To Catch a Countess Read Online Free PDF

Alexander told her. “I knew you wouldn’t necessarily listen to me. I like you very much, Tory, and admire your joie de vivre .”
    “My joy of life?” Victoria echoed, feeling smart.
    Alexander inclined his head. “Do you still want to accompany me to the opera?”
    “His Grace doesn’t trust me,”
    “His Grace trusts me.” Alexander drew her into his arms and stared at her upturned face, his gaze drifting from her enormous blue eyes to her alabaster skin to her full lips. His mouth covered hers, and when she responded, he deepened the kiss until she allowed him entrance to her mouth.
    Victoria made a little whimpering sound in her throat and leaned into the kiss. She loved the warmth of his mouth on hers, the power of his arms holding her close. She wanted more, something he hadn’t offered her, something only he could give her.
    “You are everything a man could want,” Alexander whispered against her lips. “Am I forgiven?”
    Cradled against his chest, Victoria raised her gaze to his, and a smile turned the corners of her lips up. “At the moment, I would forgive you anything.”
    “You are so artlessly innocent,” Alexander said, hugging her close.
    Victoria decided she was glad to be artlessly innocent, whatever that meant.
    *    *    *
    Everyone was already seated at the table when they walked into the dining room. Duke Magnus and Aunt Roxie sat at either end of the table. On the duke’s left sat Rudolf, Samantha, and Robert. Angelica sat on her aunt’s left, leaving the two empty seats for Alexander and Victoria. Her family watched them in silence as they slipped into the chairs.
    Victoria glanced at her aunt, whose attention was fixed on Alexander. Almost imperceptively, the earl shook his head, and Victoria wondered what that meant. The same signal had passed between the earl and her uncle. She would ask Alex about it later when they retired to the drawing room.
    Tinker, the duke’s majordomo, stood at attention near the sideboard, and the footmen began serving dinner. A delicate spring soup with vivid green vegetables arrived first.
    Still smarting over her dressing-down by the duke, Victoria remained silent and listened to the men discussing politics while her aunt and sisters threw in comments about the children. She suspected that everyone at the table knew what had happened in the study, her sisters’ furtive looks of sympathy tipping her off.
    When a lull developed in the conversation, Victoria spoke up for the first time, addressing herself to Alexander. “I read that Napoleon was banished to Elbow. Do you think he’s finished?”
    Everyone at the table stopped eating and stared in obvious surprise at her. Even one of the footmen, in the act of clearing a plate, froze with his hand in mid-air.
    “Where did they banish Napoleon?” Alexander asked her.
    Hoping to sound sophisticated, Victoria drawled in a good imitation of her aunt, “Darling, Napoleon was banished to the Island of Elbow.”
    Coughing and choking erupted at the table. Victoria looked at Rudolf, who sat across from her. The prince had covered his mouth with his hand, and his shoulders shook with silent laughter. She shifted her gaze to her sister. Samantha was smiling at her plate.
    Victoria glanced at Alexander. He wore a broad grin, too.
    “Being banished is no laughing matter,” Victoria told them.
    Everyone at the table burst into laughter, which confused her. Victoria couldn’t imagine what was funny.
    Alexander placed his arm on the back of her chair and leaned close. “Sweetheart, Napoleon was banished to the Island of Elba, not Elbow.”
    Victoria felt the blood rushing to her face. Everyone resumed eating, except Victoria. Losing her appetite, she set her fork down and stared at her plate.
    Trying to redeem herself, Victoria waited for another lull in the conversation. “I read in the Times the apprentices were peeled this week.”
    Her brothers-in-law shouted with laughter. With smiles on their