Ducal Encounters 02 - With the Duke's Approval Read Online Free PDF Page A

far.”
    “Hmm.” Anna wasn’t sure what he meant by that and changed the subject. “Why does my liking winter weather make me a romantic, in your opinion?”
    “Snow is devilishly inconvenient. It’s pretty enough when it falls, I’ll grant you, but once it’s on the ground, it is a very different story. Horses can’t get about, lots of accidents occur, and life generally grinds to a halt.”
    “It shames me that I have never thought of it in that light. How very spoiled you must think me.”
    He didn’t deny it. “We are just about the only people foolish enough to venture out of doors,” he said instead, causing Anna to notice for the first time they were indeed alone.
    “I happen to think we are very sensible,” Anne replied, sending him a sparkling smile that he probably couldn’t see in the dim lighting on the terrace. “Besides, you are a diplomat, and everyone knows diplomats must be very clever.”
    “You appear determined to pay me compliments I have no right to expect. Nevertheless, I thank you for them.”
    Anna felt the muscles in the arm upon which she rested her fingers flex and contract. She glanced up at his handsome face and would give a very great deal to know what was going on in that clever brain of his. He cut such a dashing figure, with his broad shoulders displayed to fine advantage in a superbly cut coat of the finest blue wool, and a silk waistcoat embroidered with gold thread. A sapphire winked from the folds of his neckcloth. His breeches were finest buckskin, fitted tight, and his elegant legs were displayed in white patterned stockings. Anna felt pride in his companionship, but compassion for the man he had become. Lord Romsey’s elegant manners covered a very troubled, slightly lost soul. She didn’t know how she was aware of it, but somehow she knew it was true.
    They had not reached the end of the terrace before she came to a decision. Her soft heart recoiled at the thought of this complex gentleman spending all his waking hours doing his duty, putting others before himself. All the time his father had been alive, his son lived up to his expectations, and continued to do so after his death.
    It simply would not do.
    When she mentioned snow, his first thought was for the danger and inconvenience it caused. Hers was of boisterous snowball fights on the lawns of the Park—all of her siblings participating, no quarter asked for or given, no compensations made for the age or sex of the combatants. Lord Romsey had probably never done that. Well, of course he had not. He had no siblings to compete against. Nor could he have ridden bareback, racing hell for leather across fields in direct competition with four brothers. He had missed so very much.
    When she mentioned Miss Outwood’s lack of intelligence, his immediate reaction was to seek a reason for it, simply because that was the way he had been encouraged from the cradle to apply his mind. Spontaneity did not form a part of Lord Romsey’s character, and Anna thought that was a great pity.
    He was a close neighbour, responsible for the district in Hampshire that adjoined Zach’s. Had he not mentioned he and Zach would be working closely to bring law and order to the county? That implied Lord Romsey would be a regular visitor to the Park, affording Anna the opportunity to make him her charity project. She would teach this intelligent, complex, and very handsome aristocrat how to relax and enjoy himself, or die on the attempt.
    Waltzing with him had been a very agreeable experience. Very agreeable indeed. He danced superbly. She supposed being a proficient dancer was de rigour for any aspiring diplomat. He would be required to dance with all manner of ladies at various diplomatic soirees, and he would be expected to excel. That did not explain why she had felt so capriciously abandoned in the circle of his arms, or the firestorm of emotional turmoil that had gripped her, causing her tongue to run away with her to cover her