The Pirate Next Door Read Online Free PDF Page A

turned and strolled away.
    Alexandra’s sigh blended with those of her three guests. Mrs. Tetley snapped open her fan and waved it rapidly. Mrs. Waters dreamily reached for another petit four.
    Alexandra sank to the settee, her legs weak. Lady Featherstone leaned to her and tapped her arm with her fan. “We shall most certainly place him on the list.”
    Alexandra opened her mouth to protest, then closed it again. How could she explain why the viscount was not a suitable candidate? Since her husband’s death, Alexandra had lived a predictable and unexciting existence, which, after Theo, had been rather restful. Last night had shaken that existence. Gentlemen like Viscount Stoke, who fought with cutlasses and kissed like fire and demanded that she sleep without her clothes, did not enter her world. She was not prepared for such a man, not ready to face anything more exciting than a choice in her morning tea. She had created the list of suitors to ensure that her next marriage would flow along comfortably and predictably. Viscount Stoke had no place on that list.
    It had also occurred to her that the viscount’s request, coupled with the brazen way he’d licked her lower lip, had effectively stopped her asking him questions. Just as he’d wanted.
    Mrs. Waters delicately shook crumbs from her fingertips. “I heard, and this is in deepest confidence, ladies—”
    Lady Featherstone and Mrs. Tetley leaned forward.
    “Mr. Waters imparted to me that someone told him that the viscount—” she dropped her voice to a whisper—“used to be a pirate.”
    Mrs. Tetley’s breath hissed. “No!”
    “Oh, yes. He certainly looks like a pirate, does he not?”
    Mrs. Tetley fanned herself thoughtfully. “He did run away to sea when he was a lad, after the tragedy with his parents.”
    Mrs. Waters looked interested. “Tragedy? I had not heard about this.”
    Alexandra’s curiosity sat up and pricked its ears, though she knew she should stop their gossiping. It was common practice to dissect someone not in the room,but she had never been comfortable with such things. Besides, the viscount was still in the house, and could very well overhear them. He would naturally be angry that his family’s dirty linen was being hung out for public scrutiny. She, as hostess, would be to blame.
    Before she could speak, Mrs. Tetley went on, “It was horrible, from what I have heard. My sister’s husband knew his family in Gloucestershire, and it was quite a scandal at the time. His father, one Mr. Archibald Finley, in a fit of jealous rage, shot his wife, then turned the pistol on himself. The viscount was only a boy at the time. Can you imagine?”
    Alexandra’s curiosity slunk away and pity took its place. “Oh, the poor man.”
    “The son of a murderer?” Mrs. Waters asked, eyes wide. “No wonder he became a pirate.”
    Lady Featherstone looked skeptical. “Would a pirate have a daughter?”
    “Hmm.” Mrs. Waters stared into space for a moment, and then she brightened. “Perhaps she is the daughter of a maiden he once ravished.”
    “That would have been a long time ago,” Mrs. Tetley said.
    Mrs. Waters took on a faraway expression. “Can you imagine if you were a passenger on a ship he had boarded? He’d come to your cabin—” she looked dreamily at the doorway from which he’d departed—“and take liberties with your person. Against the cabin wall, perhaps.” The room descended into thoughtful silence, broken only by the sound of carriages and horses passing in the street. “Then he’d tear the jewels from your throat and vanish into the smoke.” She let out a long and satisfied sigh.
    Lady Featherstone lifted her teacup decisively. “You read far too many novels, Cynthia.” She leaned to Alexandra and whispered, “Besides, she must weigh twenty stone.”
    Alexandra pushed aside the enticing vision of herself being taken by the viscount against the wall of a ship’s cabin. He would kiss her just as he’d kissed