Scoundrel (Lost Lords of Radcliffe Book 4) by Cheryl Holt Read Free Book Online Page B

so she’d assumed she was different. But now, having seen Mr. Hubbard, she was overcome by urges she hadn’t known a woman could experience.
    “You can’t breathe a word to anyone,” she said to Rowena.
    “Who would I tell? Mr. Robertson and Mr. Hubbard are the only ones here who speak English besides you.”
    “Not a word to either of them! Swear you won’t.”
    “I won’t. I swear.”
    “This afternoon, after we were settled in our rooms, the maid directed me to a bathing pool, and I went to take a bath.”
    “So did I, and it was the most exotic, spectacular moment of my life.”
    “I must have been sent to the wrong pool, because Mr. Hubbard was there.”
    “Bathing?”
    “He’d just finished. He was standing at the balustrade and staring out to sea.”
    Rowena scowled, then gasped. “Are you claiming he was…was…”
    “He wasn’t wearing any clothes.”
    “Not a stitch?”
    “Not a stitch.”
    “Oh, my.” Rowena grinned. “You lucky dog.”
    “Lucky! I’m embarrassed to the core of my being.”
    “Did he realize you saw him?”
    “Yes! He turned around, and there I was.”
    Faith blushed from the roots of her hair to the tips of her toes, growing so hot with mortification that she was surprised she didn’t ignite.
    “It doesn’t appear he minded,” Rowena said. “He was certainly blasé at supper.”
    “What should I do?”
    “Nothing, I guess. What can you do?”
    “I feel like I should…be struck blind or something.”
    “For looking at him?”
    “Yes.”
    “He was right in front of you. Were you supposed to not look?”
    “Yes, I shouldn’t have looked.”
    Rowena’s expression became sly. “Did you enjoy it?”
    “What? Looking at him?”
    “Yes.”
    “Absolutely not.”
    Rowena laughed. “You liar. You’re positively undone. Tell me this. Were you able to manage a peek at his male rod?”
    “Rowena!”
    “Well, were you? I’ve always been curious about the blasted thing. It’s not as if they were carved onto any of the statues we saw in Rome. I’ve never understood why it has to be such a grand secret. I wish I’d caught a glimpse of one before I was forced to take the veil.”
    “Would you be serious?”
    “I am being serious. I’d like to see one.”
    Faith shook her head with exasperation.
    Rowena was brash and unrepentant. She said what she thought and never cared if she blurted out outrageous comments. She liked to shock people and loved to put their noses out of joint, especially the fussy, grumpy older nuns who’d never been kind to her.
    As an adolescent, she’d been a hellacious flirt, which was why her parents had shuffled her off to the convent before she got herself into trouble. That and the fact that they’d paid for her sister’s wedding and dowry and couldn’t afford it for a second daughter.
    “At supper”—Faith was desperate to have Rowena empathize—“he ignored me.”
    “Then you should ignore him too. He’s being a gentleman, letting you save some of your dignity.”
    “Mr. Hubbard? A gentleman?”
    “Yes. I find him fascinating. Don’t you?”
    Faith bit her tongue. She’d wanted to reveal how he’d followed her to her bedchamber, how he’d blustered in and pressed her to the bedpost.
    It had been scandalous and thrilling, but she didn’t confide as much to Rowena. She couldn’t imagine what indiscreet remarks the girl might utter in reply.
    “And listen to this.” Faith switched topics. “This villa isn’t theirs.”
    “I know. Mr. Robertson explained it to me. They were on a ship and thrown overboard by pirates. They washed up here.”
    “Yes, Mr. Hubbard said the same.”
    “When you consider their terrifying ordeal, it makes our difficulties seem paltry, doesn’t it?”
    “I’m worried about them and what sort of men they are deep down.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “Is their tale true? What if they’re criminals or bandits or worse?”
    “What would be worse than a bandit? Besides, I don’t