes of Mr. McCormack.
    A wicked glow lit Mack's face. "Give him a rare trimming, Lady Althea, for he surely deserves one."
    "Mack, you imp spawn, you already knew about Lady Althea?" asked the marquess. "And you said nothing to me?" With a friendly malevolence in his voice that hadn't been there in his exchange with her, he threatened his friend, "I'll be even with you, yet."
    He turned his attention back to Thea.
    "I'm feeling sorely used," he murmured before she could further rake him over the coals. "This noon, your papa gave me a stiff lecture pertaining to the inadvisibility of dallying with his staff. He failed to mention that I'd been dallying with his own daughter."
    "Is this your manner of making amends, my lord?" Thea teased. "Are you looking for a scapegoat on which to lay your blame?" She tossed her head playfully. All of a sudden, like the winding down of a clock, her laugh faded into silence. At the door stood Charles with Emma's hand snugly tucked in the crook of his arm.
    The color in Thea's cheeks fled. Charles looked at her with a disapproving frown, his eyes scouring over the gentlemen near her. But Thea's eyes were on Emma, who wore a Madonna-like smile. Were they now betrothed?
    The bustling activity at the door continued as the footman trumpeted the arrival of their dinner guests. Squire Septimus Fossbinder came forward in avid discussion with Emma's father, the Reverend Mr. Rawlings. They were followed by their respective spouses as well as Charles' sister, Jane. By the closed expression on that young woman's face, it was apparent that Jane and the squire were at odds again. Much to the squire's dismay, Jane, at sixteen, was well on her way to becoming bookish. In a few years, she would likely be a thorough bluestocking. And the squire heartily disapproved of any lady's interest in subjects other than those of hearth and home.
    *
    Hart had been pleased over his placement beside Lady Althea, the better to ensure that she did penance for her share in this farce. Upon reflection, it was rather amusing that he'd made such an outrageous offer to a chaste and virtuous nobleman's daughter, even if her kiss remained etched within his memory.
    Tonight she had dressed demurely in a rose-colored silk gown, with creamy ribbons accenting