The Earl I Adore by Erin Knightley Read Free Book Online Page A

bosom. “You are much too kind, my lord.”
    It was a good thing that Mama had the wits to thank him, because Sophie couldn’t have spoken if she’d wanted to. He was ordering his own carriage to deliver her home? Despite what he claimed, the fall was entirely her own fault, and they both knew it. The fact that he was willing to show such kindness—well, it certainly did give one hope.
    Emerging from the ashes of mortification, the butterflies slowly fluttered back to life. If absolutely nothing else could be said for the evening, at least Lord Evansleigh was unlikely to forget her anytime soon.
    *   *   *
    â€œOf all the years I pictured you in the ballrooms of London, not once did I imagine you dropping your partner on her arse.”
    â€œLanguage,” Evan admonished his sister sternly. Sighing, he leaned back into the plush gray velvet squabs, which seemed to hold the lingering scent of lemon and roses. “And she tripped on her skirts somehow.” It had happened hours ago, but he still felt terrible about the debacle on the dance floor. He sincerely hoped she hadn’t broken anything. He didn’t think she had, but he couldn’t be sure.
    â€œOh sure, blame the injured party,” she said, her teeth flashing white in the carriage’s dim interior.
    Impertinent female. How was it that she actually seemed more invigorated than when they had left the house? He, on the other hand, was thoroughly exhausted from a night spent trying to keep watch over her like an anxious old woman. At this point, he was in no mood for teasing. “I can assign no blame to Miss Wembley. You, on the other hand, have some explaining to do.”
    â€œI? What have I done?”
    As though she didn’t know. Scowling, he said, “It is one thing to enjoy a dance. It is quite another to flirt and laugh with the abandon of a fresh-from-the-schoolroom debutante. Or worse, a widow.”
    She drew back, her eyes narrowing. “I beg your pardon? What exactly are you implying?”
    He clenched his jaw. He wasn’t handling this well. Still, his point was valid, and he had every right to make it. It was his duty, really. “Julia, you are a shiny new plaything to those members of the
ton
who were present this evening. They will be eager to observe you, evaluate you,
judge
you. I want you to have a care as to how you present yourself.”
    For a few seconds she just stared at him, her expression mutinous. “And you think I am somehow flaunting myself? Inviting notice?”
    He rubbed his tongue back and forth over his teeth as he tried to find the words he wanted. “You’ve invited notice just by being here. I simply wish for you to have a care as to how you are seen.”
    She shook her head, averting her frustrated gaze to the ceiling. “Yes, I know. I should have stayed shut away in Ledbury like the pariah I am. God forbid a man get the wrong impression because I smile at him. God forbid I have a spot of fun.” She pressed her lips together and met his eyes. “Meanwhile, you’ve been doing heaven knows what in London all these years.”
    Where the hell had that come from? “I’ve been fulfilling my duties. Trips to London are a requirement for a sitting member of parliament.”
    She crossed her arms over her chest. “Yes, I’m aware. But all these years, I never pictured you dancing the night away with woman after available woman. I imagined your club, a coffeehouse, card games, and musicales, but certainly not waltzing as though it is your duty to do so.”
    That stung. He already felt guilty that he had left her behind again and again to go to London. Yes, it was part of the requirements of his title, but it was also an escape. It was a sanctioned reason to leave his mother for a while, to climb out from under the darkness that she’d lived under for as long as he could remember. In theory, Julia could have