Nowhere Near Respectable by Mary Jo Putney Read Free Book Online

course! Will Masterson. He’s a lovely fellow.” Her gaze raked Mac. “Your personalities are very different.”
    He grinned. “That’s probably an insult, but you’re right. Will is sober, reliable, and honorable. Not at all like me.”
    “But you are both kind,” she said softly.
    “Will certainly is.” Mac ignored the disquieting compliment. “If not for his kindness, Lord only knows where I’d have ended up. Probably Newgate Prison.”
    “For cheating at cards?”
    “There are so many ways to end in Newgate.” He led her horse from its box stall and started to saddle it. “After my mother died, I could have been left in a parish workhouse, but her maid sent me to my father. Will took a fancy to me and wouldn’t let me be sent away. The Masterson heir needed a good education, but our father didn’t want the by-blow to accompany Will to Eton. Hence, Lady Agnes.”
    Kiri checked her saddle and cinch. “From what Lady Agnes’s other Lost Lords tell me, you were better off with her anyhow.”
    “Without question. And you’ll be better off with her, too.”
    Kiri made a face. “Honesty compels me to agree.”
    He grinned. “Comfort yourself with the knowledge that you’ll have a bed and even a hot bath if you want it.”
    As he saddled César, she said, “Tell me about your gambling and dinner club.”
    He hesitated. But since she knew his name, she’d have no trouble finding out about the club when she returned to London. “Damian’s, and I hope you’ve never heard of it. My club is no place for a young lady.”
    “Of course I’ve heard of it!” she exclaimed. “Damian’s is very fashionable. How can you be unrespectable if the prince regent patronizes your club?”
    “The prince is hardly a model of respectability.” Mac opened the door to the cool, windswept night. A quarter moon rode high in the sky, casting a silvery light over the fields. He turned to stamp out the fire. “Apart from that, I’m only one step above a servant. Not only illegitimate and cashiered, but I’m in trade .”
    “They say Damian’s has the best chef in London, and gentlemen can take ladies there to dine,” Kiri said as they led the horses out.
    “My chef is indeed extraordinary, but only very fast ladies enter my doors,” he said repressively. “A fair number of them aren’t even ladies.”
    “Your masquerades are famous.” She set a foot in his linked hands and swung into the saddle.
    For a brief, paralyzed moment all he could think of was lilac, spice, woman. The bloody female was dangerous.
    “Or infamous,” he said when his brain cleared.
    She looked down at him thoughtfully. “I see why you need the very finest illegal beverages. Where does the club’s name came from?”
    “My first name is Damian.” He closed the door to the barn and mounted César.
    She chuckled. “It’s true you don’t look like a George or a Robert. But Damian?”
    “Remember my mother was an actress. She had dramatic tastes.” He set his horse to a trot and headed for the Westerfield Academy. He needed to get far, far away from the dangerously delightful Lady Kiri Lawford.

Chapter 6
    Kiri watched in disbelief as Mackenzie hurled a pebble at one of Westerfield Manor’s upper windows. “This is how one communicates with the most noble and respectable Lady Agnes Westerfield, who is supposed to save my reputation?”
    “Don’t forget that she is also eccentric and a schoolmistress. I am not the first to wake her this way.” He threw another pebble. “This is one of those occasions when it’s best not to rouse the whole household.”
    He was selecting a third pebble when the casement windows above swung open and a soft but penetrating voice said, “Which of my young rascals is this?”
    “Damian Mackenzie, Lady Agnes.” His voice was also pitched to avoid waking other sleepers. “I have a young lady whose reputation needs salvaging.”
    The headmistress’s voice was more amused than shocked. “If she’s