Read His Mistress By Christmas for Free Online

Portia muttered.
    “Then perhaps our paths will cross?”
    “I shall be devastated if they don’t.” He chuckled. “And amazed.”
    “As will I.” Lady Smithson nodded, turned, and headed to rescue Sir Hugo.
    Sir Sebastian’s gaze lingered as she crossed to the dueling couple. Her hips swayed enticingly, emphasized by her bustle. High above her head, that feather continued to quiver, matching a tremulous feeling somewhere deep inside him. Odd and decidedly familiar. Not unlike the feeling he always had whenever he began a new adventure.
    “Well,” Portia began. “That was certainly—”
    “Tell me about her,” he said abruptly. “I want to know everything about her.”
    “That does seem to be my lot tonight.” Portia huffed. “You inquiring about her. Veronica asking . . .”
    “Oh?” He shifted his gaze to his cousin. “Was she asking about me?”
    “You are a public figure, Sebastian. Everyone knows everything about you.”
    “Not everything.” He couldn’t resist a smug smile. “So she was curious?”
    “If I tell you, it will simply go to your head.” She heaved a long-suffering sigh. “What do you want to know about her?”
    “Is she married?”
    “Her husband died some three years ago, around the same time I lost David. We met that next year.”
    “I see.” His gaze strayed back to Lady Smithson, who was now trying to separate the combatants. “Is she still mourning him?”
    “One never stops mourning in some manner,” Portia said sharply. “However . . .” She sighed. “If you are asking if she has left the past behind, I suppose in most ways she has.”
    “In most ways?”
    “Veronica has her own way of looking at the world. While she has become a very close friend, in that respect we couldn’t be more different.”
    He turned his attention back to Portia and frowned. “I have no idea what you are trying to say.”
    Portia thought for a moment. “Veronica has never hesitated to do or say exactly as she pleases. I suspect that was her nature before her marriage, and it certainly hasn’t changed.” She paused. “Her husband was considerably older than she and had never been married before. I have always wondered if it wasn’t her unique spirit—for lack of a better word—that attracted him in the first place. She is very strong-willed and has no sense of tradition.”
    He nodded. “You mean about a woman’s place.”
    “About everything. It’s most annoying, and there have been any number of times that I would like nothing better than to box her ears. Regardless”—she shrugged—”she is one of my dearest friends.”
    “Why, Portia.” He stared in surprise. “I never would have imagined you to have a friend that was the least bit unconventional.”
    “She’s not the least bit unconventional.” Portia shook her head. “She’s
extremely
unconventional and far more progressive in her thinking than any decent woman should be.” She leaned close and lowered her voice in a confidential manner. “Why, she thinks women should vote.”
    He gasped in mock horror. “Not that.”
    She ignored his sarcasm. “I find some of her ideas most shocking and others truly scandalous. And yet, I wouldn’t change her for the world.” She pinned him with a firm gaze. “Nor would I permit anyone else to change her.”
    Sebastian raised a brow. “It seems you have changed, little cousin.”
    “Not in the least. I,” she added firmly, “never change. Nor do I ever intend to. Now, about Veronica. You should know she’s very clever. Quite the most intelligent woman I have ever met.”
    “Good.” He grinned. “I like intelligent women.”
    “Probably more intelligent than even you.”
    “Not likely.” He scoffed. “What else?”
    “She is always right and rarely admits when she is wrong.”
    “Interesting, as I am always right.”
    “She is entirely too independent.”
    He nodded. “As am I.”
    “Yes, but she is a woman. It’s unseemly.”
    He bit back a smile.