Tallie's Knight Read Online Free PDF Page B

allow—”
Laetitia gasped in indignation.
    “Yes, puppies will be
puppies, and small boys and puppies seem to attract each other, don’t they?
Which is why I was so very grateful to Georgie here.” She turned a warm smile
on the small boy.
    “Grateful?” Laetitia
was astounded. Georgie looked puzzled. Magnus was intrigued.
    “Yes, very grateful
indeed, for I have been too busy lately to exercise the puppy, and so Georgie
has taken over that duty for me, have you not, Georgie dear?”
    She nodded
encouragingly down at him and, bemused, Georgie nodded back.
    “Yes, so any damage
the puppy has done to your gown you must lay at my door.”
    “But—”
    The girl was not
paying attention. She bent down to the child.
    “Now, Georgie, I
think you and my puppy have had enough excitement for one night, but would you
do one more thing for me, please?”
    He nodded.
    “Would you please
return… er… Rover—”
    “Satan,” Georgie
corrected her.
    Her eyes brimmed with
amusement, but she continued with commendable control.
    “Yes, of course,
Satan. Would you please take, er, Satan, to the kennels and wash the mud off
him for me? You see, I am dressed for dinner, and ladies must not go to the
kennels in their best gown.”
    Her words had the
unfortunate effect of drawing all attention to her ‘best gown’. There were a
few sniggers, which she ignored with a raised chin. Georgie, however, stared at
her, stricken.
    “What is it, love?”
she said.
    Guiltily, he extended
a grubby finger and pointed at the mud which now streaked her dress, liberally
deposited by himself and the squirming puppy in his arms. She glanced down and
laughed, a warm peal of unconcern.
    “Don’t worry about
it, my dear, it will brush off when the mud is dry.”
    She ruffled his hair
affectionately and said in a low voice, “Now for heaven’s sake take that
wretched pup and get it and yourself cleaned up before any other accidents
happen.”
    Relieved, the small
boy ran off, his puppy clutched to his chest.
    “You’ll not get off
so easily—” began Laetitia, incensed.
    “Do you think it is
quite safe for you to be out in the night air in a damp and muddy dress,
Cousin?” interrupted Tallie solicitously. “I would not want you to take a
chill, and you know you are extremely susceptible.”
    With a stamp and a
flounce of jonquil silk Laetitia left the terrace, calling petulantly for her
maid to be sent to her at once. The guests drifted in after her, and Brooks
began to circulate with a silver tray.
    Tallie bent down and
gathered up Georgie’s scattered flowers. She straightened a few bent stems,
gathered the shawl more tightly around her shoulders and stepped towards the
French doors, then noticed Lord d’Arenville, who had remained on the terrace.
    His expression was
unreadable, his grey heavy-lidded eyes observing her dispassionately. The hard
gaze made her shiver. Horrid man, she thought. Waiting to see if there is any
more entertainment to be had.
    She raised her chin
in cool disdain, and marched past him without saying a word.

Chapter Two
    “Well, Magnus, how do
you like my candidates? Any take your fancy?”
    Tallie froze. Partway
into writing the events of the day into her diary, she’d run out of ink. She’d
slipped down the servants’ stair to the library, secure in the belief that the
guests were all in the ballroom, dancing, or playing cards in the nearby
anteroom.
    Concentrating on the
tricky task of refilling her inkwell, she hadn’t heard her cousin and Lord d’Arenville
enter the library. She glanced around, but they were hidden from her view by
the heavy velvet curtains pulled partly across the alcove where she was seated.
    She stood up to
announce her presence, but paused, recalling the shabby dress she wore. If she
emerged, she would have to leave by the public route, enduring further sniggers
and taunts. She’d had enough of that at dinner. Laetitia, still furious about
the way Tallie had confronted her over