Wife Errant by Joan Smith Read Free Book Online Page A

the handsome men are rakes.”She sighed. It was possible to infer a compliment in this complaint, and he let it pass. “I should like to have a dance with Evans later,”she said. “I have been casting sheep’s eyes at him all week on Milsom Street, and he never spared me a glance. It is my being with you that has raised me in his esteem.”
    “Watch your words, Tess. You are skating dangerously close to a compliment there.”
    She made a little moue and laughed. Revel was intrigued with the change in her. Excitement lent a sparkle to her eyes and a flush to her cheeks. Nothing, however, altered the blunt nature of her speech. “I only meant he probably thinks I am fast. He has a little reputation with the ladies.”
    “Odd you were casting sheep’s eyes at such a rattle.”
    “I am not at all so nice in my demands as you seem to think, Revel. At my advanced age, you know, and with the scandal hovering over the family, I must grab whatever sort of parti I can get my hands on. At least he is not a fortune hunter. Mama says he has a dandy estate in Kent.”
    “I see Mama is not entirely derelict in her guardianship.”
    “She can see a fortune hunter by daylight.”
    “It is by moonlight they must be watched," he warned.
    After tea, Tess had her dance with Evans. She found him a dead bore after Revel’s company, but forged on with the acquaintance. He was given permission to call at Bartlett Street the next day. Other gentlemen stood up with her, and before leaving, she had a second dance with Revel.
    “This will set the old cats to meowing,”she said, laughing. “A second dance is a forerunner to an engagement in Bath. Mama is bound to hear of this.”
    “We’ll give her more than this to worry about. Let us go for a drive after, and return at one o’clock.”
    “Or later, if she is not home yet,”Tess said.
    “How will we know? I foresee a long wait, huddling in shadows for her to return, only to learn she has been home all along.”
    “No, she’ll turn out the lights when she goes to bed.”
    The assembly was over at eleven. They drove straight to Bartlett Street, to see if the lights were still burning. They were, which left them with the problem of where to go for the next hour or two.
    “A pity the circulating library is closed,”Tess said. “I can spend hours poring over the books.”
    “A great pity,”Revel agreed, chewing a grin. “We shall drive into the Crescent Gardens and see whose carriage is where it shouldn’t be.”
    “What do you mean, Revel?”
    As this revealed his own scarlet past, he ignored the question. “Or we could just take a spin into the countryside.”
    “I don’t understand. Why would anyone go to the Crescent Gardens so late at night? They could not see the flowers.”
    “They could smell them.”
    “They go there to cuddle!” she exclaimed. “That is what you meant!”
    “‘Cuddle’is one word for it, I suppose.”
    “I’m surprised your team did not head in that direction from habit.”
    “There is more than one place to take a wayward lady. I prefer a discreet inn in the country,”he said airily.
    “I prefer the Crescent Gardens. Let us go there at once.”
    He snapped to attention. “What?”
    “To see if Lord James’s carriage is there, stoopid! I hope you didn’t think I planned to let you have your way with me.”
    “I don’t want to have my way with you! This is fine gratitude for all my efforts to help you.”
    “I have been wondering about that. I cannot quite trust disinterested help from you, for your mama always says you are the most selfish beast in nature.”
    “What possible good can I hope to gain from helping you?”he demanded hotly.
    “I think you want to get Esmée back by making her jealous, since Papa stole her from you, and it amuses you to use me to do it.”
    “Who says I want her back?”
    “I haven’t heard you have taken up with anyone else.”
    “Perhaps my amorous career is on hiatus.”
    “Hiatus? What is