Lady Libertine Read Online Free PDF Page A

forget a face.’
    If you happen to actually look at one. ‘I see.’ It was not much of a reply, but she could not think of another, not at the moment.
    ‘Would you like me to get you a glass of lemonade?’
    So he had heard her. The offhand offer annoyed her, uttered as it was in such an indifferent manner. Did she want him to? No, Lucy decided. She would rather he went and did something interesting with one of the many female guests who were eyeing the earl as if he were a full buffet and they had not eaten all day. ‘I can manage, but thank you. Most kind.’
    He looked nonplussed by her refusal and Lucy wondered when was the last time anybody had refused his attentions. Instead of replying, however, he merely bowed a little stiffly and walked away.
    Oh dear , she thought, suddenly amused by the turn of events. I’ve offended him. Not that she felt too badly about it. To have experienced even a mild rebuff was probably character building for him. And at least he would not trouble her any further that night. She looked around the room consideringly, wondering where the best place was to blend in and look inconspicuous. Already the sound of laughter was increasing, proportionate to the measure of libations taken; Julia Challender certainly did not stint on the wine.
    There were interesting arrangements of ferns in several places. Experience had taught Lucy that frisky guests liked greenery, especially if the weather was inclement.
    It was, she decided, going to be an interesting night.
     
    Rand was feeling distinctly out of sorts. He had not had a very enjoyable day and, as a man who sailed through life deliberately avoiding any unpleasantness, he didn’t deal with bad ones particularly well.
    Unfortunately, things just hadn’t gone his way.
    The morning had seen him take himself to the offices of the London Times – a day later than he’d intended, but he had been distracted by his female companion for quite some time - where he had an extremely unsatisfying interview with the editor, who had insisted that, not only did he not know the identity of Lady Libertine, but that he had no intention of canceling the column as no names were actually divulged.
    ‘But it is perfectly obvious who these people are!’
    ‘Yes,’ Thomas Beaufort had agreed with a slight smile, ‘she does seem to be quite good at character sketches, I must say.’
    ‘She? It really is a woman, then?’
    ‘I cannot say. I do not know the writer’s identity. She calls herself Lady Libertine however, so I assume as much.’
    ‘But that’s ridiculous! I assume you pay them for this bilge?’
    ‘It is a paid column.’
    ‘Well?’ he’d stared at Beaufort’s impassive face, trying to control his temper, ‘Come on man, who is it that you pay?’
    ‘The money is collected once a week. Further than that, I am not at liberty to say.’
    As it turned out, the more Rand pressured the man, the less he did have to say. In the end, the editor’s responses had been practically monosyllabic. Rand had stormed out in high dudgeon. Bastard!
    Things had only gone downhill from there.
    He had encountered Gatton at White’s and had suffered through an awkward – if mercifully brief - scene. Gatton, a tall, gangly creature with an extraordinarily large adam’s apple, had been full of righteous wrath. After setting eyes on Rand, he had risen to his feet, body quivering, long face tight with anger.
    ‘You! Hamersley!’
    It seemed that all of White’s, or at least the room they were occupying, had grown suddenly quiet. As an old and prestigious club, it had seen its fair share of dust-ups and, if the tone of voice was anything to go by, they had been about to witness another one. Rand had forgotten about Gatton and the fact that he would probably still be angry. The duke had called around the previous day, but fortunately Rand had been out, thereby postponing their meeting. If he had remembered that the duke was probably going to be tetchy, he might