Regina Scott by The Irresistible Earl

Author:The Irresistible Earl [Earl, The Irresistible]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twelve

“What are you thinking?” Algernon demanded when he burst into their sitting room that afternoon, resplendent in an emerald coat and purple plaid trousers. Meredee and Mrs. Price had returned to the inn after her stepmother had finished socializing. Meredee’s righteous indignation over Chase’s plan had kept her back straight and her gaze unswerving as her stepmother flirted with her elderly swains, but even the kind Mr. Cranell noticed the difference in her.

“Miss Meredee has the most fierce look in her eye today,” she heard him whisper to Mrs. Price at one point. “Puts me in mind of an avenging angel. Best to give her a dose from the south well, I think.”

She was rather pleased that she’d kept her gaze from seeking Chase’s for most of the visit. The two times she glanced in his direction, she’d noted that he was regarding her with a frown and a quirk to his mouth that said he was perplexed. He thought he’d offered her a reasonable bargain. He could not know he’d offered to put her in an impossible position and crushed her hopes in the process.

“My goodness, Algernon,” Mrs. Price cried now, dropping the lace she had been working at the half-moon table while Meredee read aloud. “What’s happened?”

“Meredee’s whistled my prospects down the wind is all,” he declared. But he went so far as to shut the door and approach Meredee with more caution, as if unsure of his reception. “I understand Lord Allyndale offered to have you chaperone his sister and you refused.”

How had he known? He hadn’t been at the spa house, and she hadn’t thought anyone was standing near enough to overhear her conversation with Chase. The only other person who might know was Lady Phoebe, if Chase had confided his plan to her. Meredee’s stomach tightened. Algernon must still be sneaking around to see the girl.

“Well of course she must refuse,” Mrs. Price said with a sniff. “I have far more need of her services than your Lady Phoebe does.”

“But that’s just it, Mother,” Algernon said, running a hand back through his dark hair. “She won’t be my Lady Phoebe unless I can convince her to marry me. And for that I need Meredee’s help.”

“Lady Phoebe seemed inclined to hear your proposal,” Meredee pointed out, laying a ribbon between the pages to mark her place and closing the book. “My involvement hardly seems necessary.”

“Her brother broods over her,” Algernon protested. “He won’t let her out of his sight. Either that, or Sir Trevor Fitzwilliam guards her steps. But if you agreed to be her chaperone, I might have an opportunity to approach her.”

“And don’t you think that’s why I refused?” Meredee dropped the book on the table with a satisfying thud that made Mrs. Price stiffen in her seat. “How can you ask me to put myself in that position? I told you I would not be involved in your schemes.”

“But that was before Lord Allyndale offered to involve you!”

“It makes no difference,” Meredee insisted.

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