if hes wicked by Hannah Howell Read Free Book Online Page B

carry through to an adult. Add to that a mother who found such gifts increasingly alarming and, let us just say, it was difficult. On the other hand, I can know when a woman’s beauty is more false than true, more artifice than nature,” Leo drawled and smiled.
    “That is a gift many men would like to have.” Julian sighed, thinking of al the grief such a gift might have saved him.
    “Unless, of course, it tel s you that the woman who is tel ing you what a great lover you are is lying through her pretty teeth.”
    “God forbid. Did that—no, forget I asked.”
    “I wil . Back to the matter at hand. I believe your aunt and cousins need not worry us. If it is your uncle’s plan to rid himself of his wife once he is the earl, then she is safe unless you and Nigel die. The title and estates would not go to the sons of your sisters?”
    Julian slowly shook his head. “No, it fol ows only through the males. Since my father is dead, if Nigel and I die without issue, that leaves no male in
    my father’s line, so it jumps over to my uncle and his line. After that there are only cousins, some quite distant. Arthur is the first Kenwood in written
    memory who has not bred a son, only daughters.”
    “Which might mean the man would then look for a new wife.”
    “Only if he cares about passing down the heritage to a son. These papers imply that he is only interested in the wealth of the estates and titles.”
    Julian rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. “By what I can see written here, once Nigel and I are gone, Arthur wil try even harder to wring every coin he can out of the estate. Whoever comes after him wil find little of value left.”
    “And that is why we now make plans to try and put some very strong restraints on him.”
    “That we can do, and now I can even see how. What might not be so easy is how to prove that he and Beatrice tried to kil my son and me. You
    have little here and none of it would hold up very wel against my uncle’s skil with words or deception, nor against the connections he has made over the
    years. Not friends, but confederates, and some unwil ing ones.”
    “Ah, blackmail.” Leo nodded. “I did learn that he is very skil ed at discovering those secrets one wishes wel buried and wields them wel . I have
    extracted a few from his grasp, but the sort of threat he holds over some of the men, and women, is not one easily fixed or uncovered.”
    Julian stared at Leo in surprise. “How do you know he has secrets he can use?”
    “I work for the Home Office, if you recal .” Leopold grinned. “The men I work for are very good at ferreting out secrets, and they do not like anyone
    to be able to get a tight grip on one of the people they use. I gained a lot of my information on your uncle through my work for them. Not al of his gains are from your pockets. We suspect he sold information to the Americans and is now offering his services to the French.”
    For a moment Julian felt strongly inclined to succumb again, but he fought off the light-headed feeling brought on by the extreme shock of learning a traitor had tainted the Kenwood bloodlines. His line was wel dotted with rogues, debauchers, pirates, and a host of other not so proud figures, but never a traitor. The Kenwoods had al been loyal to England. They might have fought on opposite sides in the wars over who would rule Her, cheated Her, stolen
    from Her, and criticized Her, but none had ever betrayed Her to an enemy. There had been an unbroken line of loyalty to country in the Kenwood family
    right from the raw beginnings of the family. Julian did not want to think that his uncle had stepped over that line, broken it, and brought such deep dishonor to the family name.
    “Are you certain?” he asked Leo.
    “As certain as we can be without the hard proof that could put the man on the gal ows,” replied Leopold. “The Home Office feels that if we can
    hang him for other crimes, such as kil ing you—”
    “But at the end of this