It Takes a Hero by Elizabeth Boyle Read Free Book Online Page A

thought, trying to dismiss him from her thoughts, but it wasn't that easy. His dark good looks and charm had left her ruffled and disquieted. So much for her practical resolve to avoid such men. They only reminded her of all she had lost so many years ago, and of all she still desired.
    Well, if there was one good point to consider, it was that if the arrogant lout came looking for her, his reception would be the colonel and his trusty Brown Bess. That ought to send him running back to London.
    Looking over her list of things to do she added one more item.
    Leave the powder unlocked.
Chapter 3
    « ^ »
     
    Though I am never one to carry tales out of turn, I do believe Miss Darby carries a terrible secret in her heart. What vexes me something terrible is, I can't for the life of me determine how we can get
her to divulge it. Discreetly, of course.
     
    Lady Lowthorpe to Miss Cecilia Overton
    in
Miss Darby's Daring Dilemma
     
    R afe Danvers had never actually met the infamous Lady Finch, but his brothers, Colin and Robert, and their cousin, the Duke of Setchfield, all swore that if one ever got in a bind, the baroness was perhaps the only person in England (besides the now missing Mr.
Pymm) who would know the answer to any puzzle.
    Though the baroness stayed for the most part at her husband's Kent estate, that didn't stop her from keeping her nose firmly stuck in the
ton
and all its gossip. She employed no less than three couriers whose sole positions were to ride back and forth to London with her legendary correspondence, in addition to her full-time (and much beleaguered) secretary who copied out her advice sheets and kept her vast records of marriages and children and events and sins. Her letters were considered either a welcome boon of good information or a blistering barrage of advice that would leave the recipient's ears burning for weeks to follow.
    No one dared slight the lady or countermand her advice, for one day they might need Lady Finch's good graces to save them from a peccadillo, or worse yet a scandal, that with only a few of her well-placed endorsements could wipe the path of disgrace free and clear.
    "I don't think this is a good idea," Cochrane said as they rode closer to the gates. "Mr. Pymm always said Lady Finch was in with the devil himself. A good example of what happens when you let women read and write."
    "Pymm said that?" Rafe asked.
    Cochrane nodded. "That and more. She sent him a letter once. I don't know what it said, 'cause he burned it, but I dare say whatever she told him singed his pride more than that match did the parchment. Had him muttering her name like a curse for a good seven months."
    Rafe laughed. Must have been some letter. He'd never gained such a favor from her—either in admonishment or in advice.
    He supposed she left those particular privileges to his sisters-in-law. After all, Olivia, Robert's wife, had been Lady Finch's secretary for seven years.
    As they passed through the gates of Finch Manor, Cochrane gaped at the massive pair of stone lions guarding either side of the entrance.
    A timbered manse, an old gatehouse Rafe reasoned, sat just inside the walls, while a long drive stretched past it and up toward the main house.
    Situated on a small knoll, Finch Manor was an elegant collection of stone and marble, grand evidence of the passion for building that had struck several generations of Finch lords. Rafe knew the current baron loved botany and had added a great glassed orangery to the south wing, along with classical gardens all around the house.
    "Gads," Cochrane muttered, taking a glance up at the three-storied house that spread out before them. " 'Iffin that Bettlesfield Park that Lady Tottley is offering you is even half the size of this one, they'll have to make you one of those lords."
    "I doubt that is going to happen," Rafe said. Given his less than sterling service in the army and his tarnished reputation around town, he'd have to save the entire royal family