The Pursuit of Pleasure Read Online Free PDF

a sideways glance at him, “not on your life.”
    Once again, she led the way without looking back to see if he followed, her loose-limbed stride taking them out of doors, past a well-tended expanse of lawn and down through the terraced garden set out along the hillside.
    As they progressed through the yew hedges, a little flash under her plain gown caught his eye. She wore a pair of very old, but beautifully made, heeled court shoes of the last era, all bejeweled and embroidered, and totally inappropriate for walks out of doors. How like her.
    “Don’t you think we’ve gone far enough? You can’t put me off forever.”
    “I’ve come all this way for privacy. It will take Papa some time to find us here.”
    Yes, Lizzie always liked to do things on her own time and in her own way. Which brought his eyes back to the beautiful old shoes.
    “Aren’t they a bit much for a walk?”
    “My shoes? Perhaps, but I always feel much better about life when I’m wearing pretty shoes.”
    “Why?”
    “Why? Because, that’s why. Because I just do. Why do you wear blue coats?”
    “Because I’m navy.”
    “If you’re a naval man, why aren’t you wearing your uniform? You weren’t wearing one at the assembly. Or the other day, in town.”
    Again, he should have known. Trust Lizzie’s sharp little brain to home in on the pertinent details. This was only the second time he’d seen her, but she’d seen him somewhere else. Devil take her. It would be an interesting few days if she took him on.
    “Naval custom prohibits me from wearing my uniform while on leave, but I wear fashionable blue coats because my valet insists they match my eyes.”
    “You don’t have a valet.”
    “No? How would you know such a personal and intimate detail about a man’s life? Spying on me, Lizzie?”
    “Your boots are scuffed, your hair is disreputable, and your cravat has a tiny little pinprick hole no self-respecting valet would have let you wear in public.”
    “So very observant, Lizzie.”
    “Yes, well, I can also observe that you are standing far too close.” Her wrist made a disdainful little flick to shoo him back.
    He took a step closer. “How else am I to observe you?”
    “From a distance.” But a blush was spreading up her neck like apricot jam. He wondered how far it spread down.
    “But then I wouldn’t know you smell of citrus, like sunshine.”
    “You smell of whisky.”
    “That’s bay rum. Where else did you see me, Lizzie?”
    She made another languid flick of her wrist.
    “Here or there, about the town, perhaps. With that tall, grave-looking blond fellow. He wore a brown coat.”
    McAlden. They would have to be more careful.
    “But you like blue coats better. Admit it.”
    “They’ll do. I suppose they might match your eyes, though I’ve always thought they were gray, not blue.”
    “I’ll take it as a compliment you noticed my eyes at all. But tell me, why should you need to make yourself feel better by wearing your shoes? Thought I’d renege?”
    “Perhaps you will yet. Perhaps you won’t die like you’ve engaged to?”
    “Then you’ve made up your mind? You’ll do it?”
    She looked away, gazing out over the fore cliff and across the river for a very long time. His self-control battered itself against the cage of his chest while he forced himself to stand still and wait.
    “Why not?” she said at last. “You just might be the antidote I need. Yes, I’ll marry you.”
    The tense heat in his chest expanded into satisfied elation. He swooped in to give her a kiss, but she shied away.
    “You’ll have to get a special license.”
    “Special license? They’re expensive.” He was teasing her. He already had one in his breast coat pocket as insurance. One of the perks of being the son of a rector who was also a Doctor of Theology—he knew all the right people in Doctors’ Commons.
    “You did say you were leaving in a few days? There simply isn’t time for the banns to be read, and I can’t be