Stolen Kisses Read Online Free PDF Page A

when they involve innocents, who don’t know what kind of devil you are.”
    “Why, thank you, Price.” Jack paused to sketch a bow and continued on his way. “And no one is innocent. Besides, she started it.”
    “Cutting you for good reason is a poor excuse to ruin a girl.”
    It probably was. He had decided last night, somewhere between the fourth and fifth bottle of port, that the cut was not what he had taken offense to. It had been her denial of the attraction between them. And there was something between them; he’d felt it again today when she’d met his gaze, damn her. “Miss Benton didn’t seem to recognize you, Price,” he said, turning the subject again. “How long did you say you’ve been pursuing her?”
    “I didn’t. As I recall, I said she was pleasant to look at.”
    And Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata was simply a piece of music. Jack supposed that to be part of the rub, as well. If she hadn’t been the most exquisite thing he’d ever set eyes on, her repeated dismissals of him mightn’t have been so…irritating. The chit needed to be taught a lesson she wouldn’t forget. And if everything went as he planned, he would have an evening of very intimate acquaintance with her, to compensate for his trouble. “Where did our young informant say his sister was going tonight?”
    “The opera. Cadmus and Harmonia , I believe.” Price looked at Jack expectantly. “By Lully.”
    The marquis sighed. “Opera.”
    His companion nodded. “Opera.”
    “Damnation.” Jack cracked his cane against his boot. “I still have a box, don’t I?”
    “Not that you’ve used it in the past two years.”
    “Yes, but it looks so lovely empty, don’t you think? Especially with Tarrington yammering after it.”
    Price chuckled. “He’s only been yammering since you invited his mistress to join you there.”
    “A captivating little thing, Amelia. And quite adventurous.” He glanced sideways at his companion. “I don’t suppose you wish to accompany me?”
    “I’d rather contract the plague.”
    “I can’t very well go alo—” Jack stopped, a slight smile curving his mouth. “Ha. Sometimes I am quite brilliant.”
    “What?”
    “Antonia. I can introduce her to William, afterward.”
    “You’re going to go to hell for this, you know.”
    Jack nodded unrepentantly, his mind already plotting the maneuverings of the evening. “I’ve already paved my way to Jericho. If you don’t have the stomach for a bit of amusement, then go. But you won’t be asked back.”
    Price shrugged. “Someone needs to remind you how badly you’re misbehaving.”
    Jack laughed, genuinely amused. “I’ve all of London for that, m’boy.” And one blasted chit in particular.
     
    The theater box directly beside that of Lord and Lady Sanford stood empty. Given that Cadmus and Harmonia was Lilith’s least favorite French opera, she couldn’t help but envy the missing occupants of the adjoining box.
    “Lilith, sit up straight.”
    She sent an annoyed glance at her aunt. “I am.”
    “Well, I should hope so. The Duke of Stratton is watching us right now.”
    Lilith lifted her fan and peeked around its edge. Up in a lavish box on the far side of the theater, a pair of opera glasses was aimed in her direction. She quickly returned her gaze to the stage. “I hate being stared at,” she muttered. “It’s so rude.”
    “Well, make a face at him,” William whispered, leaning toward her.
    From his seat at the rear of the box, Lord Hamble rapped his son on the back of the head. “Idiot.”
    “Ouch.” William sank lower in his seat, gazingaround in an echo of Lilith’s boredom. Abruptly he straightened and pointed to the adjoining box. “Well, I’ll be damned. Will you look at that?”
    Lilith glanced over and stifled a very unladylike curse. The box was no longer empty—and apparently the Marquis of Dansbury enjoyed the opera.
    Jack Faraday sat back in his seat, his eyes on the high drama being played out on