The Lady and the Rake: A Scandalous Arrangement (The Eardleys of Gostwicke Hall Book 1) by Penelope Redmont

Author:Penelope Redmont [Redmont, Penelope]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penelope Redmont
Published: 2017-11-06T00:00:00+00:00

9. The plan

After speaking with Miss Eardley, Lady Ashby went straight home, to her small house in Half Moon Street which Lord Linton had purchased for her.

She found Captain Lord Hexham in her drawing room. That young man was a welcome guest when she was without a protector. But she had a protector.

He was reclining comfortably on a chaise, eating sliced pineapple from a Wedgwood plate. Her pineapple: an expensive gift from Major Grove. Hexham couldn't afford to keep her, so why was he eating her pineapple?

Quite as if he were her protector, Lady Ashby thought crossly. Did he imagine that his latest gift, a diamond and emerald bracelet, bought him special consideration? It didn't. It was a trifle.

"What are you doing here?" She asked. "I didn't expect to see you today. May I remind you that Major Grove is calling on me today — he's paid for my time. A fine thing it would be, if he were to find you here."

He stretched, and yawned. That distracted her for a moment, as she eyed his long lean length, and the muscles in his thighs. He was attractive, she gave him that, but his fine looks didn't pay her servants or her bills.

"Relax my darling," he said. "I had some free time so I thought I would call on you. After all our interests are in parallel, are they not? I want little Miss Eardley and you want Lord Linton."

She tamped down her anger. Hexham could prove useful. "I spoke to Miss Eardley in Madame Emmeline's not half an hour ago. I warned her that Linton would never marry her. So — I want you to do what you hinted that you would do. Do it. Get her out of my way."

Hexham shrugged. "She's betrothed to Lord Linton," he said mildly. "You know that. You saw the article in the newspaper. I can't very well call on her and seduce her now."

"Do you think that you can seduce her?" She had her doubts. Hexham was a handsome young man, but Linton was powerful and wealthy. For all she knew, the Eardley chit imagined herself in love with Linton. "We haven't time for that. I want you to compromise Miss Eardley, and you will need to be creative."

"What do you mean?"

The fool sounded worried. She sighed again. Hexham's attraction was in his looks, not in his intelligence. "You've told me that you want to marry Miss Eardley." She sat down beside him, and pulled off her gloves slowly.

He watched as carefully as a hawk watches a mouse when she bared her wrists and fingers to his gaze. "I do want to marry her," he said huskily, still staring, "but I don't see how that would be possible. Lady Linton has arrived from Watton Park, and Linton House is hiring staff. It appears that the dowager countess is pleased with the new connection. It's all very well to talk about compromising her, but how?"

"Spend the night with Miss Eardley. That will force Linton to cry off.

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