Seduced Bride-To-Be Read Online Free PDF Page B

wood into the fire. No battle scarred soldier anymore, but
her mysterious Highwayman again.
    ‘And
if you are cold’ he added ‘I know just the way to make you warm again.’
    Her
laughter turned quickly into gasps of pleasure.
     
    ‘Will
I see you tomorrow?’ he asked when they kissed goodbye at the edge of the
woods.
    It
was the dark hour just before the down. Dinah could hardly see him.
    ‘We
have got guests to dinner tomorrow. Lord Timsbury’s sister, my mother’s family,
my father’s sister, the vicar…’
    ‘Well,
if the vicar is coming…’
    ‘Oh,
stop it!’ she laughed. ‘But it will not be possible for me to meet up with
you.’
    ‘Even
for a quarter of an hour?’
    ‘A
quarter of an hour? I would need much longer to sneak out of the house.
Besides, I would not risk it, with all the guests at home and servants getting
things ready for the ball.’
    ‘You
do need to sneak out of the house, yes. But not out of the garden.’
    ‘What
are you trying to say?’
    ‘I
took a good look at your house and grounds today. Well, I was rather good in spying
on the enemy’s camps. Don’t forget you are dealing with the reckless Captain
Legrant. Anyway, there is an old garden shed hidden behind the trees at the
back of the house. I don’t know why your father does not get rid of it.’
    ‘Oh,
it is where old Mr Pool keeps his garden tools. Papa wanted to have a new one
built for him but Mr Pool would not hear about it. He’s been ailing recently so
no one has been using it.’
    ‘So
I gathered from my little espionage tour. Get an excuse after dinner to go out
to the garden. Alone. Fresh air and solitude to steady your nerves before
meeting Lord Timsbury. Everyone would understand.’
    ‘Alex!
I cannot. During the dinner party?’
    ‘What
is it? The spirit of adventure is leaving you?’
    ‘Do
not tease me. I cannot bear to think that I shall never see you again. But… in
old Mr Pool’s shed?’
    ‘Well,
I cannot think of a better place. And I want to see you again. We’ll just have
to be careful to keep away from his garden shears.’
    Dinah
laughed again and made up her mind. Oh, damn it! she thought, in a very
un-ladylike fashion. If the rest of her life was going to be proper and boring,
she could well afford some madness on her last evening of freedom.
    ‘I
shall be there. What time should I come?’
    ‘Any
time when the coast is clear. I will be waiting for you. Trust me!’
    With
that he kissed her one last time and Dinah run swiftly home. She undressed
quickly and, with her heart still beating wildly, fell into bed.
     
    During
the dinner party, Dinah was so nervous that she could hardly eat anything.
Fortunately, the guests seemed too preoccupied to notice. Only her aunt Grahams
kept looking at Dinah with concern in her eyes. But, seated opposite the
formidable Lady Hornby, she hid her worries behind serene countenance.
    Dinah
sat between the vicar, who was very pompous, and her young cousin Mark, who was
very boring. Listening to their insignificant conversation and only murmuring ‘Mmm…’
every few minutes, she was free to study Lord Timsbury’s sister, Amelia, sitting
almost directly opposite her.
    Amelia
was a charmingly pretty girl, with becomingly arranged dark curls framing her
flawless face. The silver blue gown which she was wearing set off her dark blue
eyes. She looked as pained and bored as Dinah felt, with Mr Ford, the Bensons’
hunting obsessed neighbour and old doctor Grant to her right and left.
    Suddenly,
as if sensing Dinah’s gaze, Amelia lifted her eyes and smiled at Dinah. A
current of understanding passed between the two girls and Dinah felt slightly
more cheerful. It seemed that by marrying Lord Timsbury she would at least gain
an amiable sister.
    The
conversation inevitably turned to Lord Timsbury. It was Dinah’s Uncle David,
married to her father’s sister, Jane, who first brought the subject.
    ‘It
is a pity that your cousin has not been able to join us