The Pirate's Lady (Spies of London #1)

Chapter 4

42 reads! :) M really excited about this ! Thank u all for reading so far!

Next chappie.....

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Olivia was bored. Adhering to her mother's advice wasn't proving to be as easy as she thought it would be. Davy Sterling, her ardent pursuer, was regaling her with one of his tales of bravery, exaggerated no doubt, if the faces of the other gentlemen around her were any indication. Her face, however, was one of an engrossed listener. Her mind was another thing entirely.

"Livvy!"squealed the voice of her friend Jane Daltry, giving her a blissful respite from Davy's voice. The viscount was not a bad person, but certainly very immature. Olivia didn't want to be called rude, but she didn't know how to let him know that she was not contemplating marriage between them, as he so obviously thought.

Turning to her friend, she raised her brows just slightly, asking her the reason for the out-of-character squeal, to which the other woman peered around her to the gentlemen and said,"Please excuse us, gentlemen. I must speak to Lady Olivia urgently."

After this announcement, she began tugging her friend towards the refreshment tables. Once there, she turned to face a bemused Olivia. Her blonde hair was artfully styled into a coiffure, and her warm brown eyes smiled at Olivia. "There is no urgency is there Jane? And thank you for that. I was contemplating escape myself. But how I'm going to choose a husband from that lot is a question I would rather not contemplate.", sighed Olivia.

Her friend since childhood laughed at her irritated tone.Seems like a distraction was required. "Livvy, have you been introduced to Winchester? He really looks like a pirate, does he not? And those grey eyes! It feels like he can see straight to your soul! Why don't you look there for a husbandly prospect?" she said, smiling at her friend's non plussed look.

"We have been introduced", Olivia replied, carefully editing the waltz from her statement. "I'll even admit I'm intrigued by him, Jane, but marriage? I don't think that'll be easy. And what were you doing ogling him? If you recall, you are rather happily married! ", Olivia continued, unaware of how posessive she sounded.

"Ah, but it doesn't cost anything to look, does it now?", was the pert reply.

"Look at what?", came a male voice from behind Olivia. Looking at her friend's brightened features, she knew instantly who it was.

"Your wife has been ogling Winchester, Benedict. You'd better keep an eye on her from now on.", she said , turning to face Benedict Daltry, Duke of Pemberheath. Blond hair and eyes of a deep blue looked at her with amusement dancing in them. She knew well enough that he loved his wife to distraction and had the complete confidence that she loved him as well, so he wouldn't take her warning to heart.

"Is that so, now? Well now I'll have to punish her won't I? " So saying, he went over to his wife and whispered something in her ear, to which her cheeks promptly turned as red as a tomato. She turned away from him and said to Olivia ,"You must think about what I said, dear. I'm sure you are upto the challenge. And now, we shall go home. I will call upon you in a few days Livvy. We'll continue the discussion later.", she ended quickly, noticing the veiled looks her husband was giving her.

Olivia only had time to say "I shall look forward to it", in the driest of tones, before her friend was whisked away by the love of her life. Olivia watched as both blonde heads wove their way through the crowd till she could see them no more, and smiled as she thought of how she had played a hand in their story.

The rake and the mouse, they were, and she was happy for them. But sometimes, a little curl of jealousy tightened in her stomach when she looked at them. Brushing that unsettling thought from her mind she looked around till she found the doors to the Cavendish's garden. Time for some fresh air, she thought , as she headed towards them purposefully.

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James took a deep breath of the fresh night air and sighed. Why had he let Amy talk him into this! He had not planned on attending the Cavendish affair. When his cousin had visited that afternoon, he had been overjoyed to see her. But she told him that his aunt had told her about his search for a bride and seemed to have taken it up as a personal project.

"James how do you expect to find a wife if you stay at home or at your club? The Cavendish affair is one of the most attended balls of the season. All the eligible ladies will be in attendance! You are going to the ball and that's final!", she had concluded, ignoring his protests.

In the end she had got her wish, but only because he had come to know that the Siren would be attending the ball as well. So far he hadn't been able to see her, but had been continuously followed around by the particularly annoying Lady Priscilla Shafer, who could not keep quiet about her vast amount of gowns and riding habits and even her parasols, for God's sake!There was only so much a man could take. It really had become a pain, till he decided an escape to gardens was in order.

So now he sat on a bench shaded by shrubbery in the vast gardens of Lady Cavendish. Well more close to the terrace doors leading out to the gardens than the center of the garden itself, as he was not pursuing an illicit liaison as half the ton was.

Still, the shrubs provided relative concealment and a view of the doors to see who entered. He had become so accustomed to see Lords and Ladies alike entering the gardens for privacy, he didn't give a second thought to the figure of a lady entering the gardens, till it became apparent that the figure was headed to the bench where he was currently seated.

But by then the Lady had already come up to the bench and sat down with a sigh of relief. James would recognize that scent anywhere.

"Siren?" The question was out of his mouth before he could stop it. Her head whipped around to face him, and James clamped a hand on her mouth before she screamed in alarm, as her face showed she was about to.

When he saw recognition dawn in her eyes, quickly followed by relief, he slowly removed his hand. "I'm sorry, I didn't see you sitting here. I'll go find another bench.", she said.

But to James shock, he caught her hand as she made to get up from the bench and whispered softly,"I would rather that you didn't, Olivia." She blushed, and for reasons foreign to him, sat down again.

Olivia had been shocked to find the bench occupied, but she had been even more shocked to find her Pirate sitting there, as handsome as ever, in black evening clothes tailored to perfection, outlining every muscle and sinew. Alarmed at the direction of her thoughts, she had tried to leave as fast as possible, only to have her hand caught in his powerful one.

At his request that she not leave, she found that she had no power over her body, which felt suffused with heat and she sat down closer to him than she had meant to.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, both not knowing what to say to diffuse the sudden tension in the air. Suddenly he asked her,"Would you care for a ride in the park tomorrow morning?" Olivia replied by lookig at those beautiful eyes in which she saw that her answer mattered very much to him, and said,"I would like that very much, my Lord."

His spirits buoyed by her reply, James kissed her hand and promised to pick her up at 10 o'clock for a carriage ride in Hyde park, before asking her to proceed him into the house, so no one would be suspicious. At which point they became aware of the fact that he had never let go of her hand.

Blushing furiously, Olivia then realized that she had completely forgotten about the ball and that she might be missed by her mother. How the man in front of her could make her forget so much was beyond her, but she knew it would keep her up at night.

After she left, James sat there for a good fifteen minutes wondering why he felt like a bungling schoolboy instead of an experienced man when it came to her. The idea of calling upon her had been a pure stroke of luck though, he thought as he got up and walking towards the wall of the garden facing an alley, climbed over it and dropped onto the cobbles of the alley like a lithe cat, before walking off to find his carriage among the hundred parked around the house.

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How was it? They are so cute! :)

I would love to see any banners you guys come up with! I suck at that kind of stuff.. :P


Ciao,

~ shreya07