Dangerous to Love by Rexanne Becnel Read Free Book Online Page A

thrusting her chin out in an unwitting show of defiance.
    “A theory about children? What do you know about children? You haven’t had any, have you?”
    “You needn’t be a nursing mother to know about children,” Lucy replied, more tartly than she ought. “I have been a child and helped raise many other children—not just my brother’s considerable brood.”
    “And you needn’t take that sharp tone with me, girl. I am not questioning your intelligence. Far from it. If I did not think you of superior mental capabilities, I certainly would not have offered you this position.”
    The old woman pursed her lips and stared at Lucy from across the narrow carriage space. “Since you obviously have a deep interest in children and why they behave as they do, it might be best if I go into more detail about your duties to Valerie. Because she is so malleable she could easily be led astray by one of those callous young men who pass for gentlemen these days. And unfortunately, they will flock to her in hordes. She is as pretty a girl as you could ever hope to lay eyes upon. Fair-haired and fragile-looking—and with a fortune which, though not immense, is nonetheless more than adequate. Your primary duty will be discouraging inappropriate suitors.”
    She hesitated a moment and Lucy saw her bony hands tighten on the head of her cane. “And the most unsuitable of them is my own grandson.”
    Lucy had been all set to question Lady Westcott further about young Valerie. But that last comment about the newly invested Earl of Westcott gave her considerable pause. An unattached earl unsuitable? Her fertile imagination began to spin. Lady Westcott had referred to him once before as her troublesome heir. Could he be one of those dissolute young men given to the baser forms of behavior? She remembered that sort from her own season. The wastrels. The pleasure-seekers. Men who were said to delve in all the vices and participate in the most degrading activities. Wise mamas kept their daughters strictly away from that sort, even if they were from good families.
    But an earl? And with the enormous fortune this particular earl was said to possess?
    She picked her words carefully. “What precisely is it about your grandson that makes him so unsuitable for a young lady like Valerie?”
    The old woman’s face settled into a frown. “He is entirely too insincere in his intentions. In the past several months he has engaged the hearts of many a young woman, only to abruptly turn his back on them.”
    That hardly made him unsuitable, Lucy thought. Fickle, perhaps, but not entirely unsuitable. “Perhaps he fears that they are interested in his title and fortune more than himself. I have heard a little about his history,” she admitted. Who hadn’t heard the gossip about the Gypsy earl, born a bastard, no less ? “It may be that this is his way to strike back at a society that for so long held him in contempt—and which would, were he not now titled and exceedingly well off, still hold him in contempt.”
    “I suggest you save your theories of childhood for a more receptive audience, Miss Drysdale. Ivan is a man, not a child. The fact is, his heritage is a given. Nothing of his birth and subsequent childhood can be altered now. Besides, from the age of seven he has been raised to be an earl. He had a decent enough education, far above the lowly expectations of his birth, I assure you. If he wishes to strike back at anyone, as you term it, neither I nor any of the young ladies of this -season is an appropriate target. Nevertheless,” she continued, taking a calming breath. “Nevertheless, he has chosen to be difficult. I fully expect him to pursue poor Valerie, and it will fall to you to keep her safe from him.
    “And one other thing,” she added. “He is not without a certain appeal. You may theorize that this year’s young misses flock to him because of his title and fortune. But he would attract young, susceptible females were he a