An Escapade and an Engagement by Annie Burrows Read Free Book Online Page B

they went astray?’
    ‘Oh, no,’ he said, looking particularly grim. ‘The minute my
brother died the family’s man of business came to inform me that I was now
Viscount Ledbury—proving that they had known exactly where I was, and how I was
circumstanced, all along.’
    And they’d left him? Hovering between life and death? Oh, how
could they?
    ‘Would it surprise you to learn that my first reaction on
hearing of my older brother’s death was gratitude—for at last I had the means to
reward the only two people who had shown any loyalty towards me?’
    ‘Not one bit.’
    She was only surprised that he was so determined to do his duty
by a family that had neglected him so woefully. A family that, by the sound of
it, cared as little for him as hers did for her. She found herself wanting to
lay her hand upon his sleeve and tell him she understood all about that
particular kind of pain. But that would be the very last thing he would want.
She knew that for certain because the last thing she wanted was for anyone to discover that she was constantly repressing a keening
wail of her own. Why does nobody love me? Or even like
me?
    ‘When I learned that I would have to move into Lavenham House
and actively start looking for a wife, I set Milly up in a snug little house in
Bedford Place and gave her a generous allowance. I told Fred to stay with her,
though I would have preferred to have kept him on as my valet. But, you see, she
has no acquaintance in London. I could not just abandon her, after all she has
done for me. It is no exaggeration to say I owe her my life. And, no matter how
bleak things looked, she always looked on the bright side. She kept our spirits
up. It could not have been easy for her, coming to what was to her a foreign
country and having to adapt to its ways. And its climate.’
    And then there was the fact that when he’d told her he was
going to have to leave the army, get married and take up his position in
Society, she had burst into tears and told him she was in love with him. Not
that he was altogether sure he believed her, but still… He hated the thought
that everything he did now must be hurting the only person who had ever said
they loved him.
    ‘I worry about her,’ he admitted. ‘Only last week I went round
to see them both and she came running down to the kitchen dressed in an outfit
that made her look…tawdry. When she told me how much she’d laid out for the gown
I could not believe she’d spent so much and ended up looking so cheap. To be
frank, she desperately needs guidance. From a woman of good taste.’
    His eyes skimmed her outfit. She was wearing a carriage dress
of deep blue, a jaunty little bonnet that framed the natural beauty of her face
and chinchilla furs about her shoulders to shield her from the breeze, which was
quite brisk that day.
    ‘I know it will involve a great personal sacrifice for you to
spend time with a woman of Milly’s class, but I cannot think of anyone else I
would rather she emulate. I cannot imagine you ever choosing anything that did
not become you.’
    He thought she was a woman of good taste? That was two
compliments he had paid her within the space of a few minutes. Two more than
she’d ever had in her life, apart from on her looks—which did not count since
she hated the fact she resembled her father so closely.
    ‘I promised her father I would take good care of her, but I
find it is not enough to just give her a house and an allowance. I am afraid if
I do not find some way to restrain her she will end up becoming…easy prey to men
who have no scruples. It was while my valet was shaving me this morning that I
thought of you.’
    It had suddenly struck him that setting Lady Jayne a task would
make her feel as though he was making her pay for allowing her to see
Harry—rather than let her suspect he felt compelled to keep an eye on her. Or,
more specifically, Kendell.
    And she had complained of feeling bored. She would enjoy the
sensation