Tempting Her Reluctant Viscount Read Online Free PDF Page A

unaccompanied?”
    Shrugging slightly, she began, “I am a follower of the stock market, you see…”
    …
    Michael couldn’t help but gape when he heard that. Who did she think he was? As if any intelligent man would believe a debutante of her upbringing would have any knowledge whatsoever of the stock exchange. And certainly not a woman as charming and proper as the woman before him.
    Not that Michael thought women unintelligent. On the contrary, actually. Michael knew better than most how clever and industrious a female could be. For many of the years that Michael was part of the armed forces, he had assisted Lord and Lady Lancaster in their investigations with the war office.
    It was then that his eyes had been opened to the amazing abilities of women. Many of the world’s most successful spies were, in fact, female; however, even in his experience, the silly, simpering girls he met on the marriage mart were not the femme fatales he regularly came into contact with during his time in the war.
    Eyeing Michael carefully, Hope continued. “As I was saying, I have an interest in the stock market and, as I am sure you are aware, women are not allowed at the exchange, much less able to initiate trades themselves. So…in order to pursue my interests, I, on occasion, dress as a man so that I may visit the exchange without censure.”
    “And they let you make trades?” Michael asked, forgetting that he didn’t believe anything she was saying in the first place.
    “Of course not,” Hope replied. “I can’t give them my real name, they wouldn’t believe I was my father, and what good would giving them a false name do me? If I actually made any money, how ever would I collect it?”
    Hope was looking at him so morosely that Michael began to doubt his initial belief that she was making this all up. Shaking his head as if trying to clear it, he said, “I don’t understand, then. Why go at all?”
    Hope’s eyes lit up with an excitement that Michael found difficult to ignore. “Because,” she said, “it is all so exciting. I read the paper every day, but it’s not the same as watching the trades actually take place. To see the action—the bargaining—behind the changing numbers…it makes it all so real. So much more than numbers on a page.”
    “You are serious, aren’t you?” Michael said, trying to ignore the heat unfurling in his chest at the sight of her sparkling eyes and flushed features.
    “Of course I’m serious! Why wouldn’t I be?” Hope exclaimed, looking at Michael as if he had lost his mind.
    Clearly, Hope was insulted and Michael was no longer sure she shouldn’t be. What had he said in the last few minutes anyway? He was quite certain he had yelled at her, implied she was a liar, and now intimated that she was not intelligent enough to follow the stock market.
    Honestly, the vast majority of women in Michael’s acquaintance—not the least of which included Lady Lancaster—would have slapped him by now.
    And it was then that Michael suddenly remembered again who it was that had introduced him to Hope in the first place. And she had done it in a way that indicated a fondness for the girl. Damn , Michael thought. If the dowager considered Miss Stuckeley a close personal friend, then the woman was probably much more than just a simpering debutante.
    “Oh Lord, I think I have made the most terrible mistake,” Michael groaned, dropping his forehead into this hands.
    “Hmph, I should say so,” Hope agreed.
    Running his hands over his face, Michael looked up at Hope and said, “Please allow me to apologize for…well, everything. I can only plead temporary insanity brought on by an extreme lack of sleep.”
    Clearly taken aback by the sudden and sincere apology, Hope blurted out, “What were you doing following those men if you are so tired?”
    Michael gave Hope a half smile. “Does that mean you accept my apology?”
    With a gasp, Hope quickly replied, “I am so sorry, my lord. Of