Passionately Yours (Hellions of High Street 3)

… Nothing exciting ever happens in Bath.

“Ha!” Exhaling a wry sigh, Caro looked up from her sister Anna’s letter. “For the most part that is true,” she murmured to the potted geraniums who shared the Pump House alcove with her. “Quite likely the next few weeks will bring only the usual boring activities that make this town such an uninspiring place for a anyone seeking to pen passionate poetry.”

Especially as Lord Strathcona had not yet shown his face since playing the hero five nights ago.

“Wretch,” she added under her breath, before returning her attention to the letter.

Oh, but never fret, went on Anna. The time will likely pass more quickly than you imagine. And who knows, you may end up being pleasantly surprised. After all, the spa waters do occasionally attract interesting gentlemen…

Ha, that was easy for her sister to say. Anna had recently married the dark and dangerously dashing “Devil” Davenport, and the new couple were spending their wedding trip in faraway Russia, visiting St. Petersburg, a city known for its opulent splendors and extravagant parties.

Sparkling ballrooms, exotic men, exciting flirtations, thought Caro glumly. While I pine for—

“Miss Caro?”

A familiar voice interrupted her brooding.

“I say, is that really you skulking among the flowerpots?”

“Lord Andover.” Edging out from between the marble display pedestals, she smiled at Anna’s former beau. “Yes, it’s me.”

“Thank God,” he said in a conspiratorial whisper. “I was beginning to fear there was no one in town under the age of eighty.”

“I fear we are few and far between,” replied Caro.

“Then how fortunate that I spotted you among those exquisite roses,” replied Andover. “Your bloom, of course, puts them to the blush.”

“They are geraniums, Andy,” pointed out Caro.

He grinned. “Didn’t Shakespeare say something about a rose by any name would look as lovely?”

She rolled her eyes, drawing a chuckle. “You are mangling his magnificent poetry.”

“No doubt. I am not nearly as well read as you and your sisters.” He offered his arm. “Rega

rdless, come take a walk with me around the fountain, so that I may bask in your reflected beauty.”

“You need not waste your flatteries on me,” said Caro, falling in step with him. “I know you’ve never really forgiven me for the frog incident.” It was not for nothing that the Sloane sisters were known as the Hellions of High Street. And she, as the youngest, was the most devilish of the three.

“Having a small, green croaking creature hop out of my pocket and into Lady Tilden’s soup tureen was not overly amusing at the time,” he conceded with a smile. Thinking it a deliberate prank, the imperious dowager countess, one of the highest sticklers in Society, had threatened to have Andover banned from Mayfair’s ballrooms for the rest of the Season. “But in retrospect, I do see the humor in it. And the fact that I’ve never been invited back to one of her boring dinner parties is a blessing in disguise.”

“I was only sixteen and still a silly schoolgirl. And if truth be told, I was chafing at the fact that I was still a child in the eyes of Society, while my two older sisters were part of the glittering, glamorous adult world of parties and balls and dancing until dawn.”

“Which really isn’t quite so exciting as it sounds, is it?” replied Andover dryly. “One limps home on aching feet, feeling utterly exhausted. Being gay and charming requires an awful lot of effort.”

Caro smiled. Of all Anna’s erstwhile admirers, Andover was her favorite. His quick wit and self-deprecating sense of humor complemented his sunny good cheer and faultless manners.

“Not for you, it doesn’t,” she pointed out. “Everyone adores you because you are so thoroughly nice.”

“Nice.” He made a wry face. “That smacks of being damned with faint praise.”

“You need no flowery compliments from me,” she said. “You hear more than enough from the rest of the ton.”

Andover inclined a polite nod to a trio of passing dowagers before answering, “As do you. The silly schoolgirl has grown into a lovely young lady and quickly made up for lost time.” He turned his head, and their gazes met. “Was your first Season all that you hoped it would be?”

How to answer?

Caro felt a flush steal to her cheeks. The endless parties, the elegant entertainments, the glittering ballrooms aswirl in sumptuous silks and satins—it had all been an exciting experience, as heady and effervescent as the champagne bubbling in the cut crystal glasses. But she was also aware that at times, the blazing lights had seemed overbright, the laughter overloud, the ladies overdressed.