Tempting Her Reluctant Viscount by Catherine Hemmerling Read Free Book Online Page A

erase the fact that Hope was utterly reliable. Ugh! How much more unromantic could one be than reliable ? Exciting, enchanting, inspiring, even interesting…all things she had heard her friends described as, but not her, never her. Hope was reliable, proper, expected… boring .
    By the time Hope entered the Rose Room, her disposition was positively black. She considered, for one brief, scintillating moment, turning around and walking right back out of the house, but of course, she did not do so. Scowling to herself, she waited to be announced to the dowager duchess.
    “Ah, Hope…early as usual,” Lady Lancaster exclaimed.
    “Would you prefer I leave and come back on time?” Hope muttered under her breath.
    “What was that, dear?”
    “Oh, nothing.” Hope sighed, taking her seat next to the duchess. She really did need to snap out of her mood. None of this was really Lady Lancaster’s fault. Who was Hope to expect the dowager Duchess of Lancaster would tell her all of her secrets? It was just that this secret included Michael and that made it a particularly bitter pill to swallow.
    “My dear, I find that I am in the position that I must explain myself,” she said immediately, catching Hope’s eye. “About Lord Lichfield.”
    With the utmost politeness, Hope replied, “No, my lady. That is not necessary. What is between you and Mic—I mean, Lord Lichfield—is none of my business.”
    “Nonsense! It certainly is your business, and frankly, I should have told you about him sooner, but I felt uncomfortable revealing things about Michael that he should probably reveal himself. However, after seeing what I saw yesterday, I realize that Michael probably feels much the same way about revealing things about me, ” Lady Lancaster explained before leaning in close to add, “He clearly does not understand my relationship with you or, indeed, the rest of my girls.”
    With a sigh, Hope said, “Then perhaps you shouldn’t tell me anything, Lady Lancaster. I have no ties to Lord Lichfield. He owes me no explanations and neither do you.”
    “Nonsense!” Lady Lancaster snorted again, hitting the arm of her chair forcefully. “I believe, over the course of the next few days, you may be working closely with Michael, and it will be helpful if you know a little about his background; therefore, I feel perfectly justified in telling you about my relationship with the man. If he weren’t such a, well, man , he would have undoubtedly told you something of his past by now anyway.”
    Giggling, Hope said, “I thought you said he hadn’t told me out of deference to you.”
    Waving a hand to indicate the matter unimportant, Lady Lancaster replied airily, “Believe me, Hope-dear, most of the inherent faults of man lie in the fact that they were born male..”
    “Lady Lancaster!” Hope choked out over her laughter.
    “Oh, don’t misunderstand me…I think men are a wonderful addition to the human race—”
    “Well, there would hardly be a human race without them,” Hope pointed out.
    The duchess gave Hope a dry look before continuing. “But they are anything but perfect.”
    “Neither, I suppose, are we,” Hope replied with a touch of reproach.
    Lady Lancaster arched an imperious brow at that. “Speak for yourself, Hope-girl. Speak for yourself.”
    Laughing again, Hope was amazed at how quickly her mood had changed for the better. Now she felt positively silly for making such a production of coming to visit the duchess. Even though she was not one bit the wiser about Michael and Lady Lancaster, she felt reassured nonetheless.
    “Now then, back to the subject at hand,” the duchess announced. “I wanted to tell you why I know Michael Ashmore so well…”
    No longer dreading the conversation, Hope eagerly waited for Lady Lancaster to continue. Honestly, now that the cloud of doom had blown away, so to speak, she found she was insatiably curious as to what the lady had to say.
    “It all started about ten years