AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Not in the slightest,” he assured her with a shake of his head. “I have seen an opportunity to enjoy your company as we follow our friends. What is so wrong with that?”
She couldn’t see a reason to object, so she nodded and allowed him to escort her forward through another laburnum arch before they stepped out along a line of willow trees, with each hanging branch brushing their shoulders and the strands of their hair.
“How are you enjoyingThe Monk?”Lord Yeatman asked with a smirk upon his lips. “I thought it was a little daring to recommend such a gothic tale to you, but if you liked the dangerMoll Flandershad to offer, something told me you might like the genre.”
“I….” Annie was aware of a secret sort of smile spreading across her lips, one she had only enjoyed when reading the novel thus far. “I love it. It is so dark at times. I do not know if it is the fear that pulls me to the edge of my seat or the excitement of the romance.”
“Or both,” Lord Yeatman offered. “I am pleased you like it. There are many more gothic tales you can enjoy.”
“What makes themgothicexactly? The darkness?”
“That and something else.” Lord Yeatman glanced ahead, seeming to check that Peggy and Mr Barton were not paying attention to the two of them before he looked back at Annie and leaned toward her, whispering in her ear. “The twisting of the rules, the bending of conventions. Rules are thrown out of the windows in gothic tales. Isn’t that part of the excitement?”
At his close whisper, Annie felt a shiver pass up her spine. She waited for him to stand straight once more and licked her lips, returning moisture to her mouth as she summoned words.
“We are practically alone out here, my lord. You hardly needed to whisper that.”
“Ha! Consider it my weakness. It is rather hard to stay away from you.”
“Do not tease me.”
“That was a statement of fact, not a tease, though I wish that it were.” His words intrigued her all the more, but he made no attempt to elaborate, leading them forward once again. Annie noticed that the distance between them and the pair in front seemed to be growing, but she had no interest in closing that distance.
There was freedom in this moment alone with Lord Yeatman, and she wished to indulge in it.
“May I ask you something?” Annie asked, feeling bold now they had this freedom.
“Of course.”
“How come sometimes you do this with me?” she asked, earning his gaze. “You tease, you flirt, you are kind, too, and ratherexciting.Do not take that as a compliment, though, for your pride may be too great as it is to have such a compliment.”
“I’ll take it all the same,” he said with a deep laugh.
“Other times, you do not talk to me at all.” Her words pulled him to a stop. He turned the two of them so that they were facing each other. “When we met you at the shops, you said nothing at all to me. The night of the dinner at your sister’s, it took all evening for you to speak to me.”
“I could not stop looking at you. You must have seen that.”
“I did.” Annie fought a smile at his words. “That does not answer my question, though.”
“Consider it my sister’s attempts to wake me up to realities.” He stepped closer to her, and for some reason, Annie couldn’t bring herself to step back, too excited to think about pulling away. “I am a curse when it comes to ladies, Miss Storey. Whatever I wish to happen between us can never happen. I would not risk your reputation like that.”
The confession made her stiffen.
“You are not the only one to make that choice.” She laughed, but it was empty with no real humour in it. “Do you imagine your powers so great over ladies that it was your choice alone to decide whether my reputation was at risk? If you ever tried anything, I could and would refuse you.”
“That you could, but that does not stopthis, does it?” With the words, he gestured between them.
“What?”
“This flirtation. These smiles.”
“It is nothing.”
“Nothing?” He looked aghast. “Well, each of those smiles meant something to me. I’m disappointed to hear they meant nothing to you.”
“I did not say that exactly.”
“Then you do have romance in you, Miss Storey?”
