The Scandalous, Dissolute, No-Good Mr. Wright by Tessa Dare

Author:Tessa Dare
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2012-11-01T04:00:00+00:00

After the christening, they all returned to the house for breakfast. Mr. Wright sought her out in the crowded room.

As he moved toward her, Eliza bid herself to stay calm and collected. She hoped she managed a cooler outward appearance, because her insides were in turmoil.

He was growing handsomer by the second. Not only handsome, but respectable in polite company and admirable in the eyes of her family and friends. How was she supposed to pretend indifference?

“Miss Eliza.” He inclined his head in greeting and offered her a glass of lemonade. “I hear you are at long last going to have your grand coming-out ball.”

“In just a few months.” She accepted the cool, perspiring glass. “I’ll be the oldest debutante London has seen in a score of seasons.”

“I doubt that. But you’ll be the most successful, I’m sure. Dare I hope for an invitation? After today, I’m practically family.” When she choked on her sip of lemonade, he gave her an amused look. “I notice that you failed to interrupt the christening and expose my villainy before God and Peter Everhart.”

She cringed. “I had a talk with Philippa. My sister told me everything about Brentley. Or at least, more than I ever could have guessed.”

“Ah. So now the painful truth is out. I hope I can trust you to keep it private.”

“Of course, but . . . what is it between you and Brentley?” Eliza looked about the crowded parlor to make sure no one was listening. “Your bond of friendship must be very strong.”

“It’s a boring story, really. One of those schoolboy pacts of blood and brotherhood and unswerving loyalty. You know, the sort of thing that means nothing to most men once they’re a few years past Eton.”

“But it still means something to you.”

He nodded. “The two of us . . . we had no parents, no siblings. So we made an agreement to stand by each other. That’s all.”

“Even at such a cost? He was the one who made that wager, and you’ve paid the price. You’ve been cut off without a farthing, shut out by most good families.”

“Yes, but one day I’ll be a fabulously wealthy duke. So there’s that.”

He gave her a roguish, carefree smile, but the tiny lines around his eyes told a different story. Matters weren’t so simple as he made them sound.

After a moment’s pause, he said, “Were our places exchanged, Brentley would have done the same for me. At least I bought him a little time.”

“Why didn’t you tell me the truth in Norfolk?” she whispered. “You let me believe . . . You let everyone believe your bad influence was to blame for his misfortunes.”

“I am a bad influence.” He winked at her. “Never doubt it.”

Her blood heated, proving his point.

“You are a wicked man indeed. I wouldn’t have pressed for a romance between him and Philippa, had I known. You could have spared me a great deal of embarrassment by simply telling me the truth.”

“Embarrassment is a frightfully constant quantity.

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