Whisper of Jasmine by Deanna Raybourn Read Free Book Online Page A

take a bow to the applause of his hostess and a toast from his host.
    He raised his glass to Quentin’s and clinked it. “Quite right, dear boy. Quite right.”
    * * *
    As the clock struck a quarter past twelve, the party was in full swing again. The gramophone had been wound up and guests were drinking or kissing or attempting to dance to Delilah’s beloved jazz. Young Jack had finally been persuaded to extinguish his torches and was demonstrating sleight of hand to a glamourous young Amazon from Scandinavia with ice blue eyes and platinum blond hair.
    “I am an artist’s model,” she told him. “I pose entirely nude.”
    Jack grinned. “We should go someplace quiet where you can tell me all about it.”
    He put an arm to her back, guiding her through the throng and out into the corridor.
    “How do you like that?” Delilah asked Johnny, mildly put out. “I invited Simona to meet Gabriel Starke, and she goes off with Jack instead. And I haven’t seen Evie for the better part of two hours, and I so wanted her to meet Quentin.”
    Johnny shrugged. “Perhaps you’re not as good a matchmaker as you are a hostess.”
    She wrinkled her nose at him. “Perhaps not. But I still say they’d have made excellent matches. Evie needs someone rock solid to depend upon, a man with a sterling character who can appreciate her. And Gabriel needs someone alluring enough to distract him from mountains and mudhills or whatever it is he plays around with.”
    “Well, if there’s anyone who knows about distraction,” Johnny murmured. He slipped an arm around her waist. “It’s about time to close up shop, don’t you think? Let’s send them all home while they’re still sober enough to remember where they live. Otherwise we’ll wake up with half of London nursing hangovers in our sitting room.”
    She put a hand to his cheek. “Or, we could run away and leave them all.”
    “Run away? What did you have in mind?”
    “The best suite at the Savoy Hotel—already paid for with the last of grandfather’s allowance this quarter.”
    “Delilah, that money is supposed to pay for your upkeep while I’m gone,” he protested.
    She shrugged. “I’ll figure something out. I always do. In the meantime, we’re going to finish off this party in style, just you and me and a do-not-disturb sign. After all, we never got a proper honeymoon in a nice hotel. So let’s do it now.”
    He grinned. “Fine. Abduct me. But how do we get out of here?”
    “Easy,” she said. “Follow me.”
    She had packed their overnight cases and stashed them in the boot of the Aston Martin. They had just opened the door, laughing wildly at the thought of leaving their own party when they heard the engine roar to life.
    “What the—” Johnny broke off the sentence as he realised the Aston Martin was edging away.
    “Come back here!” Johnny shouted.
    Delilah started after it, her heel snagging in a grate. Johnny caught her before she fell and the two of them turned to see a pair of familiar faces smiling back at them over the boot of the Aston Martin as it headed down the street.
    “Gabriel Starke! You’re stealing my car!” she shouted. Gabriel merely grinned and gunned the engine, and to Delilah’s astonishment, Evie Merryweather merely shrugged and sent her a wide smile as she snuggled against Gabriel’s side.
    Against her will, Delilah started to grin.
    “Shall we ring the police?” Johnny asked.
    Delilah blinked. “Whyever would I? Because a friend borrowed my car?”
    “You just accused him of stealing it in front of the entire neighbourhood,” Johnny pointed out. The neighbours and partygoers, hearing the commotion, had poured into the street and were hanging from windows.
    Delilah shrugged. “That’s before I knew he was using it to abduct one of my friends.”
    “All the more reason—”
    Delilah put a finger to his lips. “You’re the last one who should interfere in another man’s elopement, Johnny. If I remember, you stole