Never Trust a Rogue Read Online Free PDF

the ball. And anyway, there’s no purpose to these lessons. It isn’t as if I plan to travel to the Continent anytime soon.”
    “Every refined young lady must learn to speak French. It is expected of you.”
    “Oh, pooh. English is good enough for me. Besides, I haven’t the knack for foreign tongues.”
    “Hmph. I’ve heard you speak fluent Hindi to Kasi. Now, come with me at once, or I shall be forced to report your disobedient behavior to Mrs. Crompton.”
    “I don’t care if Mama scolds me,” Blythe countered with a toss of her curly auburn mane. “I’m sixteen and it’s about time I had a say in my own education.”
    Lindsey recognized the opportunity to avoid a discussion of the previous night. She stepped forward, took her sister’s arm, and steered her toward the open door. “Miss Underhill is right. Portia and I both had to endure our lessons. What must be done is best done cheerfully.”
    “But—”
    “And furthermore, I won’t be held to blame for keeping you from your schooling. Run along now and we’ll talk later.”
    Trudging through the doorway, Blythe looked back over her shoulder to drill her sister with a petulant frown. “All right, but you had better not renege or I’ll—
oh
!”
    She collided with a sturdy young maid who was entering the bedchamber, toting a large silver tray of food. Her face was tucked down and a voluminous white mobcap covered all but a fringe of dark hair.
    The maid yelped as dishes and cutlery clattered in a jarring cacophony. A piece of toast went sailing backwardinto the corridor. A porcelain cup flew in the other direction, landing on carpet and rolling beneath a green-striped chair by the hearth.
    The girl jerked up her head to reveal a startled expression on her broad, pale features. In one instant, Lindsey recognized her personal maid, Flora. In the next, she saw the tray tilting, the dishes sliding, steamy liquid sloshing from the spout of the blue teapot.
    She sprang past her sister to grab the tray. Flora clung tenaciously and they engaged in a little tug-of-war until Lindsey snapped out, “Let go!”
    The maid relaxed her grip. Clutching the silver handles, Lindsey carried the heavy tray to a table and set it down.
    When she turned around, Blythe was making a fuss over checking the yellow gauze of her skirts. “Lud, that was close! This is a new gown. The dressmaker delivered it only yesterday.”
    “I trust there was no damage done,” Miss Underhill said, before turning a critical eye on the maid. “How very careless. You must learn to watch where you are going.”
    Flora stood frozen, her blue eyes wide with horror. Then abruptly she burst into tears and buried her face in her hands.
    The display startled Lindsey. Flora was usually an unflappable, efficient worker who performed her duties well. With her skill at hairdressing, no one could ask for a more adept maidservant. Something must be terribly amiss for her to exhibit such an uncustomary outpouring of emotion.
    Placing an arm around the young woman’s waist, Lindsey guided her to a striped footstool by the fireplace. Flora was shaking with the force of her sobs, and the sight of her distress touched Lindsey’s heart.
    “There was no harm done,” she said soothingly. “It wasan accident. I’m sorry if my sister and Miss Underhill upset you.”
    “It’s really
my
fault for bumping into you,” Blythe chimed in, looking rather subdued, for in spite of her self-centeredness, she possessed a generous spirit. “I didn’t mean to sound so critical.”
    “Nor did I,” Miss Underhill said. She whipped out a crisply folded handkerchief from a pocket of her skirt and pressed it to the maid’s hand. “Now, you may cease your caterwauling. I have no intention of reporting such a minor mishap to the butler.”
    Flora used the handkerchief to scrub at her wet cheeks. “Th-thank you, m-miss. But-but ’tisn’t me post wot’s worryin’ me. ’Tis—’tis the Serpentine