Julie Garwood Read Online Free PDF

way she had skirted his question and then said, “The season will soon start. Do you look forward to your adventure?” He forced the cynicism out of his voice, admitting that he didn’t want to spoil her innocent expectations. She was a female and therefore had to be eager to participate in the frivolousness of it all.
    “Adventure? I hadn’t thought of it in quite that way.I’m sure that Charity will enjoy the parties,” she answered.
    She was frowning up at Bradford and he was struck with the thought that her gaze, when directed with such force, could well make any man stutter and lose his train of thought. Of course, Bradford hastily reminded himself while he tried to remember what it was they were talking about, he had seen too much, experienced too much, to be taken in by the wiles of any chit. He was, however, growing more alarmed at his own undisciplined reactions. By God, he had never been so affected, so overwhelmed, by a woman before. What the hell was the matter with him? It must be the heat, he reflected, even as he vowed, in that instant when their gaze held, that he would know all about the woman kneeling before him. She glowed with innocence and promises of real warmth to a man who had been out in the cold for such a long time.
    The spell holding Caroline captive by Bradford’s dark eyes was broken when Mr. Smith cleared his throat and inquired, “You don’t look forward to the season, do you?” He seemed, to Caroline’s way of thinking, to be completely astonished by his own question.
    “I haven’t given it consideration,” Caroline answered. She smiled and then added, “We have heard such stories! They are a prickly, closed group and one must always be terribly correct. Charity fears that she will do something that will embarrass my father her first night out. She wishes to be correct, you see.”
    Her voice sounded strained and Bradford became all the more intrigued.
    Mr. Smith commented, “I predict that you’ll be the talk of London.” His voice sounded smug and arrogant.
    He had meant it as a compliment and was confused when Caroline nodded and frowned up at him. “That isCharity’s worry about me. She fears I’ll do something quite dreadful and all of London will hear of it. You see, I am rarely correct in anything that I do. My mama calls me a rebel. I fear she’s right.”
    Her comment about her character was made in a very matter-of-fact voice.
    “No, no. You mistake my meaning,” Mr. Smith stated. He waved his handkerchief in the air like a flag. “I mean to say that the
ton
will embrace you.
I
predict it.”
    “You are most kind,” Caroline whispered. “But I hold little hope. It doesn’t signify, as you English are fond of saying, for I’ll be returning to Boston. It doesn’t matter if I’m cut by Pummer himself.”
    “Pummer?” Both Bradford and Mr. Smith stated the name together.
    “Plummer or Brummer,” Caroline returned with a shrug. “Mr. Smith, if you would just move your leg a little so that I can catch this loose end. There, now I can proceed.”
    “Do you mean Brummell? Beau Brummell?” Bradford asked, a smile in his voice.
    “Yes, that is probably the correct name. We were told by Mrs. Maybury, before we left Boston, that this Brummell rules the
ton
, but of course you must know that. Mrs. Maybury had only just arrived in the Colonies before we left, so we believe her story to be accurate.”
    “And what was her story?” Bradford asked.
    “That if Brummell decides to cut a lady, then she might as well join a convent. Her season is ruined and she must go home in disgrace. Can you imagine one person having such power?” She asked the question of Bradford and glanced up at him. She immediately wished she hadn’t. Of course he could imagine such power, she told herself. The man probably invented it. She sighed with frustration and lowered her gaze.Bradford’s closeness was beginning to irritate her. She looked up at Mr. Smith and saw his