An Heir of Deception by Beverley Kendall Read Free Book Online Page A

agreed blithely. Although the acquaintance had never been a particularly close one. He’d already been attending Eton when she was born. Their interaction over the years had been infrequent at best. It was only during the prior year that he’d taken any real notice of her.
    But the earl confirmed that Alex hadn’t been wrong in his thoughts. He’d come to press his suit on his daughter’s behalf.
    “Yes, yes indeed, a good while. My Mary is quite a beauty, is she not?” he asked, inclining his head toward Alex as if to compel him to agree.
    “Yes, quite lovely.” An inescapable fact.
    Of late, his mother had become more insistent that it was time he married and produced an heir. Lady Mary, a dark-haired beauty whose lineage was said to trace back to William the Conqueror, had been selected as the ideal candidate to fit the future Duchess of Hastings role. Alex had given the matter great thought. A month ago, he’d decided to court her—had had every intention of commencing the courtship. But a day’s delay had slipped quickly and all too easily, until soon he could count the delay by weeks instead of days. Now, given the change in circumstances, he was more than a little relieved he hadn’t done a thing. A courtship and worse yet, a betrothal would have been a nightmare of a predicament to extricate himself from.
    Lord Cranford made a pleased sound, like the purr of a tiger, deep in his throat. He smiled again, showing off a row of white, slightly crooked teeth. “It is your parents, mine and the countess’s greatest wish that our families are united. We believe Mary would make you a wonderful duchess. And I’m sure you are aware that my daughter comes with quite a substantial dowry. Not to say, my good man,” he hastened to add in a jovial tone, “that you are in need of it. Why, to your fortune, you no doubt see it as but a paltry sum.”
    Alex’s mouth twitched, not quite a smile or a frown. The earl had flown through the courtship and spoke as if they were already betrothed. And truly, since when had thirty thousand pounds ever been considered paltry? Lord Cranford had all the subtlety of a mallet and wielded it with the grace of a lumberjack. But then he was well acquainted with the duke.
    “My lord, are you asking me whether I have given any consideration to courting your daughter or demanding that I do in fact court her?”
    A wash of red suffused a complexion that probably hadn’t been touched by sunlight in years. The earl appeared taken aback and didn’t speak for several moments, eyeing Alex as if attempting to gauge his true feelings on the matter.
    “My daughter is much sought after. I’m merely urging you to strike while the iron’s hot, as they say.” He said it with all the pomposity of a father who knew his daughter’s worth.
    Indeed, thirty thousand pounds.
    “Many men have already approached me for her hand,” the earl went on to elaborate. “She would, of course, be partial to your attentions, which is why this would be a good time for you to press your advantage.”
    “In other words, you have the advantage because you are excessively wealthy and heir to one of the oldest and most powerful dukedoms in all of England.
    Alex had long since become familiar with aristocratic speak; the polite way to express one’s single-minded ambition for money and position.
    Alex tempered a wry smile as he was certain it would not be well received. “Then I would urge your daughter not to refuse any further marriage offers on my account.”
    Lord Cranford’s brows lowered and his mouth flattened into a line. His hand tightened on the curved ivory handle of his cane. What followed was a silence that strained every bit of civility in his narrow-eyed countenance.
    “Are you telling me you have no interest at all in my daughter?”
    “As much as I admire her, I don’t believe we would make a good match.” Another face appeared in his mind’s eye. One with dark gold ringlets and eyes the