Rescued By The Earl's Vows. Ann Lethbridge

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СКАЧАТЬ straightened. ‘I expected better behaviour from a gentleman.’

      Typical. Now she was blaming him, as if he had invited her here. He glared at her. ‘You should not go to any man’s house without a chaperon if you place a smidgeon of value on your reputation.’

      She turned her face away from him. ‘Well I certainly won’t do it again, will I?’

      Dear God, was she going to cry? Guilt assailed him. Dammit, she was the one in the wrong, not him. But grudgingly, he found himself saying, ‘Tell me who it is you actually seek, and I will decide whether or not to assist you further.’ What the hell was he getting involved in?

      She paused in picking up her cloak and threw him a glance of dislike. He gritted his teeth against the desire to apologise for his brusqueness.

      ‘The friend from my childhood I spoke of at the masquerade.’ Fury sparked in her eyes when he curled his lip. ‘He is a friend. Nothing more.’ Her hands clasped together at her waist, her knuckles showing white. ‘He is in a position to assist me with a small problem.’

      Hell and damnation. His horrified gaze went straight to her waist. ‘What problem?’

      She flushed. ‘You are horrible, you know that? And it is none of your business. I simply need to find him.’

      If she wasn’t being so mysterious, he wouldn’t be jumping to conclusions. He frowned. Perhaps she feared some sort of blackmail? A letter written to a lover? Something given away that did not belong to her?

      Keeping such secrets always ended in disaster. ‘You should ask for help from your cousin.’

      ‘I cannot.’

      This friend obviously meant a great deal to her if she was prepared to take such risks. Perhaps it was a friendship as she said, or perhaps it was more. He suspected the latter despite her denials. Clearly, though, she was not going to tell him anything more unless he could find a chink in her armour. ‘What is the worst your cousin is likely to do, if you tell him? Send you to his aunt in Yorkshire?’

      Her spine stiffened. ‘Did you have to mention her?’

      Trying to make her see sense was getting him nowhere. He couldn’t think why he was bothering. ‘I will send you a note the moment I have the information you seek.’

      ‘No. My cousin will wonder...’

      Now she cared about the proprieties. He smiled a grim smile. ‘And now you know the reason your family tries to protect you.’

      She coloured, no doubt recalling their kiss.

      ‘Well then, what engagement do you have tomorrow night?’ he asked.

      She looked startled.

      ‘I am invited to all the best places, you know.’ He swallowed the urge to chuckle at her look of chagrin. ‘I promise you, I will be discreet.’

      ‘We are to attend Lady Bloomfield’s musicale tomorrow evening.’

      ‘Very good. I will see you there. In the meantime, let me get you back into your disguise and send you home in my carriage. You should not be wandering the streets at this time of the morning.’

      She gasped. ‘I couldn’t possibly arrive in your carriage. Someone might see it.’

      This time he laughed. ‘Do you think I am not up to snuff when it comes to intrigue? My dear Lady Tess, the carriage will be unmarked and it will drop you around the corner from your cousin’s house, but my driver will ensure you go inside before he leaves.’ He’d make sure Growler drove her home. He would find the location of this Freeps and that would be an end of the imbroglio. He had enough going on in his life, without adding the problem of a woman who didn’t trust him an inch.

      Thank goodness when he decided to take a wife again, it would be a nice, quiet girl who would be happy embroidering handkerchiefs, producing his heirs and behaving herself with decorum. He wished he’d married a woman like that the first time. A woman more like his mother. A faint bedtime memory of a sweet voice singing drifted across his mind. He tried to recall her face, but it drifted away like smoke on a breeze.

      Bitterness filled him. He had so few memories of his parents and they were getting more and more elusive. Forcing his mind back to the present, he picked up the sash and one of the pillows. ‘Come on, then. Let’s get you ready.’

      The sooner she left, the sooner he could get back to what was important.

      And yet as he tied the sash around her now bulky form his unruly body expressed a strong desire to take her out of her clothes, not bundle her up.

      Dammit.

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