Lady Maggie's Secret Scandal by Grace Burrowes

Author:Grace Burrowes [Burrowes, Grace]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Fiction, Romance, General, Historical, Regency, cookie429, Kat, Extratorrents
ISBN: 9781402263774
Google: n2H-1DVxjOcC
Amazon: 1402263775
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Published: 2012-04-30T14:00:00+00:00

The enormity of the plan hatching in Hazlit’s mind made what should have been simple difficult. His line of work required that he be able to make a convincing show of paying attention to another’s words while taking in details of the surroundings, listening to nearby conversations, and otherwise dividing his focus.

Except that taking any part of his attention from the woman beside him was nigh impossible.

Maggie Windham grew prettier the farther he took her from Town. Her speech grew more animated, she laughed occasionally, and when they’d gained the green fields of the countryside, she patted the seat beside her, bidding him to join her on the forward-facing bench.

“Why do you dwell in Town when you’re happier in the country?” It wasn’t a question he would have attempted even five miles ago.

“Why do you dwell in London when your heart is in Cumbria?” Her eyes held laughter and a little challenge. He’d never seen her looking lovelier or more relaxed, which affirmed the course he was considering—the only course for a man who’d finally found a woman toward whom he felt both protective and possessive.

“I dwell in London because of my sister’s situation…” He fell silent. Avis had had twelve years to come to terms with her situation, and she was very happily married now to a decent fellow on the neighboring estate. “Going home would have been difficult previously, and now I have obligations in the Lords.”

“You have a title, don’t you?”

He didn’t hesitate. “An earldom. Earl of Hazelton.” She cocked her head, and he waited for her mouth to flatten as she realized he’d been deceptive by omission.

“Papa was a reluctant duke. He didn’t want to sell out his commission and man the title, as he put it. I won’t tell.”

She wouldn’t. It came as a small surprise to realize he trusted her to keep his confidences in this.

“I’m running out of time,” he said, glancing through a crack in the leather curtains. It was a gorgeous day, so pretty it made a man… homesick. Maggie’s fingers laced with his.

“Running out of what sort of time?”

“An earldom is not a simple thing to obscure. Your papa has been complicit in my scheme, because he recalls the ordeal my sisters went through and understands my reasons, but people suspect. There are only so many times I can shuffle into Parliament all but wearing a disguise. Then too, it’s one thing to send a mere mister after an errant daughter or missing love token. It’s quite another to repose nasty secrets in a belted earl.”

She squeezed his hand. “You are telling me this because we’ve reached a parting of the ways.”

No, he was not, but it was as much of an opening as she’d give him, and the weight of his recently hatched scheme was pressing on his chest.

“In truth I do not want to part ways with you, Maggie Windham, and I’d ask you for a fair hearing.”

She turned her head to meet his gaze, though her bearing had become positively imperial with a simple lift of her chin.

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