Read Miss Lacey's Last Fling (A Regency Romance) for Free Online

large eyes and full lips and the most beautiful neck he'd ever seen. He wished the blasted crowd would part so he could enjoy a full view of her, for the one tantalizing glimpse he'd caught had revealed a delicious swell of white bosom above the miniscule bodice of the red dress.
    She continued to smile at him, chuckling with Fanny as though they shared some kind of joke. Her smile was not shy or demure, but broad and uninhibited, more a grin than a smile. As he catalogued her assets he could not help but note that the mouth was considerably too wide and the nose a shade too long for true beauty. There was, however, something damnably provocative about that smile.
    Had he not seen the smile, Max might have marked her as a wide-eyed innocent. When she wasn't looking at him, her gaze seemed to devour the room, taking in every detail, every face, as though she were a girl in her first Season whose Mama had never told her it was gauche to gawk. But she was no young innocent. He was sure of it.
    Who the devil was she?
    Something about her seemed almost familiar, but he was certain he'd never met her.
    As he moved closer, he watched the Unknown cast her smile upon a gentleman who'd just approached from the opposite side. When he turned slightly, Max saw it was that coxcomb Alfie Hepworth. Damn the man, he was kissing her hand, and she was beaming at him.
    Max gave a less then gentle shove to the young buck blocking his path, ignored the man's rude exclamation, and elbowed his way to Fanny's side.
    "Max, darling, we thought you'd be stuck down there for hours. What a crush."
    Max took her proffered hand and kissed the gloved fingers. "Good evening, Fanny. A vision, as always."
    "Do you think so?" She lifted a hand to her headdress, setting gold spangles to jingle and dance. "I was not quite sure about this turban, you know. Thought it might look too much the mahjarani."
    "It is charming, my dear. Have you just arrived?"
    "Goodness, no. We were just leaving. Or trying to. We've been to Wadsworths' before coming here, and now we're off to Sir Reginald Forde's for a few hands of piquet."
    As she spoke, Max could not keep his gaze from sliding over to the Unknown, who had not seemed to notice his arrival. Her entire attention, radiant smile and all, was focused on that fool Hepworth, damn his eyes.
    "Max?"
    When he returned his own attention to Fanny, she lifted her eyebrows in question. "Would you like to come along with us to Forde's? Eldridge will be there to see us home, of course, so you needn't worry about that. But we would welcome your escort, if you'd be so obliging."
    "I am ever at your service, Fanny. And of your lovely young friend." He lowered his voice and spoke directly into her ear. "Introduce us, my dear, I beg you."
    Fanny began to laugh. "Ha! We knew you hadn't recognized her." Her blue eyes danced with merriment.
    "Recognized her? Do I know her?" He kept his voice low in hopes the woman would not overhear. "No. No, Fanny, I am quite sure I've never met her."
    "Are you?" She reached over and touched the Unknown's arm. "Excuse me, my dear, but you remember Max Davenant, do you not?"
    The woman looked at him and smiled. "Yes, of course. How do you do, Mr. Davenant? So nice to see you again."
    She offered her hand and he took it, still thoroughly confounded. Who was she? "Your servant, madam."
    He studied her more closely without letting go of her hand, and could not help but notice that she seemed perfectly willing to allow him to keep hold of it. He had been right. She was no demure young miss. The mere fact that she was with Fanny told him that much. Despite that intriguing aura of innocence about her, there was a decidedly flirtatious twinkle in her eyes.
    Something about those eyes ...
    "I say, Davenant," Hepworth said as he inched closer to the Unknown, "I ought to have known you'd steal a march on the rest of us with Miss Lacey. Fanny's niece and all. Unfair advantage, what?"
    Miss Lacey? Fanny's niece?
    The