Lady Wild by Máire Claremont Read Free Book Online

leave the damn bastard to his own self-destructive devices. “I will go only if you keep your promise and come to London and see me.”
    Vane nodded, capitulating faster than Andrew had expected. In fact, Andrew hadn’t expected Vane to capitulate at all.
    “I need the change of scene, in any case,” Vane said. “I’ve already been down here too long.”
    “You’re acting strangely,” Andrew ventured. “More strangely than some of your tenants, Lady Ophelia and her mother, Lady Darlington.”
    “Ah.” Vane’s face softened for a brief moment. “You’ve met our unfortunate ladies, then.”
    “Yes. After meeting them, I’d been under the belief my day couldn’t grow any more curious.”
    A faint hint of amusement tugged at Vane’s lips. “You were mistaken. And they’re not my tenants. They live on the neighboring estate. If they were on my land, their cottage would be in a damn sight better repair.”
    Thank God. At least Andrew didn’t have to worry that Vane had become a neglectful landlord. It had crossed his mind, and he hadn’t been certain what he was going to say to his friend.
    Andrew glanced again at the uncomfortable benches before the towering fire. “Am I allowed to sit?” Andrew asked.
    It was damned awkward standing in the middle of the massive hall, drink in hand.
    “No,” Vane countered. “You were saying?”
    Andrew ground his teeth, then took a stiff swallow of brandy to relieve his irritation. “Do you know anything of the ladies?”
    “Of Lady Darlington and her daughter?”
    Andrew nodded, trying to check his considerable interest.
    Vane frowned, then shrugged his shoulders. “My mother offered Lady Darlington a house on the estate. She refused but accepted my neighbor’s offer of a cottage. The proud lady insisted on paying a proper rent. Sadly, I had nothing that was quite right. And she refused my mother’s offer to subsidize their rents.”
    Clearing his throat, Andrew asked casually, “What else do you know?”
    Vane shook his head. “Only that they have been forsaken by the relatively new Earl of Darlington. I’ve never met the ladies. They largely keep to the other side of the river and neighboring estate.”
    Lifting his snifter to his lips, Vane pounded back half the contents. “Ashamed of their circumstances, I think.”
    Andrew stared at his brandy, wishing it was gin. He needed the harshness of that liquor over the rich sweetness of his present beverage. “I agree. I want to help them.”
    “You can try, of course. But do be careful involving yourself with a beautiful young woman. Lady Ophelia has the reputation of a red-haired beauty.” Vane sighed as if saddened by the ladies out of his domain. “Given their seclusion, how did you meet them?”
    “This morning, after depositing my luggage and finding you were out, I went for a long walk.”
    “A very long walk, apparently, to the edge of the estate.” Vane crossed to the fire and propped a boot on the brass grate.
“I had no idea what foul storm of a mood you might be in and wished to fortify myself with fresh air and a bottle of gin.”
    Vane grabbed the poker and thrust it at the burning wood. “Understandable.”
    Andrew gave a tight smile. It was hard to imagine now why he’d set out from London three days ago in search of Vane. Rumors were being tossed about like wicked words at the docks. Rumors that the marquis was involved with a dangerous gambling set. The kind of set that might extract a limb if payment wasn’t received.
    It was true he seldom saw Vane anymore, but once, they’d spent the better part of the late-night hours in each other’s company. There had been more than a few nights on the town, absinthe at hand and a few light-skirts with whom to drink it. They’d shared a common goal. Escape from the demands of disapproving and barely present parents. That long ago closeness made it impossible for Andrew to simply shake his head regretfully at those rumors.
    Fighting back the