A Flirtatious Rendezvous: The Gentlemen Next Door #4 - Historical Regency Romance Novellas Read Online Free PDF

quickly and cleared her throat. “Now, do you remember what we taught you?”
    Hanna nodded dutifully and recited the words she had repeated to herself dozens and dozens of times. “Inquire after their health and wellbeing. Accept an offer for a drink, but also inquire after their thirst. Ask after their…”
    Lady Landale nodded encouragingly.
    “Ask after their…” She could have sworn she’d heard the lesson a million times, but by the time she reached this point, there was always something more interesting afoot.
    “Their interests,” Lady Landale prodded.
    “Ah yes,” Hanna said. “Ask after their interests and compliment them, only once, very discreetly. Manage my own opinions. Particularly if they are contrary.” Essentially the opposite of everything she had ever done with Hayden. If she had been so well behaved from the beginning, would she have caught his interest?
    It was too late for speculation, unfortunately, as he was aware of her true nature.
    “That was wonderfully recited, dear. Let’s be on our way to put it in practice! They’ll make the announcement for you soon.”
    The long walk down the curved staircase to the glittering ballroom was the first moment that time seemed to slow for Hanna the way she’d wanted it to all week.
    With every step, it was as if she could relive a memory from the days before. The dance lessons with Lady Rivington acting as the man, all giggles, especially as Hayden refused to cooperate against his own interests. The dresses, and even more dresses, which Hanna protested given the cost and her own three serviceable gowns. But Lady Landale insisted.
    Best of all, the simple, quiet moments. Breakfast with Hayden, where she was able to coax him into explaining why the sunrise changed colors or how he knew by the kind of cloud whether it meant rain. City walks where they argued over whether a phaeton or a carriage would be faster and then she realized she thought he’d said fashionable , not faster , and he’d sighed in exasperation at it all. She dreaded dinner, because it meant he would soon retire to his study and slave over his mathematics and she would have to wait until sunrise to see him again.
    She would miss those moments and wanted to savor them, each and every single one. Even tonight’s ball wouldn’t hold a candle to a simple minute with him.
    As her name was announced, the crowd of revelers turned to watch her descent down the stairs. She held the rail for support, scanning the room, where her rose-pink dress was sure to stand out in a sea of darker, richer reds and browns. Lady Rivington had neglected, purposely she imagined, to invite a single other debutante.
    She caught appreciative glances from men and women alike, but she was scanning for Hayden and did not acknowledge them. Unfortunately, she couldn’t find him.
    Lady Rivington greeted her and Lady Landale at the bottom of the steps. “Introductions are in order,” she said with a gleeful grin. “I have more than enough speculations set aside.”
    Hanna forced herself to stand still as gentleman after gentleman was introduced. They were pleasant. Some even spectacular-looking. Many were nice and oh, so sweet. And none were Hayden.
    “Is your dance card free for the next cotillion?” asked the gentleman with curls in his hair and lace at his wrists.
    She struggled to remember his name, although she had been told it a moment before. Viscount Mon…Viscount…Viscount Montcreif!
    “Of course, my lord,” she said on a curtsy. He took her hand and led her out to the dance floor and she tried to focus on his pleasing smile and nice manners.
    But instead, she was forced into epic bouts of concentration as she went through each of the ever-changing figures and patterns. First stepping right onto the ball of her right foot. She winced—she forgot to draw her hands over her head. She hopped to land on her left foot and extended right, but this time forgot her plié.
    She glanced up at Viscount