WANTON by Cheryl Holt Read Free Book Online

allowed to join the family?”
    “Who cares what they think?”
    “I care, and you do too. Don’t pretend otherwise. I’ll never believe you.”
    Claudia was an arrogant snob. She admitted it. There was a reason the upper classes had been elevated above the masses, and the two groups oughtn’t to ever mingle.
    Everyone had his or her place in the world. Claudia—with her brother being a baron—was on the very top level. A schoolteacher such as Miss Hubbard, who worked to earn a salary, was little more than a servant. She should serve Claudia and Priscilla, not wed into their family, and Claudia was gravely insulted that George would plan such an outrage. She didn’t understand why he would.
    If there was a person more focused on status and lineage than herself, it was George Drake. With his title so newly given, he was constantly trying to prove himself worthy of his lofty position. If he shackled Lucas to Miss Hubbard, Claudia would be the biggest laughingstock in the kingdom, and it would happen right before Priscilla’s wedding.
    Claudia had spent years scheming to land the best husband for Priscilla. She’d have liked to have had a duke, but dukes were in short supply, so she’d settled for Aaron. He would eventually be an earl and Priscilla a countess, and Claudia wouldn’t let George ruin Priscilla’s glorious summer with an unacceptable, shoddy marriage for Lucas.
    They were out on the verandah, enjoying the fresh air of a beautiful June evening. Supper had been tedious, the food average, the wine barely palatable. Miss Hubbard had been present, so the conversation had been stilted and awkward.
    Claudia was glad the meal was over and couldn’t wait to get into her carriage and head home.
    “I shouldn’t have to explain myself to you,” George said.
    “Well, you certainly owe me some sort of clarification. Your announcement is shocking.”
    “Lucas needs to wed, and a wife will calm his worst tendencies.”
    “Hopefully.”
    “He’s out of the army and at loose ends. Would you rather have him carousing with doxies and spreading scandal wherever he goes?”
    “No,” she firmly stated. “I wouldn’t want that.”
    “It wasn’t easy to find a girl who would have him.”
    “I don’t suppose it was.”
    “While Miss Hubbard comes from a much lower background than I would like, I have it on the highest authority that she’s quite remarkable.” He puffed himself up and bent nearer. “Her father was a French count. I shouldn’t have to say more than that.”
    “If that’s really her lineage, why was she working? Why was she teaching? Are you sure you were told the truth about her?”
    “Ah...” He scowled, his befuddled expression indicating that it had never occurred to him that the story might be false.
    She sighed. He wasn’t very intelligent, and while they currently had to socialize, after the wedding she would devise many excuses to avoid him.
    “Don’t embarrass Priscilla like this, George,” she pleaded. “Miss Hubbard looks to be in a desperate fiscal condition. Buy her off and send her packing. I’m positive her price would be very, very affordable.”
    “I’ll consider it,” he mumbled.
    He was a coward who hadn’t the fortitude to defend his position, and he turned and slinked inside, so she had to fume all by herself.
    She leaned on the balustrade and stared into the house. Through a window, she could see Miss Hubbard on a sofa, talking to Aaron. She was pretty—in a common type of way. During supper, she’d seemed educated and well-mannered, so someone with sense had raised her.
    But no amount of tutoring or etiquette could change a woman’s bloodlines, and Amelia Hubbard would marry into the Drake family over Claudia’s dead body. She couldn’t predict how she’d arrange the conclusion she sought, but if George tried to proceed, Claudia could guarantee that none of his dreams for Lucas would ever be realized.
    * * * *
    “I’m afraid I have to insist, Miss