Maggie MacKeever Read Online Free PDF Page A
Author: Our Tabby
once, sir!”
The reprehensible Mr. Sanders, however, was beginning to enjoy himself. It wasn’t often that he found himself alone with a female who regarded him with such obvious disapproval. She was a taking little thing, he thought, this plump little person with her tousled brown curls and censorious gray eyes. Not in his style, of course, nor would he have thought her in Perry’s. “What have you done with Perry?” he asked.
“What have I done with Perry?” she echoed blankly. Then her cheeks flamed. “Oh! You think that I—that Perry—” She broke off and buried her cheeks in her hands. Vivien sighed and steeled himself to deal with yet another hysterical female. Then she raised her head and he saw that she was laughing. “How absurd!” she gasped.
Vivien could not help but enjoy her laughter. He’d heard precious little female merriment of late. “I begin to think the both of us are laboring under awkward misapprehensions,” he remarked as he sat down on the bed. “That you are not a lady of equivocal occupation, as I am not a wicked reprobate.”
There seemed a safe enough distance between them. Tabby perched warily on the edge of the chair. “Well, I know I’m not a prime article of virtue,” she said, then blushed again. “That is to say, I am a respectable female! But as for you, Perry did say that you are on the downward road to perdition, sir!”
“Ah.” Vivien leaned back on the pillow. “And I’ve given you no reason to think otherwise, having assaulted you, after all. Accept my sincere apologies for that, Miss—”
Tabby wasn’t about to make this winsome reprobate acquainted with her name. “Never mind,” she said.
“Miss Nevermind.” He smiled. “I promise you that I am in no mood for a bit of frolic—and you have made it abundantly clear that neither are you!” She looked skeptical, and he quirked a brow. “I am not half so black as I am painted, truly. It’s all the fault of my accursed face and the wagging tongues of my friends. They provide me with a name, and I must live up to it, lest I suffer their disappointment. In truth, I’m as innocent as a babe newborn.”
Tabby recalled the knowing way in which the babe new-born had kissed her. “What a clanker! Although I should not say so, I suppose.”
“Of course you should,” said Mr. Sanders, with a note of laughter in his voice that plucked at Tabby’s heart. If his reputation was overstated, she thought ruefully, it was not wholly undeserved. He added humorously, “I think we may be said to have bypassed the usual formalities. There, I have made you smile. You forgive me, then. But you have not yet told me how it comes about that you are here and Perry is not.’’
Tabby sensed instinctively that the less this gentleman knew of her the better. She was finding it damnably difficult to gaze anywhere but at his naked chest. “Perry went back to town with his friends. That left his room vacant, and I was in need of one, and so he gave it to me.”
Mr. Sanders found it difficult to credit his friend with so chivalrous an act. “Now you have piqued my interest,” he said. “No, I shan’t pry into your secrets. Any friend of Perry’s—and so you must be!—must also be a friend of mine.” So saying, he rose. Tabby rose also and with alacrity ducked behind the chair.
Vivien laughed to see her in that posture, clutching at the chair as if she were a tamer of wild beasts and he a lion. Here was one female whose high admiration he obviously did not excite. “You’re safe with me, Miss Nevermind,” he said, as he picked up his shirt from the floor where he’d previously let it fall. “I give you my word that I shan’t make a violent attack on your virtue.”
Of course he would not, Tabby realized. Why should so very fine a gentleman cherish ambitions upon her own small and plump and insignificant person, when the large majority of high-flyers in the kingdom must be fighting tooth and nail to cast
The reprehensible Mr. Sanders, however, was beginning to enjoy himself. It wasn’t often that he found himself alone with a female who regarded him with such obvious disapproval. She was a taking little thing, he thought, this plump little person with her tousled brown curls and censorious gray eyes. Not in his style, of course, nor would he have thought her in Perry’s. “What have you done with Perry?” he asked.
“What have I done with Perry?” she echoed blankly. Then her cheeks flamed. “Oh! You think that I—that Perry—” She broke off and buried her cheeks in her hands. Vivien sighed and steeled himself to deal with yet another hysterical female. Then she raised her head and he saw that she was laughing. “How absurd!” she gasped.
Vivien could not help but enjoy her laughter. He’d heard precious little female merriment of late. “I begin to think the both of us are laboring under awkward misapprehensions,” he remarked as he sat down on the bed. “That you are not a lady of equivocal occupation, as I am not a wicked reprobate.”
There seemed a safe enough distance between them. Tabby perched warily on the edge of the chair. “Well, I know I’m not a prime article of virtue,” she said, then blushed again. “That is to say, I am a respectable female! But as for you, Perry did say that you are on the downward road to perdition, sir!”
“Ah.” Vivien leaned back on the pillow. “And I’ve given you no reason to think otherwise, having assaulted you, after all. Accept my sincere apologies for that, Miss—”
Tabby wasn’t about to make this winsome reprobate acquainted with her name. “Never mind,” she said.
“Miss Nevermind.” He smiled. “I promise you that I am in no mood for a bit of frolic—and you have made it abundantly clear that neither are you!” She looked skeptical, and he quirked a brow. “I am not half so black as I am painted, truly. It’s all the fault of my accursed face and the wagging tongues of my friends. They provide me with a name, and I must live up to it, lest I suffer their disappointment. In truth, I’m as innocent as a babe newborn.”
Tabby recalled the knowing way in which the babe new-born had kissed her. “What a clanker! Although I should not say so, I suppose.”
“Of course you should,” said Mr. Sanders, with a note of laughter in his voice that plucked at Tabby’s heart. If his reputation was overstated, she thought ruefully, it was not wholly undeserved. He added humorously, “I think we may be said to have bypassed the usual formalities. There, I have made you smile. You forgive me, then. But you have not yet told me how it comes about that you are here and Perry is not.’’
Tabby sensed instinctively that the less this gentleman knew of her the better. She was finding it damnably difficult to gaze anywhere but at his naked chest. “Perry went back to town with his friends. That left his room vacant, and I was in need of one, and so he gave it to me.”
Mr. Sanders found it difficult to credit his friend with so chivalrous an act. “Now you have piqued my interest,” he said. “No, I shan’t pry into your secrets. Any friend of Perry’s—and so you must be!—must also be a friend of mine.” So saying, he rose. Tabby rose also and with alacrity ducked behind the chair.
Vivien laughed to see her in that posture, clutching at the chair as if she were a tamer of wild beasts and he a lion. Here was one female whose high admiration he obviously did not excite. “You’re safe with me, Miss Nevermind,” he said, as he picked up his shirt from the floor where he’d previously let it fall. “I give you my word that I shan’t make a violent attack on your virtue.”
Of course he would not, Tabby realized. Why should so very fine a gentleman cherish ambitions upon her own small and plump and insignificant person, when the large majority of high-flyers in the kingdom must be fighting tooth and nail to cast