A Lady's Lesson in Seduction Read Online Free PDF

herself to be kissed under the mistletoe by the male guests. Perhaps Lord Warbury had had a word with Alan Folk, for he didn’t try to invade her, merely giving her a friendly kiss. So did Edwin, the Druid and the King of the Revels. Mr. Cutlow, who’d drunk too much wine and lamb’s wool, put his hand on her bottom and tried to stick his tongue in her mouth. She squirmed indignantly away and warned Almeria not to let Mr. Cutlow catch her under the mistletoe. Lord Warbury bestowed kisses upon several giggly maidservants, an equally giggly Almeria, and Mrs. Cutlow, who tried unsuccessfully to cling to him. He didn’t kiss Frances.
    Perhaps he didn’t mean to kiss her at all. Maybe he’d decided she wasn’t worth the bother, and the second turn at mashing apples meant nothing.
    Frances licked the foam off a cup of lamb’s wool and lapsed into uncomfortable reflections. It was better if he didn’t kiss her. If she let herself dwell on Lord Warbury’s kisses, she was in danger of forgetting her duty to Almeria. In fact, if he intended to marry Almeria, she shouldn’t kiss him at all.
    ‘There you are, Mrs. Burdett.’ Lord Warbury strolled up, brandishing a solitary mistletoe berry. ‘I’ve been saving you for last.’ He bent and dropped a chaste kiss on her mouth, and then whispered, ‘That doesn’t count. We’ll continue our lessons later.’
    Why must he promise more kisses at the very moment when she’d decided she shouldn’t allow it? ‘It would be better not,’ she muttered.
    His brows drew together; after a long second, while she squirmed under his contemplative gaze, he merely said, ‘Let’s see if my mother is ready to adjourn to the drawing room. Traditionally, we take the tea upstairs ourselves and leave the servants to enjoy their celebration without us.’
    Soon they all trooped up to the drawing room. Over tea, she sent covert glances at both Lord Warbury and Almeria, trying to assess their attitudes to one another. The girl continued to flirt with the marquis every chance she got, but she toyed with the Folk cousins and their friend, too. As for the marquis, he flirted obligingly back, but he didn’t glower like Edwin when Almeria paid attention to someone else. Was he very sure of himself, or too mature to wear his heart on his sleeve? Or was he not interested in Almeria at all?
    The younger people gathered about a table to play Speculation, and the Cutlows, Lady Warbury, and the Druid made up a table for whist. Relieved she needn’t try to play cards whilst in such a frame of mind, Frances gratefully retired to the sofa with her needlework and her confusion.
    ‘Trying to decide what to embroider next?’
    She started; the marquis was looking over her shoulder at her stitchery. ‘I drew the design before I left London, but it seems my fingers won’t follow the plan.’ She gestured to a hodgepodge of stem and chain stitches she’d just made while thinking of other matters entirely. ‘That was supposed to be one or two flower stems, but somehow it became chaotic—as if the plant took over and grew on its own.’
    ‘That’s what plants do if you let them,’ he said. ‘If you don’t prune them and chop them. Pruning and chopping have their place, but so does growth.’ His voice made her shiver. ‘Wild, unrestrained growth.’
    He wasn’t talking about plants anymore. She wasn’t ready for anything wild or unrestrained. She wasn’t even sure about more kisses.
    ‘I’m Almeria’s chaperone,’ she said, nodding towards the noisy game of Speculation. ‘It’s my duty to set a good example for her.’
    ‘You needn’t worry about Miss Dane. She may be a little chatterbox, but she is very aware of her worth. She won’t do anything foolish or give herself away to just anyone.’
    Did he mean she would give herself only to a man of wealth and rank? If he wanted Almeria, why didn’t he just say so? He didn’t hesitate about anything else, she thought indignantly, and tried