Lost in a Royal Kiss Read Online Free PDF Page B

a firm grip and steered her toward the door. “You must leave me to decide what is best, my dear. It’s growing late, and well past time you returned home.”
    He was right, but that didn’t make his behavior any less annoying or high-handed. “It’s not as if you’re giving me any choice in the matter,” she muttered.
    Sir Anthony ignored the comment and led her to her carriage. As he briskly handed her up, Linnet had the lowering sense that the warmth he had displayed in his study—and the interest in her as a woman —had been nothing more than a passing illusion.

Chapter 3
    Only by luck did Anthony spy his prey as she crossed the back terrace of Lady Farnsworth’s country villa and headed into the extensive gardens behind the house. Ever since Linnet had arrived at the house party two days ago, she’d done everything she could to avoid him. That first evening, she’d almost tripped over her dainty feet when she laid eyes on him, her dismay evident. She’d quickly mastered the emotion, greeting him with a polite but wary courtesy. But from that moment on she’d deftly evaded him, as she had for the last several weeks. He was beginning to feel like a circling hawk, tracking a sleek little rabbit with a talent for hiding in the underbrush.
    Anthony tucked the report he’d been working on into his leather portfolio, and rose from the desk in Lady Farnsworth’s private study. The dowager countess was an old friend of his mother’s, with deep and influential ties to the royal family. She also enjoyed nothing so much as matchmaking, which suited Anthony’s needs perfectly. When, at his private request, the countess had invited Linnet to attend one of her exclusive house parties at her estate, Anthony had known it would be impossible for Linnet to refuse. An invitation from Lady Farnsworth was accounted a great honor, and only on pain of great insult did the invitee ever reply in the negative.
    Although if Linnet had known Anthony would be attending, he suspected she would have risked incurring the grande dame’s displeasure. Why his prim little spinster was so intent on avoiding him was a mystery, but one he was determined to solve.
    Slipping through the French doors onto the terrace, he tracked Linnet along a neatly trimmed path surrounded by high box hedges, heading in the direction of the ornamental pond at the bottom of the gardens. She carried a book and a small workbasket, probably intending to spend the morning in the summer house, a pretty and tree-shaded retreat on the pond. In this heat, it was unlikely Lady Farnsworth’s other guests would be rambling about outside.
    Perfect.
    A less-confident man might have suffered pangs of humiliation at the idea of having to resort to so much subterfuge, but Anthony had no such qualms. In fact, he excelled at subterfuge. His years in the army and in the Home Office had honed his more disreputable skills. He’d never anticipated using them on his prospective bride, but circumstances—and Linnet’s stubbornness—had forced his hand. If the challenge required the full use of those skills, then so be it.
    But why she was proving such a challenge was the real question, especially since he was convinced Linnet was attracted to him. Whenever they encountered each other, she fluttered in a way she did for no other man, losing her usual calm demeanor. But some impediment held her back. He intended to discover and remove it, just as he intended that Linnet would depart Lady Farnsworth’s estate as his fiancée.
    Walking between the high hedges, he took his time as he breathed in the summer air, warmly scented with lavender and the lush scent of blooming roses. It was hot enough that he had a mind to linger a few moments. He also wished to give Linnet the opportunity to settle into the gazebo. If she suspected he had deliberately followed her, she’d turn more skittish than ever. Better to make it seem like a chance encounter.
    The box hedges gave way to a row of