Worth Any Price Read Online Free PDF

unusual among the elegant crowd at Stony Cross Park. Stylish gentlemen let their hair grow over their collars, and sported side-whiskers and moustaches. This man didn’t even have a wisp of a goatee to soften the obdurate line of his jaw.
    He indicated the wall with a jerk of his head. “Why were you standing up there?”
    For a moment Lottie couldn’t speak as she stared up into his handsome face. Nature had been spendthrift with this man, bestowing him with bold, princely features and eyes as blue and intense as the heart of midnight. The cynicism in those eyes was a fascinating contrast to the touch of humor that lurked at the corners of his wide mouth. He looked to be about thirty—the time in a man’s life when he surrendered the last vestiges of callowness and came fully into his maturity. No doubt women of all ages were instantly enthralled by him.
    Gathering her wits, she managed to answer him. “I enjoy the view.”
    “You could obtain the same view from the safety of a window.”
    A faint smile touched her lips. “The view is far more rewarding when there is some risk involved.”
    He grinned suddenly, as if he understood exactly what she meant. His roguish smile was dazzling, nearly causing her heart to stop. Lottie couldn’t stop staring at him. It seemed that there was something important and unspoken in the air, as if they had once met but she had forgotten the occasion.
    “Who are you, sir?” she asked. “I haven’t seen you here before.”
    “Perhaps I’m your guardian angel.”
    “You don’t look very angelic to me,” she replied skeptically, making him laugh.
    He bowed and introduced himself. “Lord Sydney, at your service.”
    Lottie responded with a curtsy. “Miss Miller. I am employed as a companion to the dowager countess.” She gave him an openly speculative glance. “The guest list for Lord Westcliff’s house parties is quite exclusive. How did you manage to get an invitation?”
    “The earl was kind enough to offer his hospitality on the recommendation of a mutual friend.”
    “Have you come to hunt?” she asked. “Is that why you are here?”
    “Yes,” he said with a puzzling, ironic edge to his tone. “I hunt.”
    A burst of music came from the direction of the al fresco party, and they both glanced toward the backgardens. “I came to have a look at the horses,” Sydney said. “Forgive me for intruding on your privacy.”
    “Do you intend to return to the party now?”
    His dark brows lifted in teasing challenge. “Are you going to climb back onto that wall if I do?”
    Good Lord, it was preposterous for one man to possess so much charm! Her lips quirked with an irrepressible smile. “Not tonight, my lord.”
    “Allow me to accompany you back to the house, then.”
    Lottie made no protest as he fell into step beside her.
    It was hardly unusual to encounter his sort at Stony Cross Park. Most days, one couldn’t throw a coin without hitting some brawny male in search of sport. In the past two years Lottie had been approached by many of them. But there was something different about this one. He did not have the sense of ease, the aimlessness of the other aristocrats who frequented this place. She sensed the ruthlessness that lurked just beneath his facade. She did not feel quite safe around him. And yet at the same time, she felt oddly compelled to lure him closer, to make him smile again.
    “You seem to have no fear of heights, Miss Miller,” he commented.
    “I’m not afraid of anything,” she said confidently.
    “Everyone is afraid of something.”
    “Oh?” She sent him a provocative glance. “What could a man like you possibly fear?”
    To her surprise, he answered seriously. “I’m not fond of enclosed places.”
    The gravity in his tone made her heart thump heavily. What a voice he had, deep with a tantalizing raspiness, as if he had just awakened from a heavy sleep. The sound seemed to gather at the top of her spine and slide downward like heated