The Viscount's Christmas Temptation Read Online Free PDF Page B

private Ravenwood box, I haven’t the least notion of the sightline or acoustics from the side balconies, front galleries, parterre, or lower stalls. I shall stay just long enough to note the differences in sight, sound, and general comfort from each strategic location.”
    “Just long enough to—” He didn’t bother to hide his amusement. “In other words, you don’t intend to relax and enjoy the performance?”
    She stared at him as if she’d never heard the terms relax and enjoy before in her life. It was more than a little concerning.
    “Of course not.” She turned toward the stairs leading to the highest boxes. “Once the performance begins, it should only require a few moments in each locality to ascertain its suitableness as a vantage point. I should be home in bed with my report already dashed off to you in a matter of hours.”
    “Your report to me ?” he repeated, trying not to picture her reclining in a bed. “Aren’t I standing right here with you?”
    Her brow knitted. “Clearly. But my notes will be an invaluable resource once we’ve multiple venues to compare.”
    He shook his head in disbelief. “No.”
    She bristled. “Of course they—”
    “Obviously your report will be the finest and most comprehensive treatise ever written about the Theatre Royal on the subject of ballroom appropriateness and guest safety. But as the manager said—it’s Grimaldi! He makes an astonishing Friday.” Benedict laid his hands upon her arms in sudden realization. “Have you never attended Robinson Crusoe for fun?”
    “Fun?” she repeated blankly. She tilted a baffled gaze up at him. “Why would I do that?”
    Why, indeed. He stared at her with something akin to horror. Had he been feeling sorry for himself for nineteen long years of twelve-hour workdays? He far preferred his stolen hours of mindless entertainments to the idea of never being entertained at all. It was pitiable, really, that a woman this clever should not know what it was to disconnect her wits for a moment to simply enjoy the world about her. Something ought to be done! And he was just the man to do it.
    Deuce take it, the fetching Lady Amelia needed him even more desperately than the Christmas ball needed her.
    Which, he recognized wryly, meant he was going through with her party scheme. He smiled. It also meant he had twelve nights to teach Lady Amelia to enjoy life.
    “How can you say with certainty whether any activity delivers the proper level of guest delight, if you do not allow yourself to experience pleasure for pleasure’s sake?”
    She blinked.
    He grinned, inordinately pleased with himself for having phrased come enjoy this evening with me in such a way that she could not possibly refuse. “I shall permit you to drag me all over Town in search of the perfect venue if you allow me the pleasure of escorting you about said venue, with a goal no more profound than to enjoy whatever pleasures the location has to offer.”
    She pursed her rosy lips. “These are the terms of your acceptance?”
    “Indeed.”
    “Very well.” She sighed. “Shocking waste of time, but at least there are only two more left to visit.”
    He smiled at the challenge in her eyes. Silly chit. He’d already won.
    He could not attend to her during the days, of course—rules were rules, and his daytime hours were already spoken for. His evenings, however . . . The lady didn’t know it yet, but for the next fortnight, his evenings belonged to her. They would both part ways richer for the experience. He would enjoy an unbroken streak of Christmastide soirées, and she . . .
    She would be introduced to pleasure.

Chapter Four

     
    Amelia glanced at the clock on her mantel and frowned. Half past eight. She would have to leave in the next few moments if she were to make tonight’s meeting at the appointed hour. But Lord Sheffield had yet to arrive, and it was imperative that he accompany her. She’d been looking forward to another battle of wits.
    Her