How to Entice an Earl by Manda Collins Read Free Book Online

reputation to go there tonight.”
    “But don’t forget what happened there,” he said, his eyes serious. “Mr. Tinker’s death was precisely the type of occurrence that makes Mrs. Bailey’s the sort of place where ladies should not go.” Before she could object, he raised his hand. “No, hear me out, Lady Madeline.”
    When she had nodded for him to continue, he said, “The reason that Mrs. Bailey’s is off limits is not, as you suppose, because men wish to keep young ladies away from gambling. If that were the case then card rooms at balls would be outlawed. The reason that Mrs. Bailey’s is off limits is because gaming—especially at high stakes—raises tempers and makes it likely that violence will erupt as a result. That’s all. Nothing more and nothing less.”
    Maddie considered his words. It made some sense, she supposed. “But I still don’t agree that young ladies should be shielded from gaming. How are we to know what to avoid if we are never exposed to it and allowed to reject it in the first place?”
    Gresham nodded. “I, for one,” he went on, “am relieved that we can agree on something at least.”
    Deciding that their accord warranted a change of subject, Maddie said, “Do you … did you know anything about Mr. Tinker? I admit to not knowing him very well, but I can think of no one who would wish to see him dead.”
    “No,” Gresham said after a brief pause. “I’ve met him socially before, of course, but I was hardly well acquainted with the man. I’ll look into his background more closely tomorrow. Perhaps see if there is something to be done for his family.”
    “That would be…” Maddie paused, searching for the right word. “Kind.”
    There was a lull in the conversation, both of them lost in their own thoughts as the carriage bumped along through the darkened streets of the city.
    “Are you well?” he asked, his voice carrying a note of compassion in it that Maddie hadn’t even known he was capable of. “Regarding what you witnessed, I mean. It can be shocking to the system to see something like that. Even for a young lady as self-assured as you.”
    And suddenly she was there again, kneeling in the hallway of Mrs. Bailey’s house, cradling a dying man in her arms as he breathed his last. She saw the pallor of his face, the burble of blood coming from his mouth, the knife protruding like something out of a nightmare from his chest. And she began to tremble.
    Wordlessly, Gresham shifted to her side of the carriage and gathered her in his arms and held her as she wept. Maddie could do nothing to stop the tears. Her chest burned with them as she tried and failed to bring herself under control. She was aware of the sweep of Gresham’s hands over her back, his touch oddly gentle. He said nothing, and neither did she. She couldn’t. She was too overcome with horror for what she’d seen and felt earlier in the evening.
    And then, just as wordlessly, it was over. The sobs that racked her body abated, and silently he handed her his handkerchief and she set about repairing the damage her tears had caused to her complexion. She gave silent thanks for the dimness of the carriage that would prevent him from seeing the worst of it.
    Though Gresham no longer held her, he didn’t move back to his side of the carriage, either.
    “I’m sorry,” she said sheepishly. “I don’t know what came over me.”
    “There’s nothing to apologize for, Maddie. Nothing,” he said quietly, fiercely. “It changes a person, seeing something like that. I don’t see how you can help it doing so. It’s a monumental thing to see the life seep out of a person. And when that person dies by another’s hand? Well, let’s just say that I’ve seen war-hardened soldiers respond with less dignity than you just did. So do not apologize. Your reaction was honest. And real.”
    Unable to formulate a response that would do justice to his eloquence, she simply nodded.
    When the carriage rolled to a