A Pair of Rogues Read Online Free PDF

range of emotions. She smiled sweetly up at Ned and was her most demure as he handed her into his waiting carriage.
    They drove to the park in silence. Christina folded her hands in her lap like the veriest schoolgirl, determined to bore the very dickens out of Ned. She was tempted to exclaim over the sights to emphasize her naiveté, but in her frazzled state, she was not sure she could achieve the proper note. She was still a bit unsettled by the baby’s cries. If she had been Louisa, she would have snatched him from the priest, archbishop or no.
    “What a perfect day for a drive.” Ned’s words, issued in a sarcastic drawl, broke into her musings. “Thoughtful of Louisa to suggest it.”
    The day was anything but perfect, as Christina could see. Still in the midst of winter, the trees stood lifeless and bare. A bone-chilling breeze was gusting off the Thames, making her shiver in spite of the woolen rugs piled high on her lap.
    Christina was agreed that Louisa’s subterfuge had not been very subtle, and she thought it as futile as Ned obviously believed it to be. Determined, however, not to show that she had detected his irony, she replied demurely, “Yes, my lord.”
    “Are you quite warm?”
    “Yes, my lord.”
    “Was your journey to London pleasant?”
    “Yes, my lord.”
    Ned cocked a dark look her way. “You’re a prodigious’ agreeable chit, an’t ye?”
    “I try to be, my lord.”
    Her sickly sweetish tone drew a suspicious glance from him, but after studying her profile to no effect, Ned shrugged and chirruped to his horses.
    They were a beautiful team, Christina noticed, as they swept into the park—two well-muscled bays with a smooth, long stride and strong, arched necks. Confident of her knowledge of horseflesh, Christina could see that Ned had chosen them for their gait rather than for show. Matched greys would have been more fashionable, but this pair performed as if they had been stitched together at the shoulder.
    “You have a fine pair of horses, my lord,” she could not keep herself from saying.
    “Indeed I do.”
    “May I drive them?” If he ever saw her skill, it would put a stop to his condescension.
    A garbled sound came from Ned, and for a moment she thought he might choke on shock.
    “No, Lady Chris,” he finally managed. “I very much regret that you may not.”
    “Why?”
    “Because you are a girl, and these are my bays. You couldn’t handle them if you tried.”
    “Is that so?” With an effort, Christina struggled to keep the innocence in her tone. “I am accounted to be something of a whip, my lord.”
    “By whom?”
    “By my groom.”
    Ned’s lips turned up smugly at the corners. “One’s servants are not always the most impartial of judges, as I am sure you will agree, my dear.”
    Christina fumed, but, eyes downcast, she made a timid reply, “I am certain you are right, my lord.”
    Ned drove on, but Christina seethed with offense. That made two slights now, two intolerable insults that she needed to avenge. Uncle Ned indeed!
    Never behindhand when the occasion called for revenge, she searched about for the first opportunity to take it.
    Despite the cold weather, the park was not totally devoid of company this morning. Here and there, she spied a gentleman exercising his mount. Surely one of them could be useful in a pinch if she could only think of a way to punish Ned for his insufferable arrogance.
    Ned had reached the end of the row, and now he turned his horses into the wind. Through stinging eyelids, Christina scanned the park. The turf was grey and lifeless, but so wide and open, she quickly formed an idea.
    As Ned gave his bays more rein, she surreptitiously reached into her reticule and pulled out a handkerchief. Before he could glance her way, she discreetly dropped it by her side.
    The wind caught the linen and blew it backwards, but even so, Christina waited until they had traveled a pace before sounding the alarm.
    “Oh, my!”
    Ned turned with