Mad About the Duke by Elizabeth Boyle Read Free Book Online Page A

enough for one day.
    Then it struck him what needed to be done. He didn’t know why he hadn’t thought of it before. As the head of the Tremont clan he had a lifetime of experience fixing others’ problems.
    â€œI shall make things right for Lady Standon. Whatever her problems with the Duchess of Hollindrake, or even Hollindrake himself, I shall smooth them over,” he announced. “Then she can forget this impetuous need to be married.”
    â€œHer need to be married has naught to do with Hollindrake,” Miranda said, wiping her lips and settling her napkin down on the table. “It has to do with her stepfather, Lord Lewis. He is forcing her hand as to the guardianship of her younger sister. As long as Lady Standon is unmarried, Lord Lewis retains the guardianship of that poor young girl.”
    James’s gaze swung toward his sister-in-law. “How would you know such a thing?”
    For certainly Lady Standon hadn’t told him any of this.
    Because she doesn’t see you as her hero.
    That irked James as much as not finding his name on her demmed list. He just took it for granted that nine generations of dukes, fourteen generations of earls and a barony held since before William’s conquest gave him an undeniable air of heroism.
    Miranda shrugged. “I ran into Lady Chudley this morning, and she was overflowing with information.”
    What need was there for the Morning Post, James mused, when the ladies of London seemed to have a far more effective crier of news. Lady Chudley, indeed!
    Nonplussed as he was over Miranda’s superior grasp of the situation, her information actually made the task ahead much easier for him.
    â€œThen I shall handle the matter directly. Lord Lewis can simply be dispatched so as never to bother Lady Standon or her sister again.”
    â€œHave him blackballed from White’s,” Jack suggested.
    James snapped his fingers. “Excellent idea. I’ll have Winston craft the letter.”
    His brother wasn’t done. “And then I would send Lewis off on a long trip across the Continent. Might cost you a pretty penny, but he’d be far from London. Unable to meddle with Lady Standon’s happiness.”
    â€œJack, you’re brilliant!” James said, already composing the exact wording he wanted Winston to use.
    Until, that is, there was a loud snort from across the table.
    As his tidy flow of scathing words came to an abrupt halt, James cast a suspicious glance at his sister-in-law. “You disagree, madame?”
    It was a tone that would have warned most people off, but not Miranda.
    â€œNot at all, Your Grace.” It never boded well when Miranda used such a formal, almost apologetic, tone.
    The woman never apologized.
    She glanced up from her teacup. “Just that you obviously don’t know Lord Lewis.”
    â€œNever met the man,” James conceded. “Low ton at best, by the sound of it. Bartering off children, indeed! Why, Jack was right, the man should be blackballed from White’s.”
    â€œAnd Brooks,” Jack added.
    â€œExactly!” James agreed.
    â€œDo you truly suppose the man will act rationally just because you are threatening him? When he still has control over that girl’s guardianship? As long as he holds it, he can do anything he wants to that innocent child. Including revenge.”
    Such a scenario took James aback. But then again, no man could be that despicable, could he? “I don’t see that the lady need rush into an ill-advised marriage over all this. This Lord Lewis can be reasoned with and at the very least paid off—”
    He glanced over at Miranda, who was shaking her head. “Pay off Lord Lewis, by all means. Then go over like Galahad and explain to Lady Standon how you have rescued her, all with the flick of a pen. Well, Winston’s pen, that is.”
    James bristled. “You needn’t sound so flip. It is my idea. And my