The Mad Lord's Daughter Read Online Free PDF Page B

keep their burgeoning stomachs in place. She’d admired him from afar for more years than she’d like to admit and had danced with him only that one time when he’d inquired about her chaperoning Melissa. Still, her heart sped up. Still, she felt like a nervous young girl whenever he walked into a room.
    “I’m sorry to interrupt you, my lord, but I believe I’ve come up with a good venue to introduce your niece. The Covent Garden Opera House. I was hoping you had a box there?”
    Braddock frowned. “Is this something I would have to attend, then?” he asked.
    “It would be best,” she said. “I take it you don’t like the opera.”
    “It’s the people who attend such events I don’t care for,” he said dryly, then frowned even more heavily when Diane laughed outright.
    She quickly sobered. “I do believe it would be beneficial to her to make her entrance into society at such an event. Little would be asked of her but to stand beside you and look charming.”
    His brows drew together, and Diane couldn’t help thinking that the man would look far more attractive if he actually smiled once in a great while. “Are you worried about her entrance?”
    “Yes, I am,” Diane said, trying to keep the exasperation out of her voice. “The poor child has been hidden away for nearly two decades with nary a soul to talk to but her father and servants. While she’s been taught how to act and what to say, she has never had the opportunity to put such lessons into practice. I fear if we introduce her into a situation where more interaction is needed, she will find it overwhelming.”
    “Has she said as much?”
    Diane shook her head. “She has no idea whether she should be nervous or not. She has no experience with society. She may do splendidly, but it would be best to have you there by her side should things go awry.”
    He tapped a fist lightly against his chin in thought. “John can go, too,” he said finally. “That would at least make it more palatable for me and perhaps more entertaining for Melissa.”
    Diane stared at him, wondering if he knew he’d just insulted her. “I’m sure that would be best,” she said. “And you do have a box?”
    “I do, not that I can recall ever sitting in it beyond the grand reopening of the place. Santanella , I believe it was. I fell asleep.”
    Again, Diane laughed and suffered that look from Braddock. Really, it was too much. Was she to go around frowning her entire life because some unfortunate feature on her face made him nearly wince in pain each time she smiled?
    “Lord Braddock,” she said in her coolest voice. “Is there something about me that offends you?”
    The look on his face was so astounded, Diane nearly smiled again. “Offends, Miss Stanhope?”
    She could feel her nostrils flare and knew from looking in the mirror that such an expression definitely was not attractive. “Every time I smile, you look as if you’ve swallowed something unpleasant. It is quite disconcerting, and it’s gotten to the point that I take great pains not to smile in front of you. I wish you would either tell me what so offends you or try to ignore whatever it is you find so distasteful.” Despite her resolve to appear stern, Diane was slightly mortified to realize that her throat was beginning to close up, and that if Lord Braddock said a single unkind thing she would likely be unable to utter a sound.
    “You think . . .” It was Braddock’s turn to smile, leaving Diane completely confused. It was not at all amusing. Not in the least.
    “Miss Stanhope, please let me put your mind at ease. You are not a beautiful woman,” he said. “In fact, most men would probably describe you as rather plain.”
    She stood there, his words hitting her like soft blows to the heart. She’d seen it more than once, men who thought that women past a certain age were impervious to hurt. But it wasn’t true; her battered heart was proof enough of that. She schooled her features to show