Read Seeking Celeste for Free Online Page B

have just pointed out that I am not pretty.”
    â€œAnd that rankles? Allow me to be more precise. Pretty is for flowers, for trinkets, for watercolour sketches. It is not for your face.”
    â€œWhat is , then?” Anne felt her heart beat faster, for Lord Carmichael had somehow breached the distance between them, and she could not, for the life of her, find it in herself to take the necessary steps backward. Again, the scent of apple blossom and soap, the golden tendrils that brushed his shoulder and now her gown... .
    â€œBeautiful. Extraordinary. Magnificent. Raven hair and raven heart. Strong words for a strong, strong woman.”
    Anne felt she could not breathe. When he reached over to pull out her hairpins, she made no demur save a tiny, inarticulate fluttering of the hands. It was enough.
    â€œMiss Derringer ... Anne. It seems I do you a great disservice. I am never usually so uncontrolled in my passions. I gave you my word and that is what I shall stand by.”
    The tiny disappointment lasted only a moment. Anne was glad that her breathing seemed restored, and the cool calm of reason descended, once more, upon her eminently sensible person.
    â€œHow did you know I was Anne?”
    â€œBeg pardon?” The earl, for once, was discomposed.
    â€œAnne. Anne. You called me Anne, my lord.”
    â€œHow very impertinent of me! I glimpsed it on your bandbox. Miss Anne Derringer. Very neatly printed, too.”
    â€œYou tease me!”
    â€œI only tease my friends.”
    What did that mean? Anne wished he did not look at her with such unsettling directness. She decided to change the subject.
    â€œBy the by, my lord, with respect to my qualifications. . .”
    â€œShall I respect them?”
    Why did he twist everything she said? The man was so provoking!
    â€œIndeed you should, for I am familiar with the classics, three languages, mathematics, and the terrestrial globe, of course.”
    â€œOf course.” Why was there a decided hint of laughter to his voice? Anne felt an answering smile curl at the tips of her lips. She quelled it crushingly.
    â€œI am accounted a master at the celestial globe.” How boastful she was! She, who took such care to conceal her learning for fear of being labeled a bluestocking. How very lowering!
    â€œIndeed? I have some interest in celestial beings myself.” He was looking at her that way again, so she felt she must either melt, throw herself wantonly into his arms or concentrate fiercely on the substance, not meaning, of their conversation. She chose the latter.
    â€œCelestial beings? I would not have thought you would have much time, in London, to foster such an interest.”
    â€œAlas, no! I do, however, possess a two-inch telescope of Newtonian design. I must fetch it out some time, for I fear, since Lucinda’s death, I have neglected my stargazing to a reproachable degree.”
    â€œYou really are interested?”
    â€œMy dear Miss Derringer, why would I lie upon such a substantive issue? If you doubt me, you may speak with an acquaintance of mine, one Sir William Herschel ...”
    â€œThe king’s astronomer!”
    He looked at her sharply. “How do you know that?”
    â€œMy particular interest is comets. Sir William is the definitive guide on the topic.”
    Almost for the first time, the eighth Earl Edgemere looked at Anne of the raven hair with respect as well as admiration and the usual attraction.
    â€œI will show you my observation notebook sometime.”
    Miss Derringer could hardly bear the pain. She bit her lip and half turned away. “I would have loved that, my lord.”
    Her voice was so low he only just caught it.
    â€œYou mean, I hope, that you will love it.”
    Anne shook her head. “Do not tempt me, I beg! There is no place for me in this household. I came on it by chance and I shall leave it resolutely. I infer you believe me to be a travelling companion for