Read Bexley-Smythe Quintet 01 - Flight of Fancy for Free Online

a plan. Now .
    Typically, she’d go to Moira or Patience for help with her plans, but they’d both been busy with their various problems…being in the betting book, or trying to get there, whichever the case may be for the lady in question. Besides, they’d want to know why Georgie wanted to avoid Monty, since she’d never been overly keen to do so in the past, and that would require all sorts of explanations she wasn’t prepared to provide.
    No, Moira and Patience wouldn’t do. And Pippa wasn’t exactly in a position to help her out right now, either. Not that she would, since it would mean aiding Georgie in doing something scandalous. Pippa seemed determined to avoid any hint of scandal right now.
    None of her friends could help her. Could one of her sisters, perhaps?
    Frankie was rather good with sorting through problems, but she was even more of a stickler for propriety than Georgie was. That left her out of the equation.
    Mattie would prefer to solve all of her problems by starting a new embroidery project—a new sampler or something similar. Not that Georgie doubted Mattie’s ability to solve her own problems in that manner, but she couldn’t imagine that causing her fingers to bleed when she inevitably poked herself with a needle would help her to avoid Monty, unless he had an overwhelming fear of blood. That ruled Mattie out, as well.
    Which left Edie.
    Surreptitiously, Georgie eyed her younger sister across the table, reaching for the plate of meats and cheeses as she did, so as not to rouse Monty’s suspicions. At the moment, Edie was blathering on about some poem or another her governess had her studying, which she found exceedingly tedious and boring. Both of Edie’s hands were flying wildly through the air, illustrating her points as she went on.
    “ But really , Mother, it isn’t as though it will matter in the grand scheme of things if he was writing about a woman or a man, after all, or even a toad. It’s just Shakespeare .” Edie pounded the flat of her palm against the table. “Simply being able to recite it ought to be enough to prove to any gentleman worth a grain of salt that I’m well studied. I shouldn’t have to explain the meaning of the poem. He ought to be able to explain it to me .”
    Well…that didn’t bode well for Edie’s ability to solve Georgie’s woes. The poor girl couldn’t even be bothered to try to understand the Bard.
    Georgie slumped down in her chair and scowled. Her sisters would be no help.
    Damn and blast, she wished she was a man. Men could do virtually anything they wanted.
    But…well… she might not be a man, and Monty might not be willing to help her, but there were other men in her life who might be willing and able.
    Like Pippa’s brother, Harry. He’d always been a bit of an adventurous soul, himself.
    A smile stole over Georgie’s face as she plotted out how she would convince Lord Harrison Casemore to do her bidding. But then Monty caught her eye from across the table, and she fought to conceal her glee. No point allowing him to spoil her fun.
     
    God, he had always loathed the opera.
    Cedric tugged at his cravat as the soprano hit yet another ear-punishing note, wishing all the while he was anywhere other than where he was at the moment. But this was where Lady Stalbridge had wished to bring her daughters for the evening, at the invitation of Lord and Lady Sutherland, so this was where Cedric must also be, particularly since Georgie seemed more determined than ever to throw herself into Haworth’s path.
    He hoped that last note represented the top of the soprano’s range. Anything higher might very well burst his eardrums. The only good thing about being forced to sit through the opera tonight was that it allowed him to at least attempt to forget the currents that had sparked through him when he’d pressed his finger to Georgie’s lip two nights ago. In the intervening time, he’d thought of little else, other than what those currents