A Compromised Innocent Read Online Free PDF Page A

spent with her for a moment. He rather liked the feel of her hand on his arm and her fragrant body at his side. Did she ever stop smiling? It was almost contagious. He enjoyed her company immensely, had even placed his free hand atop hers to keep it in place as if, given the chance, she’d remove it and dash away.
    No, it was the gossipmongers, those prattling meddlers who had nothing better to do than gape and whisper about them.
    He’d forgotten for a moment that he was a duke. That every action was subject to scrutiny and remark. The duty and the consequence of the position had been drilled into him since he was old enough to walk. The duchy of Wainsborough was a high honor and, as with anything, there was a cost: loss of privacy.
    His father had relished the power of the title. Wielding his influence and funds like a broadsword, he had ruined those who opposed his will and cut down anything that stood in his way. Not even his offspring had survived unscathed.
    Charlotte, Oliver’s older sister, had born the brunt of that power when their father had her lover impressed and deported to India for decades; the couple had only been reunited last year. Oliver still felt the guilt and remorse of his own role in the lovers’ separation.
    To this day, Oliver swore he would be a better steward of the title and holdings. He’d be a better man than his father, and never allow another to suffer because of him or his position.
    Not ever again.
    â€œWhat is it between you and my aunt, Your Grace?”
    Oliver raised a brow at her use of the styling, but forbore remark.
    â€œLady Alderfield hasn’t told you?”
    Lizzie shook her head, and her bonnet ribbons swayed. “My aunt doesn’t discuss such things.”
    â€œI see. Does it matter?”
    â€œCertainly not, especially if it’s painful to discuss.” Lizzie’s blue eyes glittered with concern, dimming the joy from her face but not her earnestness. They were just the color of the sky on a summer day.
    He snorted. Regrettable, yes. Painful, no. At least once he’d been allowed to cry off.
    â€œYour aunt and I were almost engaged,” he said and smiled wryly when her eyes widened in surprised. “Not for long, and quite a few years ago. By our fathers.”
    â€œWhat happened?”
    Oliver had begged and pleaded and eventually traded his sister’s happiness for his own. To this day, he wished he had taken Miss Milligrew’s hand in marriage and kept his own counsel about Charlotte’s love affair. Surely being married to the shrewish Roberta could be no more miserable than living with the guilt for bartering away his sister’s happiness?
    â€œLet’s just say that we didn’t suit and leave it at that, shall we?”
    They reached the Serpentine and paused to watch starlings chatter as they scavenged for insects and roosted in the tree boughs.
    â€œDrab, noisy little creatures, aren’t they?”
    Lizzie tilted her head and considered him. “Do you think so?”
    â€œThey do seem to make a nuisance, picking at rubbish and making a mess where they roost. Pigeons at least seem to be more circumspect. And quiet.”
    She stood so close to him that he could feel the air stir as she moved, and the faint scent of lavender tickled his nose. Such a simple, unaffected fragrance for a simple, straightforward miss. Miss Lizzie Talbot was like a balm for his disillusioned soul.
    Was it genuine or a guise like the one his mother put on in society? How could Lizzie be so very different from her aunt, especially living in the same household?
    Lizzie smiled up at him, her eyes crinkling at the corners, and Oliver felt as if he’d been hit in the stomach.
    â€œAdmittedly, they can create quite the fuss, but have you never seen them flock from a distance? They shift and meld as if they’re of a single mind in flight. It’s like watching black water boil across the sky. An amazing