The Devil Who Tamed Her Read Online Free PDF

girl, since we happen to be going in the same direction.”
    “ You’re driving us?”
    “Amazing, ain’t it?”
    She huffed, possibly because of his jaunty grin. “Don’t expect any thanks, since I didn’t ask you to do this.”
    He didn’t usually lie. Couldn’t tolerate people who did. But the alternative would have been to tell Ophelia he was absconding with her, and that wouldn’t have gone over too well, he was sure. She still had no idea that they weren’t traveling toward London, and he’d just as soon reach their destination tomorrow before she figured that out.
    With a huff she walked toward the front door, but her step slowed and then stopped completely when she finally realized they were at someone’s residence, not a hostelry as she’d assumed.
    She glanced over her shoulder. “Where are we?” Her tone was merely curious now.
    He helped her maid down from the coach before he strolled past Ophelia and rapped on the door. Keeping her waiting for an answer wasn’t intentional. He didn’t yet know how impatient she was. He just wanted to be careful for the time being with every word he said to her. So when he turned, he was rather taken aback to find her glaring at him. It took him a moment to recover and assume his usual jaunty air.
    “Erm, I have a large family spread across the breadth of England. Makes it quite convenient, for me anyway, when traveling. My aunt Esmerelda lives here. Esme, she prefers to be called. We’ll be staying the night. Much softer beds than an inn could supply, I do assure you.”
    The door opened before he finished. Old William stood there, squinting at them through his narrow spectacles. As blind as Esmerelda was deaf, William was the butler she’d stolen from her father when she’d left home to marry all those years ago. At least that was how the previous duke told it.
    “Who’s there?” William asked.
    The spectacles obviously didn’t help the old butler much anymore. He knew Raphael well. Perhaps if there was daylight, he would have recognized him. Then again, perhaps not. Esmeralda was getting up in years herself, and William, quite her senior, must be eighty by now.
    “It’s Rafe, old chap. Just stopping by for a little hospitality before we continue on in the morning. We’ll need three rooms, and some food would be nice. Is my aunt still about, or has she retired for the night?”
    “She’s up, in the parlor, attempting to burn the house down she’s got so many logs crackling in the fireplace.”
    Raphael grinned at the complaint. Esmerelda took chill easily in the winter. His grandmother was the same way. Most of the family dreaded visiting Agatha Locke because she kept her suite of rooms in Norford Hall so warm. But William would never admit that he needed that extra warmth at his age, as much as Esmerelda did.
    “I’ll let her know I’m—,” Raphael began, only to be rudely interrupted.
    “I’d like to be shown to my room, thank you,” Ophelia said as she marched into the entryway. “And I’ll take my meal there as well.”
    “Certainly, my lady,” William replied promptly by habit. With his bad eyes he couldn’t probably see the finery she was draped in to know she was a lady, but her imperious tone must have been sufficient indication that she was an aristocrat.
    Raphael shook his head, watching Ophelia climb the stairs. She’d taken it for granted that William would be following her to show her to a room. Not likely at his age, and in fact he rushed off to find the housekeeper. Apparently, she’d also dismissed Raphael from her mind and didn’t intend to say another word to him. He wasn’t used to being ignored. While her disdain was helpful in that it kept him from having to lie again if she asked how much longer it would take to reach London, her complete dismissal of him actually annoyed him.
    “Apparently I’ll see you in the morning, then,” Raphael said to her back.
    “Early,” she replied without turning to look at