An Honorable Thief Read Online Free PDF Page B

very large."
    He snorted. "A diamond mine in a penal colony! Lord, imagine the problems —every rag-tag thief and criminal would be committing crimes in the hope of transportation to Botany Bay and a fortune in diamonds. The courts would be even more flooded than they already are. No, no, you are mistaken there, Amelia."
    "No, I am not. She quite definitely came from New South Wales —I am not stupid, you know Hugo!"
    "A diamond mine in New South Wales!" he repeated scornfully. "Such a thing could not exist."
    She pursed her lips in annoyance. "Obviously you wish it did not!" she said waspishly. "But apparently they have only quite recently crossed some impossible mountain range into the unknown interior, so who is to say there are no diamonds there? Certainly not a man who buries himself in rural fastness for most of the year and is odiously selfish the rest of the time!"
    "The whole tale sounds too smoky by half to me."
    Amelia shrugged pettishly.
    "I would be very interested to meet the owner of a New South Wales diamond mine," Hugo said slowly.
    Amelia glared at him. “This is nothing to do with you, Hugo! If you want Thomas to be settled comfortably, then take yourself back to Yorkshire! I won't have you meddling and putting the girl off our family."
    "I gather she is here tonight."
    Amelia hesitated, then shook her head in dramatic emphasis. "No, no, she didn't come."
    "That little dark creature Thomas was attempting to hide from me on the dance floor?"
    "No, no, no! It is not her at all —that is some other girl! A completely different girl."
    Hugo smiled. Her feverish denial confirmed his suspicions. "I think it is incumbent on me, as Thomas's only male relative, to meet the girl, at least." He strode towards the door.
    "Hugo, you will not approach this girl, do you hear me?" Amelia shrieked. "I forbid it! You will ruin everything!"
     
     
    Chapter Two
     
    "Miss Singleton."
     
    Kit jumped and hurriedly turned. There was still the odd occasion where, if distracted, it slipped her mind that she was now Miss Singleton.
    A tall dark-haired gentleman stood at her elbow, frowning thoughtfully down at her. The impressive-looking man she had noticed earlier. Heavens! Up close he was even more impressive. Bigger. Darker. Colder. Examining her with a curious mixture of frigid intensity and detachment.
    Kit's heart started beating rapidly. She swallowed.
    The grey eyes met her gaze coldly. A frisson of deja-vu passed through her.
    Who was he? Why was he staring at her in that way? Did he know her from somewhere?
    "Will you honour me with a dance, Miss Singleton?"
    It was not a request, but a demand, snapped out in an arrogant, care-for-nobody tone. Kit did not care for it. She lifted her chin and rewarded the gentleman with a frosty look and a disdainfully raised eyebrow. She was not supposed to talk to anyone she had not been introduced to.
    "Yes, of course she will," Aunt Rose responded for her. Rose must have introduced them, Kit realised belatedly, but
    she hadn't caught it. Rose smiled, nodded approvingly at Kit and drifted off towards the card room.
    Kit silently held out her card. His dark head bent as he scrawled his name on it, and she peered surreptitiously to try to catch the name, without success. His hands were large, square, long-fingered and well-shaped. Oddly, they were scarred and nicked in a number of places. London gentlemen took great care of their hands; some had skin almost as soft as Kit's —softer, in fact, for she'd had occasion to work hard at times.
    Interesting. This man seemed to flaunt his imperfections... no, not quite flaunt, he seemed indifferent to them. Or was it people's opinion of him he was indifferent to?
    She leaned back a little and allowed her gaze to run over him.
    Up close he still retained that aura of aloneness. He made no small talk. He simply claimed her for a dance. He was either a little shy in the company of women, or very arrogant.
    His eyes flicked up suddenly, as if