Lady Catherine's Secret: A Secrets and Seduction book by Sheridan Jeane Page A

Wilmot’s collection.” She took Catherine’s hand and patted it reassuringly. “He was so proud of these books. I remember how he and your grandfather used to talk about them for hours. They were quite the pair. You were the perfect person to help Lord Huntley find the book he wanted.”
    Catherine shifted, placing her weight evenly on both feet. As she leaned on her right foot, she pretended to wince.
    Her mother, still regarding her closely, noticed her brief expression of pain. “Are you injured?”
    “It’s nothing to worry about. When I fell, I must have landed badly on my foot. I’m certain it’s fine.” Of course it was fine. Her foot didn’t bother her at all. The only twinge she felt came from her lie.
    She shifted her weight, as if testing the strength of her ankle, and winced again.
    “I’d rather not take any chances,” her mother said upon seeing her grimace. “We will go straight home so that you can rest. I’m sure that if you apply a poultice you will be quite fit by morning.”
    “I hope so. I promised Sarah I’d take her riding tomorrow morning at the park near our house. I’d hate to disappoint her.”
    Lady Kensington escorted Catherine out of the room, away from curious onlookers.

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    11 - Temptation
     
    Lord Huntley watched as Catherine walked away. How odd that he hadn’t noticed how attractive her shoulders were until now. They seemed more muscular than soft. Could her penchant for needlework be the cause? The pastime hardly seemed strenuous enough to account for those lovely shoulders. The back of her bodice bared them quite nicely, showing them to their advantage. And she had quite a few other attractive parts as well...
    He tore his gaze away from her. He didn’t want to be caught staring.
    Dammit . He should know better than to have kissed the girl, especially after that near catastrophe with Lady Lydia the other night. Tonight felt like a reverberation of those same events, but whereas the scene with Lady Lydia had been staged by her and her parents, tonight’s interlude had been entirely accidental.
    Well, perhaps not entirely. He’d known full well that taking her off alone to the library had been risky. But there was something about the girl that made him want to take chances. He never should have behaved so carelessly. If there’d been any hint of scandal, her chances for a good match would have been ruined, and he refused to have that on his conscience. He’d fulfill the social obligation of protecting her name if it was required of him.
    It had been a foolish risk to take, especially with someone he hardly knew.
    Daniel claimed a comfortable chair and relaxed in a casual sprawl, ostensibly leafing through the volume of Cicero’s letters, but he couldn’t concentrate. The feel of Catherine was still fresh upon his lips, distracting him.
    “Lady Wilmot.” Lord Wentworth’s voice came from behind him, “I can’t find the opera I’m searching for in your library.”
    “If it’s one of the newer ones, then perhaps you never will. I haven’t increased the collection since my husband’s death.”
    Daniel’s thoughts returned to Catherine. She was certainly a tempting morsel. What was it about her?
    “That would explain it. I was hoping to find Verdi’s Rigoletto .” Wentworth sighed.
    “That one is quite new, isn’t it? Wasn’t there some scandal surrounding it?” Lady Wilmot sounded unsure.
    Daniel kept trying to understand his attraction to Catherine. At first she’d seemed so similar to the other women he’d met, but there was something more to her. It was as if she was playing a part.
    “Yes. LeCompte and I were just discussing it,” Wentworth said.
    “ Mais, oui ,” LeCompte interjected. “France’s board of censors did not want it to be performed as originally written. The opera was based on a play written by Victor Hugo, but the play was banned in my country because the censors believed it insulted King