A Curious Heart (Love Vine: A Regency Series) Read Online Free PDF

she found a disgruntled  and scowling Mr. Beasley awaiting her with a cup of punch.
    A moment later she was alarmed to see her aunt all but running from the garden, followed more slowly by the earl, a grin of smug satisfaction on his face and his cravat slightly crumpled. Allie had to know more.
    Her desire to meddle came to the fore with such force she was amazed to realize it. Being an adventurous young miss, she decided to engage Lord Rothburn in conversation and discover what she could regarding his feelings toward her aunt. She already knew what her aunt's feelings were—it was obvious.
    * * * * *
    "Lord Rothburn. A moment please." Allie practically ran to the edge of the veranda, leaving poor Beasley still holding the glass of punch and looking after her with some alarm. "I would have a word with you."
    She smiled prettily and curtsied as she came to a halt before the peer. Her next words were forestalled by the earl's blunt speech.
    "Well, be quick, child. You have left your escort waiting in a manner most rude." The earl, impatient to get back into the ballroom and keep an eye on Lady Alana, spoke curtly. It seemed to have little effect on Allie.
    "Why must everyone call me a child?" Seeing the look of imperious rage distort Lord Rothburn's features at her digression, she hurried on, the words tumbling from her mouth. "Actually, I wondered if you could call on us tomorrow and take my Aunt Alana and myself to ride in the park. Gordon promised to do so but he has been charged with other duties, and I would not want to miss out—"
    "Well, of all the—" Rothburn, not misled in the least by her request, understood of a sudden her match-making maneuver, and he went from being extremely aggravated to exceedingly diverted.
    Making a quick decision, he spoke in a kind tone, giving the girl respect for her pluckiness. "If your aunt wishes, I shall call on the pair of you at one o'clock. Send a note to my lodgings to let me know."
    He then bowed circumspectly, first to Allie then to Beasley before striding quickly away. The earl was certain that there would be no getting Alana to comply with such a request, not after what had just occurred in the garden. He frowned at the disappointment following that thought.
    What should it matter if the lady had no interest in him? Though her response to his wooing had been ardent, to say the least. Rothburn was no green boy to be fooled by a lady's manipulations. Her invitation into the garden had been more than concern regarding his current political concerns. She had a motive, he just could not think what it would be.
    Ladies of quality—unmarried ones at any rate—did not make illicit assignations with men. Though flirtatious, she had disdained to comply with his rather advanced lovemaking. Yes, her behavior puzzled, but he would solve the enigma, or he was not The Sixth Earl of Rothburn.
    Returning to the crush in the ballroom, he searched for Lady Alana and upon seeing her seated with a group of spinsters at the opposite end of the room, he could not help be amused at her ploy to avoid him. No man who valued his hide ventured near that group of harridans without some strong purpose.
    Well, he would venture forth and show the lady that he was no coward to be quelled by a mere slap on his cheek, and so he bridged the distance, threading his way through the throng with much determination.
    The earl never stopped to think why he should go to so much trouble over a woman who was trying to avoid him. A woman who had captured his attention as no other. A woman whose sparkling blue eyes had seen into his very soul, whose soft intelligent voice had pricked his interest and sent chills down his spine.
    In the throes of bewilderment over his choice, the earl approached the group, ignoring the disapproving looks he received from that quarter.
    "Lord Rothburn is smitten, no doubt about it. The look upon his face is bemused indeed," one elderly woman in a starched ruff—a fashion fifty-years