A Kiss in the Dark Read Online Free PDF

house?”
    “Nothing of the sort. What I am saying is that Mama is too old to be bothered by rowdy parties and your guests tramping through our park and gardens, shooting the rabbits and trampling the flowers.”
    “What a strange notion you have of my friends, milord. I assure you they are all civilized. You must be thinking of your own guests. I trust your mama will have no objection to Mr. Montgomery sailing his yacht on her ocean?”
    His lips quirked in a reluctant smile. “Alas, the ocean is public property. I am sorry if I have offended you by my plain speaking, Baroness. The fact is, Mama is utterly fagged after my sister’s wedding, and requires peace and quiet. Naturally Mama—and I—wish to make your visit as enjoyable as possible, so that you do not run off on us.”
    She strongly suspected his intention was exactly the opposite. He wanted her to be so miserable that she left early, and was using his mama’s health as an excuse to curb her pleasure. Lady Dauntry looked hale and hearty. “My visit would be a good deal more enjoyable if I were allowed to live in the cottage I arranged for,” she said. “I had a look at the roof on my way here. It seemed in good repair.”
    “Looks can be deceptive. It leaks. The place is uninhabitable. No one has lived there for years.”
    “Why don’t you have it repaired? It is poor management to allow such a pretty little property to sink into ruin.”
    To question Lord Dauntry’s management was as offensive as to question an unmarried lady’s age. He had trouble keeping his tongue between his teeth. “I shall bear your advice in mind, madam.”
    Beau was not sensitive, but he noticed the chill in the atmosphere and wished to warm it. “Is the place haunted?” he asked.
    “Only by memories,” Dauntry replied without even looking at Beau. His dark eyes were riveted on Cressida.
    “You might want to take alook at it on your way home, milord,” she said, “Your ‘memories’ are drinking wine. One of them is such a strong memory, he has assumed a corporeal body. I saw him through the window this afternoon.”
    Dauntry's face froze in fury. He shot her a look that would freeze fire, then in a silken-soft voice tinged with menace he said, “I would prefer that you not visit the cottage. It is unsafe.”
    “I am not afraid of ghosts.”
    “The grounds have not been tended recently. There is a deal of poison ivy and poison oak growing around it. It would be a shame to spoil your visit by falling into poison ivy. And now I must go. Lady John’s rout awaits. It promises to be a gay affair. She has had a canopied platform built outdoors. We are to waltz by moonlight. Pity you refuse to come.”
    Beau began to rise from his seat. “I should like to give that a try, Sid!”
    “We were not invited, Beau,” she said dampingly.
    “And Lady deCourcy is much too soignee to go where she has not been invited,” Dauntry added with a twitch of his lips.
    He bowed and left. Cressida waited until she heard the door close before giving vent to her anger. “Beast of a man! How dare he refuse my invitations for me? I should love to waltz by moonlight.”
    “Pity you told his mama you want to rusticate.”
    “One can rusticate without becoming a hermit. And furthermore, I should like to know why he is lying to me about the cottage. I saw no poison ivy there. The roof hasn’t a loose shingle on it.”
    “P’raps he has a woman there,” Beau said.
    “I shouldn’t be a bit surprised.” She punched a pillow, then looked up, startled. “You have hit the nail on the head, Beau. He has his lightskirt there. Who can she be? I heard nothing of this in London.”
    “A local woman, very likely.”
    “Not he! It would be some high flyer. But it was a man I saw inside.”
    “She would have servants.”
    “It is very odd about the gingerbread,” was her next speech.
    “Tory ate it all herself. She is broad as a barn door.”
    “She could not eat the whole thing. It was