Read Whisper To Me of Love for Free Online

“You’re perfectly correct. I was at White’s earlier today, and as I was on the point of leaving, Lord Devlin and a few of his cronies arrived. That damned fop wrinkled his haughty nose at me as if he smelled the barnyard and murmured just loud enough so that I could hear, ‘I say, it seems as if they let anyone join White’s these days.’ I’ll tell you, Zack, I was within ames-ace of calling him out then and there, but George Ponteby was with me and he made certain we left there damned fast.”
    Zachary grinned at him. “Well, you shouldn’t be so surprised—it isn’t as if you’ve gone out of your way to overcome the Earl’s dislike of us these past few weeks.”
    An expression of injured innocence on his handsome face, Royce asked ingenuously, “And what, I ask you, did I ever do to arouse his antipathy in the first place?”
    Zachary settled back in his chair, plainly enjoying himself. “Well, in the first place, I don’t think that you did anything. Lord Stephen Devlin just doesn’t like Americans, especially ones with manners as good or better than his own, and—here’s the most telling point—ones who are nearly as wealthy as he is.”
    â€œYou see! His dislike is entirely irrational!” Royce averred piously, a wicked twinkle in the amber gold eyes at direct variance with his tone of voice.
    â€œNot entirely irrational! The fact that you are an impeccably well-mannered, disgustingly wealthy American with many friends in the best social circles in England may have annoyed him at first, especially since, despite his own aristocratic birth and fortune, he is only tolerated by those same people. But I think that the cause of his real animosity toward you may have occurred during your last trip to England, don’t you?”
    Royce innocently raised his eyebrows. “Why, whatever do you mean? Your new brother-in-law was with me during that trip to England four years ago, and I think if you will ask him, he will tell you that we both behaved with flawless decorum.”
    Zachary nearly choked with laughter at Royce’s words. Dominic Slade had not discussed his previous trip to London with Zachary in any great detail, but from the few comments that Dominic had dropped, Zachary strongly suspected that there were several incidents that were considerably less than decorous! “Of course, you are right,” Zachary agreed. “His actions are utterly irrational.” Giving his cousin a mocking glance, he murmured, “After all, what did you ever do to him?”
    Royce smiled seraphically, staring with great interest at the ruby liquor in his glass.
    â€œI mean, why should the man be upset because four years ago you seduced away his mistress right from under his nose? At least, that’s what Dominic intimated one night to me. And of course, no one would be annoyed at losing to you, I believe it was, several thousand pounds playing piquet? That happened a scant week after our arrival here, if my memory serves me correctly. Nor would it bother any normal man, after boasting that they owned the finest pair of blooded horses in England, to be soundly bested by you in a race wagered on by half the ton, a race which, let me remind you, occurred just last Wednesday. No. No. You’ve done nothing to annoy the man at all.”
    Looking inordinately pleased with himself, Royce said ruminatively, “Well, you know, I would never have singled him out like that if he hadn’t annoyed me so much by acting as if I were dirt under his feet, and if he hadn’t been so determined to prove that he was superior to a mere ‘colonial.’ Hell, we haven’t been an English colony for over forty years! And remember—I wasn’t the one who challenged him either to the horse race or that damned tedious game of piquet. He left me no choice each time but to accept the gauntlet he’d thrown