Wicked Earl Seeks Proper Heiress by Sara Bennett Read Free Book Online Page A

something about the expression in her eyes that caused Averil to grow wary.
    “That man of Doctor Simmons’s is at the door, Averil. Jackson. He says you owe him money.”
    Averil’s mouth dropped open. “H-he what?”
    Beth nodded, moving closer, and her gaze slid over Averil’s underclothing and messy hair, moving to the pile of clothing and the muddy boots lying on the floor by the bed. “He tells me he took you to a place called The Tin Soldier last night to find out about your sister, and then you vanished before he could bring you home. You also neglected to pay him.”
    “You haven’t given him any money, have you?” Averil blurted out. “I did pay him. And he abandoned me for Lord South . . . that is, he left me there and I had to find my own way home.”
    “Lord who? And no, I did not pay him, you know I don’t trust the man. I can’t believe you went off in the night without telling me! Averil, if your father’s solicitors found out they would replace me immediately, and I wouldn’t blame them.”
    Averil sighed, repentant. “I’m sorry, Beth. I knew you wouldn’t approve and I so wanted to go. Jackson isn’t nearly as bad as you think, and I was perfectly safe,” she added, aware that it was not strictly true.
    She tried to maintain eye contact while she said the last part, but Beth saw through her. “You’d better tell me everything,” she said in a milder tone, and sat down on the bed.
    However, when Averil was finished she wasn’t feeling so mild.
    “Lord Southbrook! Averil, that man is not someone you should be associating with! Really, if anyone finds out he was here, in your bedchamber, then you will be ruined. Utterly and completely ruined! What if he tells people?”
    “I don’t think he will,” Averil replied. “I think he has secrets of his own, Beth. And besides,” she added wryly, “I am the Heiress, remember? There will always be someone willing to marry me, no matter how badly I behave.”
    “You do yourself a disservice, Averil. You are beautiful and kind, and . . . well the money is a secondary incentive. As for Lord Southbrook . . . he might have been a gentleman once, and I admit his breeding is of the best, but all that means nothing when he is no longer received by society.”
    “I suppose not,” Averil said, and tried not to sound disappointed. For all his dangerous reputation and appearance, she had found something refreshingly honest about the wicked Earl of Southbrook.
    Anxiously Beth inspected the young woman’s knee, clicking her tongue. “I will send at once for the doctor. What if you are lame for the rest of your life, Averil? What if you never dance again? I know how much you enjoy dancing.”
    Averil’s eyes stung with tears. “What if my sister . . . what if Rose is worse than lame, Beth? What if she is dead? I don’t think I could bear it.”
    Beth gave her a hug. “My dear child, you don’t know she is dead. This place, St. Thomas’s? We will go there and ask some questions, and this time we will go in the daytime.”
    “Yes, Beth.”
    “Good.”
    “What about Jackson? I must speak to him.” Averil’s eyes narrowed as she contemplated the dressing-down she was going to give the man.
    Beth eyed her disheveled appearance and shook her head. “No, I’ll do that. Leave it to me. First Jackson and then I’ll send for the doctor.”
    One more hug, and Beth went out with purpose.
    Unfortunately Jackson had gone so there was no dressing-down done. By the time the doctor had come and examined Averil’s knee, and declared it badly sprained but nothing that a rest and the use of a cane wouldn’t cure, the day was half over.
    “Next week you have the champagne supper at Baroness Sessington’s,” Beth reminded her. “Do you think you can still attend?”
    “Of course. Gareth needs me there to help persuade the guests to donate their money to his cause. I can’t let him down.”
    She also didn’t want to let down the Home for