The Lady and the Duke by Olivia Kelly

Author:Olivia Kelly [Kelly, Olivia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Romance
Amazon: B00ADF4I9G
Barnesnoble: B00ADF4I9G
Goodreads: 16179791
Publisher: Olivia Kelly
Published: 2012-11-25T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

Will stepped out of Claremont House and paused to regroup.

He just stood for a moment on the top step, trying to absorb the fact that he had almost blurted out a marriage proposal to Audrey as if he were offering take her for a carriage drive. While he may not have had legions of lovers, he had hoped that he was experienced enough to be smoother than that.

Apparently not.

No wonder she needed time to consider his suit. When it came time to formally propose, he would do better. Wincing, Will rubbed the back of his neck as he descended the steps to his curricle. He resolutely turned his mind from Audrey to consider a more immediate problem as he climbed into the vehicle.

He had waited an hour and a quarter at the east entrance to Hyde Park that morning, but Claremont had not shown.

Will cursed himself for imagining that the viscount would be man enough to stick to his word. But what did Claremont hope to achieve by holding onto the letters now? He would never get any money for them, and couldn’t show his face in polite society while Will was still hunting him. Will had come to the dowager countess’s home, thinking perhaps the man was stupid enough, or arrogant enough, to show at his mother’s garden party.

Claremont had not shown, but Audrey was there, and Will had allowed himself to become distracted. Although he hadn't acquired the letters, he couldn't count the afternoon as wasted time. Not when he had secured Audrey's word that she would consider his courtship.

It did puzzle Will that the viscount should resort to blackmail in the first place, though. Claremont House was in fine shape. The furnishings of high quality and everything looking exactly as it should in the home of a wealthy English aristocrat. It made no sense that he should chose to blackmail Lisle, whose yearly allowance was generous, but not outrageous. What the viscount could have milked from her should be a pittance compared to his own income.

And his sister was not the type to do anything that was blackmail worthy. Other than having exceptionally bad taste in lovers, that is.

It was more likely that Lisle had been the one to break things off with Claremont, who obviously had not taken it well. His attempt to squeeze her for funds must be in revenge for his bruised pride. Still, Will couldn’t shake the niggling though that he had been misled. Lisle's story had always seemed a little shaky, but he had assumed that she just didn't want to share any delicate details with her younger brother. But the effort Claremont was putting into ducking him had all his instincts pricking. There was more to this mess then a parcel of lovelorn missives.

Whatever the case, Will wanted those letters back.

If Lisle's story was true, well, she shouldn’t have to worry about her private affairs being aired to the whole of society, and Will shouldn’t have to worry about what such a scandal would do to his mother…and his marital prospects.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.