Kathryn Caskie - [Royle Sisters 02] by How to Engage an Earl Read Free Book Online Page B

hold her breath to force the heat into her cheeks.
    The earl turned his face to the ceiling and forced a hard laugh before looking down at Anne again. “You honestly expect me to believe this story? This, from a woman who only an hour or so before was prancing about the drawing room stealing goblets from unwary guests.”
    “Ah, yes. Well, there, too, the wine was at fault.” Anne shrugged. My, her story was fitting together nicely, wasn’t it? “It simply turned my mind topsy-turvy before my belly. And I am very sorry for the trouble I have caused you. Truly, I am.”
    The disbelieving mirth that lit the earl’s eyes faded away.
    Anne sucked her lips into her mouth to conceal a burgeoning smile. He believed her now.Ha! She could see it. “So, we have had our important conversation, no?”
    She gathered up a fistful of her skirts, lifting her hem from the floor. “Now then, my lord, if you will just allow me to pass, I will depart your home and leave you to explain this whole mistake to Lady MacLaren.” She started forward, but he caught up her arm and pulled her close against him.
    “Oh no, darling.” His mouth hovered just above her ear. “You are not dipping your hands into the washbasin and strolling through the door. We are united together in this muddle, Miss Royle, and until we come upon an explanation that does not brand the two of us liars of the first order, you will remain my betrothed.”
    Anne shook her head vigorously. “No. No, no, no. I know Lady MacLaren has an expectation, but surely you do not. You are as much a victim in this as I—more so. I know that together we can come up with a suitable plan to put this nonsensical betrothal aside.”
    “Yes, I agree, but until this plan of yours surfaces, you are my fiancée.”
    “You cannot expect me to pose as your intended after this night.”
    “I mean exactly that.” The earl clasped her gloved hand and raised it upward as if he meant to kiss it. She pulled against him, but he would not free her hand. “You seemed so wholly eager earlier in my bedchamber.”
    The faint scent of brandy lingered on his warm breath, luring her gaze to his mouth, forcing her to remember the way he grabbed her and kissed her in his bedchamber. The way that kiss stole her breath away!
    “B-but, my lord, there is a solution—a very simple one. When I return to the drawing room, I will admit I agreed to marry you in haste. I shall blame it on the wine. And then I will cry off. No harm done. We will both be freed from the shackles of this hoax.”
    The earl shook his head. “No, lass.”
    “No?” Anne was incredulous. “Why ever not? It is the perfect solution.”
    “I beg to differ.”
    “Why is that? I know you have no true wish to marry me. Even in the short time my sisters and I have resided in London, I have heard tales about your wicked ways.”
    “Indeed?”
    “Yes. When I first arrived in Town, I was toldby more than one matron that every young lady should count herself fortunate that you were away for the year, and not in Mayfair dedicating yourself to rending all the gossamer reputations that you might. I cannot be connected with you .”
    He winced at that, making Anne immediately wish she could snatch back her thorny words.
    Lord MacLaren cleared his throat quietly before pinning her with his gaze. “Obviously you have not heard everything about me, Miss Royle. Had you, you would have known that Lady Henceforth and I were betrothed until she cried off some fifteen months ago.”
    Anne stared up at him. “You were to be married? You? The new Earl of MacLaren, the veriest rake of the realm?”
    “Veriest? Hardly. There are worse. Apsley for one.” He straightened his back. “But yes, Miss Royle. Yes, I was to be married. She left me standing in the chapel, comforting my distraught mother and making excuses to my embarrassed father.”
    “I am sorry for that, my lord.” She dropped her gaze for but a moment. “So, just to be perfectly clear