Elisabeth crossed her legs in a nonchalant gesture and hoped she sounded more sophisticated than she felt.
‘A game of Consequences. I’ll ask you a truth and you can decide to answer it or not.’
‘And the consequence for not answering?’ Elisabeth asked just a little bit breathless at the possibilities. This carriage ride was fast becoming something more than expedient transport. It was becoming freedom, a chance to be someone else besides Viscount Graybourne’s daughter. For a brief while she could be free from the confines of a life that stifled much of the person she actually was. Meeting Dashiell-The-Handsome-Stranger was becoming a once in a lifetime opportunity just like the comet and she was going to seize it.
He gave her a wide smile and she knew, just knew, he was going to say something outrageous. ‘Kisses, Elisabeth. We’ll play for kisses.’
That delicious tremor made a return journey down her spine. Why not? If anyone found out she’d been alone in a closed carriage with a man, no one would care what they’d done in it. The sin was already committed if they played for kisses or not. She might as well go the distance. In the last twenty minutes she’d committed almost every sin known to debutantes. It seemed a very short fall to include this one to the list.
Elisabeth smiled. ‘Ask your first question.’
Chapter Three
‘What colour are your eyes.’ The question caught her by surprise. She hadn’t expected it to be so simple. But perhaps that was his strategy: lull her into complacency and edge gradually towards what he really wanted to know.
‘My eyes are brown.’
Dashiell shook his head, a disarming grin on his face. ‘No, they’re not.’
‘I beg your pardon? I should think I’d know what colour my eyes are.’
Dashiell chuckled. ‘A woman who climbs out windows cannot merely have brown eyes. Whisky perhaps, sherry, cognac eyes maybe.’
‘Are you suggesting she must be a drunkard to climb out the window?’
‘No, she must be unique. Anyone can have brown eyes. Only a few can have eyes the colour of aged port.’
After four Seasons, she should be immune to such flattery. More than that, she should know such flattery for what it was: empty words. But it was too tempting to play Dashiell’s game and far too much fun. More than that, a very curious part of her wanted to see where it would lead.
‘Unique is so very close to odd, we must be careful,’ Elisabeth ventured. She was flirting boldly now, far more boldly than she’d flirted with the young men of London. She tried to ignore the skittering sensation settling in her stomach. He was studying her intently, his eyes roving her face, resting on her lips in a manner that made her feel utterly feminine and powerful. Perhaps she’d decline the next question simply to explore his unspoken invitation. She ran her tongue over her lips, her mouth having gone dry at the prospect of her audacity. ‘Ask me another question.’
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