A Kiss in the Dark Read Online Free PDF Page A

little shutters and the balcony overlooking the sea. I was looking forward to having tea parties on that balcony, but never mind.”
    “The balcony was a mistake. It receives such a high wind, it would carry you away.”
    “I should think that alone would be enough to change your mind,” she said curtly.
    His lips twitched in amusement. “I do not think only of myself. Society would never forgive me if I caused the loss of its premier Incomparable.”
    This flattery was accompanied by a bow. Cressida tossed her curls and turned her attention to the grate. By the time the tea arrived, Dauntry and Beau had fallen into a discussion of luffing and tacking, leaving her to amuse herself. It was not the manner in which she was accustomed to being treated when a gentleman called on her, and an occasional glance from Dauntry suggested that he was aware of his ill manners. “I did not come to pay court to you, miss,” that look said.
    The tea tray, when it arrived, held only tea. “Ask Tory to send up some of that gingerbread she made this afternoon, Muffet,” Cressida said.
    Muffet bowed and left. Within five minutes Tory herself appeared at the doorway. She sidled into the room edgeways, like a crab. Her face was an even brighter shade of red than usual.
    “I’m sorry about the gingerbread, milady. It’s gone.”
    Cressida just blinked in astonishment. She had no objection to the servants sharing her food, but surely, with so few servants, a large gingerbread could not be gone this soon. “All of it?”
    “I threw it out,” Tory said. “It didn’t rise enough. Sure I wouldn’t serve it to the backhouse boy. I’ll bake you up a fresh one tomorrow. Meanwhile, there is a bit of plum cake in the larder, if you like.”
    “That will be fine, thank you.”
    Tory bustled out, leaving a mystery behind her. What had she done with the gingerbread? It had been good enough to serve that afternoon. Surely a cake did not fall hours after leaving the oven? Cressida was no cook, but she had spent enough hours in her mama’s kitchen as a child to know the crucial time for a cake falling was before it was fully baked.
    Muffet brought in the plum cake, and the tea party continued. Dauntry had only one cup of tea, made politely banal conversation, then said he must be off.
    “Another parish council meeting?” Cressida inquired with a quizzing smile.
    He didn’t bat an eyelash, although he certainly knew she knew he had lied to her that afternoon. “A social engagement, actually,” he replied. “The Forresters are having a rout party this evening. Lady John asked me to invite you. As you had already informed Mama of your wish for solitude, I told her you had come here to rusticate and did not wish to be disturbed.”
    “How very kind of you,” she replied in a thin voice.
    “My pleasure,” he said with a bow. “I admire, but fear I have not the willpower to emulate your fortitude in seeking a summer’s seclusion from society. But then, perhaps I have less need of it.” His dark eyes lingered assessingly on her face as he spoke, as though observing the ravages of her many late nights. “One cannot fly with the owls at night and soar with the eagles by day. As my days are strenuous, I do not trot quite so hard as you young—youngish folks at night.”
    Cressida mentally noted the various slurs on her behavior and age. As if that were not bad enough, he presented them as a pseudo compliment. “No doubt I shall feel the same when I achieve your gray eminence, milord,” she said coolly. “Meanwhile, I should be happy to have the choice of accepting or rejecting my own invitations.”
    “You said explicitly you wished for a quiet summer. Indeed, had Mama suspected you meant to continue the social whirl, throwing the dower house open to receive your many friends and admirers, she would not have rented it.”
    This was going a good deal too far. “Are you saying I am not even allowed to invite company to my own