half."
Lucas smiled gently, taking pity on her obvious dilemma. "Always looking for danger in the nearest
hedge?"
Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
"I suppose so,"Victoria said.
"Not a bad policy, all things considered."
"It has certainly been a very practical policy for me,"Victoria acknowledged.
"Because it has seen you safely into spinsterhood?"
"Beast." But her mouth curved back into an amused smile." You are quite right, however. I am a spinster
and glad of it. Furthermore I intend to keep things that way."
Lucas's attention wandered from the cacti to a spectacular yellow-gold bloom he did not recognize. The
flower, touched here and there with deep purple, flared like a crown from the green stalk that held it.
He moved toward it, drawn by the shade of gold which reminded him ofVictoria 's eyes. He cupped the
regal bloom in one hand and studied it. "After what happened between us in the garden last night, you will
never convince me that you intend to live your entire life without exploring your own passionsVictoria .
You are like this flower, lush and sweet and full of passionate promise."
She grinned." Really, my lord, you needn't get carried away by a flower. I understand your background
is in the military world, not the literary one."
"Sometimes a man can learn more of life when he is surrounded by death than he can from all the poetry
of the ancients. Even if you did manage to ignore your womanly passions for the rest of your days, I
doubt that you could ignore your own intellectual curiosity."
"Curiosity. You think you can talk me into an illicit affair by appealing to my intellectual curiosity? How
very original."
"It makes perfect sense to me. Any woman who can work up an admiration for beetles and cacti must
certainly entertain a few scientific questions concerning her own physical nature." He inclined his head in a
small, elegant bow." I offer myself to you in the interest of intellectual inquiry, Miss Huntington. I'm hoping
Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
you will not be able to refuse."
Outraged,Victoria stared at him for a few tense seconds and then the mirth appeared in her eyes. In a
moment she was laughing so hard she had to grab a post for support. Lucas watched her, his hand still
cupping the yellow-gold bloom. He was fascinated by her wholehearted amusement. She did not giggle in
that annoying way young woman so often did, as if trying to imitate tinkling bells and rippling
brooks.Victoria 's laughter was full of life and warmth. It made him want to pull her into his arms and kiss
her until he converted the humor in her into the passion he had tasted last night.
He could do it, Lucas thought. He knew from the way she had responded in the garden that he could
make her feel desire. And he would use that knowledge, along with her quest for adventure, to seduce
her. In the end she would be powerless to resist him. As he had told her in the garden, she would not
easily find another man who could offer the bait he was holding out.
And once he had her locked safely in his arms, it would be only a short step to marriage.Victoria might
speak daringly of engaging in an illicit liaison, but he knew that she would find it difficult to actually
conduct an affair that threatened her aunt's as well as her own position in Society. She was, after all, a
young woman of excellent breeding and she knew both the rules and the risks that governed the world in
which she lived.
Society required that young women of her background save their illicit affairs until after they were wed
and had given their husbands an heir. After that, many wives felt free to pursue their own romantic
interests so long as they were discreet. Their husbands, who generally kept mistresses before and after
marriage, did the same, not always so discreetly.
But as Lucas watched Victoria's laughter fade
Lucas smiled gently, taking pity on her obvious dilemma. "Always looking for danger in the nearest
hedge?"
Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
"I suppose so,"Victoria said.
"Not a bad policy, all things considered."
"It has certainly been a very practical policy for me,"Victoria acknowledged.
"Because it has seen you safely into spinsterhood?"
"Beast." But her mouth curved back into an amused smile." You are quite right, however. I am a spinster
and glad of it. Furthermore I intend to keep things that way."
Lucas's attention wandered from the cacti to a spectacular yellow-gold bloom he did not recognize. The
flower, touched here and there with deep purple, flared like a crown from the green stalk that held it.
He moved toward it, drawn by the shade of gold which reminded him ofVictoria 's eyes. He cupped the
regal bloom in one hand and studied it. "After what happened between us in the garden last night, you will
never convince me that you intend to live your entire life without exploring your own passionsVictoria .
You are like this flower, lush and sweet and full of passionate promise."
She grinned." Really, my lord, you needn't get carried away by a flower. I understand your background
is in the military world, not the literary one."
"Sometimes a man can learn more of life when he is surrounded by death than he can from all the poetry
of the ancients. Even if you did manage to ignore your womanly passions for the rest of your days, I
doubt that you could ignore your own intellectual curiosity."
"Curiosity. You think you can talk me into an illicit affair by appealing to my intellectual curiosity? How
very original."
"It makes perfect sense to me. Any woman who can work up an admiration for beetles and cacti must
certainly entertain a few scientific questions concerning her own physical nature." He inclined his head in a
small, elegant bow." I offer myself to you in the interest of intellectual inquiry, Miss Huntington. I'm hoping
Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
you will not be able to refuse."
Outraged,Victoria stared at him for a few tense seconds and then the mirth appeared in her eyes. In a
moment she was laughing so hard she had to grab a post for support. Lucas watched her, his hand still
cupping the yellow-gold bloom. He was fascinated by her wholehearted amusement. She did not giggle in
that annoying way young woman so often did, as if trying to imitate tinkling bells and rippling
brooks.Victoria 's laughter was full of life and warmth. It made him want to pull her into his arms and kiss
her until he converted the humor in her into the passion he had tasted last night.
He could do it, Lucas thought. He knew from the way she had responded in the garden that he could
make her feel desire. And he would use that knowledge, along with her quest for adventure, to seduce
her. In the end she would be powerless to resist him. As he had told her in the garden, she would not
easily find another man who could offer the bait he was holding out.
And once he had her locked safely in his arms, it would be only a short step to marriage.Victoria might
speak daringly of engaging in an illicit liaison, but he knew that she would find it difficult to actually
conduct an affair that threatened her aunt's as well as her own position in Society. She was, after all, a
young woman of excellent breeding and she knew both the rules and the risks that governed the world in
which she lived.
Society required that young women of her background save their illicit affairs until after they were wed
and had given their husbands an heir. After that, many wives felt free to pursue their own romantic
interests so long as they were discreet. Their husbands, who generally kept mistresses before and after
marriage, did the same, not always so discreetly.
But as Lucas watched Victoria's laughter fade
Similar Books
