Slightly Dangerous (43 page)

There were neighbors to coo over him.

There was his mama to kiss his chubby little cheek and his papa to kiss the other after they had taken him up to the nursery so that he would not be bothered by the crowd.

He was not bothered. He was supremely indifferent, wrapped up in blankets and sleep as he was.

Nevertheless, he was beginning to distinguish the two voices that spoke over him as he settled into his crib. They were the two voices that he would have thought most dear to him if his mind had been capable of such reasoning at the tender age of six weeks and two days.

“Our little miracle,” his mama said foolishly and fondly.

“Our little ball of trouble,” his papa said more firmly but just as fondly. “He was not just cross at church, Christine. He was furious. We are going to have our hands full with him, I do believe.”

The Marquess of Lindsey would have felt the backs of two fingers rub gently against his cheek if he had not been too far sunk in sleep.

“I hope so, Wulfric,” his mama said even more foolishly than she had spoken before. “Oh, I do hope so. And I hope he has brothers and sisters to fill our hands even fuller.”

“Well,” the Duke of Bewcastle said, sounding haughty and even slightly bored, “if there is anything I can do to assist you in bringing your wish to fulfillment, my love, do let me know.”

The Duchess of Bewcastle laughed softly.

The marquess did not even know what brothers and sisters were.

But he would . . .

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Bestselling, multi-award–winning author Mary Balogh grew up in Wales, land of sea and mountains, song and legend. She brought music and a vivid imagination with her when she came to Canada to teach. Here she began a second career as a writer of books that always end happily and always celebrate the power of love. There are over four million copies of her Regency romances and historical romances in print. She is also the author of the Regency-era romantic novels
No Man’s Mistress, More Than a Mistress, A Summer to Remember, Slightly Married,
Slightly Wicked,
Slightly Scandalous, Slightly Tempted,
and
Slightly Sinful,
all available in paperback from Dell. Visit her website at
www.marybalogh.com
.

A
LSO BY
M
ARY
B
ALOGH

Slightly Sinful

Slightly Tempted

Slightly Scandalous

Slightly Wicked

Slightly Married

A Summer to Remember

No Man’s Mistress

More Than a Mistress

One Night for Love

SLIGHTLY DANGEROUS

A Delacorte Book / June 2004

Published by

Bantam Dell

A Division of Random House, Inc.

New York, New York

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved

Copyright © 2004 by Mary Balogh

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the publisher, except where permitted by law.

Delacorte Press is a registered trademark of Random House, Inc., and the colophon is a trademark of Random House, Inc.

Visit our website at
www.bantamdell.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Balogh, Mary.

Slightly dangerous / Mary Balogh.

p. cm.

eISBN 0-440-33499-3

I. Title.

PR6052.A465S55 2004

823'.914—dc22

2003070091

Published simultaneously in Canada

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