Swept Away Read Online Free PDF

things sound so reasonable. So simple. Then they wind up an utter wasps’ nest.”
    â€œIt won’t. Even if it does, I promise that I will not involve you in it. I will never reveal that you were the one who got me inside.”
    Geoffrey cocked one eyebrow at her. “If I refuse, how long are you going to keep after me to do it?”
    Julia gave him a dimpling smile and tilted her head to one side, pretending to weigh the thought. “I’d say until the day I die.”
    â€œI thought as much.” He shook his head. “I know I shall regret this. I shall probably end up either in gaol or fighting a duel. But I shall do it.”
    Julia let out a little shriek and impulsively hugged him.
    â€œCousin, please,” he protested. “You’ll wrinkle my cravat!”
    â€œSorry.” She stepped back, still smiling. “Tonight, then?”
    â€œTonight!” He looked thunderstruck. “My dear, at least give me a chance to prepare myself.”
    â€œPooh. There’s no preparation necessary. It’s better to strike while the iron’s hot.” She knew from following Stonehaven that it had been several days since he had gone to Madame Beauclaire’s, so this evening seemed an opportune moment. However, she could hardly tell Geoffrey her reasoning.
    â€œWhere do you get such vulgar expressions?” Geoffrey drawled. “All right. You win. Tonight it will be.”
    Â 
    It took all Julia’s and Phoebe’s combined efforts to get her ready in time. She had decided to wear one of Phoebe’s dresses, since a married woman’s wardrobe allowed for a more flamboyant selection of color than the pastels and whites to which maidens were relegated. Though Phoebe’s blond looks were not enhanced by some of the jewellike colors that flattered Julia’s vivid coloring, there were a few gowns of suitable appearance and style, primarily one of a vivid peacock blue satin that made Julia’s blue eyes bright pools of color and also was a perfect complement to her auburn hair and creamy skin.
    Since Phoebe was both shorter and rounder, the dress required some creative work on the seams and hem. But Phoebe was a fair hand with the needle, and the dress, fortunately, was stylishly narrow, so there was not much hem to lengthen. After Phoebe was through with it, Julia took the dress to her room and quickly pulled out the threads that held the ruffles of lace in place at the neckline, thereby lowering the neck of the dress to a level that would have horrified Phoebe. An upswept hairdo with artfully arranged wisps of curls gave her a stylish but somewhat tousled look, which she thought would surely make a man think of running his hands through her hair. The newly redone dress, when she pulled it on and fastened it, fit her like a glove. The high waist and low neckline combined to cup and reveal her full breasts to their best advantage, and the long, narrow skirt emphasized the slender length of her legs. Her cheeks were flushed with excitement, and her eyes blazed. She had not, she thought, ever looked better.
    Julia suffered a brief qualm as she thought of the acting job that lay before her. She must convince a man whom she despised that she was attracted to him. She must also make him believe she was an experienced woman of the world, fully capable not only of arousing a man’s desire, but also of fulfilling it, for if he thought she was the well-bred young lady fresh from the country that she really was, he would doubtless keep his passions leashed, and that was the last thing she wanted. His desire must well up hot and strong, the kind of feeling that could sweep a man into revealing far more than he normally would. Whatever she had told her cousin and Phoebe about merely talking to Lord Stonehaven, her real intention was to bring him so quiveringly close to the brink of mindless passion that he would reveal anything.
    Prudently, she wrapped her cloak