Scandalous Love by Brenda Joyce Read Free Book Online Page A

longer at Chapman Hall. Instead of seeing Holland, he would be in bed
with Lady Shelton. His jaw hardened again. Just thinking about what was to come
aroused him, and he realized he was dangerously close to becoming infatuated
with her. Severely, he shook his thoughts free of her.
    He was shocked when, as
soon as he had dismounted and handed his stallion to the head groom, Isobel
flew down the steps of Chapman Hall and approached him with the strides of an
angry soldier. "Hadrian," she said tightly. "Come inside, we
shall talk."
    He had not a doubt that
he was about to get a rousing setdown for philandering in residence, and
while he did deserve it, he was not in the mood to hear it. "Mother, may I
remind you that I am not a boy of ten?" His tone was too polite.
    "I do not need to
be reminded of that, Hadrian," she snapped. Abruptly she headed back for
the house, not waiting to see if he would follow.
    The Duke sighed and
decided to humor her. He had stood by and helplessly watched his father's
callous and cruel treatment of her for too many years when he was a child not
to concede to her in this instance, silly as it was. That abuse had finally
stopped when he was fourteen. By then he was almost six feet tall, several
inches taller than Francis, and about the same weight. While their strength
might have been evenly matched, Francis did not have the power of rage on his
side, while Hadrian did. It was not the first time he had tried to prevent his
father from abusing his mother. When he was a child he had tried to come
between them, only to have the painful slaps Francis aimed at Isobel diverted
to him. When he grew larger, his attempts at protecting his mother were met
with a switch. When he was fourteen, all abuse had stopped, both that directed
at his mother, and that he suffered when he tried to interfere, for Hadrian
struck his father with one determined blow to his jaw, causing Francis to
crumble at his feet. He proceeded to hit him twice more, until he was coldly
satisfied that Francis would never dare to try and hurt his mother again. And
he hadn't.
    So now, as much as he
resented her interference, he would hear her out respectfully and patiently.
    Isobel promptly closed
the door to the small shabby library, leaving them in absolute privacy.
"Have you lost your mind?"
    "To what,
precisely, are you referring?" As if he didn't know.
    "Hadrian! It's
unseemly enough to have a paramour here, but, dear God! Nicole Shelton! How
could you?"
    A sixth sense warned him
of imminent disaster. "I am afraid I am missing something of
consequence."
    "Have you ruined
her?" Isobel demanded bluntly. "If you have, her father, Shelton,
will kill you, regardless of who you are!"
    "Mother," he
said slowly, although his mind was racing, "I do not think we need to
discuss my—er— indiscretions."
    "Have you ruined
her?" Isobel cried.
    Anger reared within him.
"Of course I have not ruined her," he snapped. "The lady is no
spring maid, and I do not understand your interest."
    "She is no spring
maid but she is Shelton's daughter, Hadrian, and it is not like you to—to—prey
on innocents!"
    He drew himself up.
"Pardon me, but she is no innocent. I fear we are not discussing the same
lady."
    "We are discussing
Lady Nicole Bragg Shelton, Dragmore's eldest daughter, and spinster or no,
scandal or no, you cannot ruin her!"
    He stared, the color
seeping from his face. "Spinster?"
    "Just what did you
think?"
    "I thought,"
he began, and stopped. "She is unwed?" He could not believe it.
    "She is unwed! She
was about to marry Lord Percy Hempstead four years ago, but she never showed up
for the wedding, leaving the poor fellow standing there alone at the altar. It
was a terrible scandal that, of course, ruined her chances for any other
marriage. Any other decent marriage, that is. Of course, Shelton could buy her
a husband, but what kind of man would he be? We both know Shelton, and I cannot
see him compromising his standards in such a manner.