Read A Country Miss in Hanover Square for Free Online Page A

been introduced. However, she knew who he was, for she had remarked his progress through the room and asked Amelia.
    ‘Thank you, sir,’ she said, smiling up at the Marquis of Northaven as he led her out to join the throng of dancers. ‘It was good of you to rescue me.’
    ‘The Roberts twins are known for squabbling with each other,’ Northaven said. ‘Harmless enough, I dare say, but I thought you needed a little help. This is your first Season in town, I believe?’
    ‘My first dance,’ Susannah confided, her smile spark ling at him, because the evening had been far more exciting than she could ever have imagined. She had not sat out once, and the twins were not the first gentlemen to argue over her, in a friendly, teasing manner, of course. It was just good fun and she had thoroughly enjoyed being fussed over. The reality had far out weighed her dreams thus far. ‘I have had such a lovely time.’
    ‘Everyone speaks of you as the latest rage,’ Northaven said, amused by her honesty. She was very young and he was usually bored by innocence, but she had spirit and an art less ness that was amusing. ‘It all seems fresh and new for the moment, but you will be bored within a month.’
    ‘Oh, no, I couldn’t be,’ Susannah retorted. ‘We have been invited everywhere, to so many different affairs. I couldn’t possibly be bored in London.’
    ‘Do you not know that it is fashionable to be bored?’ Northaven lifted an eyebrow, his expression mocking.
    ‘Oh…’ Susannah laughed because she believed he was teasing her. ‘I fear that I must be un fashionable then, sir. I have not yet acquired town bronze and you must forgive my country manners—but I refuse to be bored when people have gone to so much trouble on my behalf. It would be rude and ungrateful.’
    ‘Then you will set a new fashion,’ he told her. ‘Since everyone approves of you, you can do no wrong.’
    Susannah looked at him un certainly as their dance ended. She was not quite sure what to think of him, because he was very different from most of the young gentlemen she had danced with that evening. He returned her to her mother and Amelia, bowed and took his leave. She was conscious of a feeling of disappointment. There was some thing slightly dangerous about the marquis, and she was not sure she had made an impression on him, though she found him intriguing. He was very handsome, like one of the heroes from her dreams.
    ‘Susannah…’ She became aware of her mother speaking. ‘This gentleman wishes to make your acquaintance. Lord Pendleton—my daughter, Susannah. Your father was a friend of Lord Pendleton’s father, my dear.’ Mrs Hampton smiled and moved away a few steps to talk to a lady who had caught her attention.
    Susannah turned to look at the gentleman her mother had just introduced. He was tall, though not quite as tall as Northaven, but in his way equally attractive. His hair was not as dark as the marquis’s, being a chestnut brown, and with a slight curl to it, his eyes a soft, melting brown. A little shock ran through her as she recognised him. He was the rude gentleman who had almost knocked her down in the lane. He was dressed very differently this evening, but she could not mistake those eyes, even though they were not flashing with temper. She felt hot inside as she wondered whether he would recognise her.
    ‘Sir.’ She inclined her head, but kept her eyes lowered. Her heart was racing for she hardly knew how to face him. She was almost sure that he had not recognised her and she hoped he would not. Their en counter had been so brief that he would surely have for got ten her. Her hand curled into itself, her heart beating faster. ‘I am pleased to meet you.’
    ‘It is your first visit to town, Miss Hampton?’
    ‘Yes—how did you know?’ Her heart raced. Had he recognised her as the girl he had met briefly in a country lane?
    Harry hesitated, frowned, then said, ‘I do not wish to seem interfering, Miss