When the Rogue Returns by Sabrina Jeffries

Author:Sabrina Jeffries [Jeffries, Sabrina]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Fiction, Historical romance, Regency
ISBN: 9781451693522
Publisher: Pocket Books
Published: 2014-01-20T22:00:00+00:00

13

ISA HAD SPENT her entire day working on the merchant’s ring when Mr. Gordon wandered back to the workshop.

“So,” he said, taking a seat across from her worktable, “his lordship has invited me and Mary Grace to attend his house party.”

“Yes, he told me.”

“I’m just wondering why.”

She concentrated on the setting she was working with. “I would imagine it’s because he finds you both interesting.”

He snorted. “It’s not a crotchety old man like me that he has his eye on. Anyway, I can’t leave the shop—not if you’re going.”

“I don’t have to go, either,” she said quickly. It would certainly simplify matters.

“You do if Mary Grace is to attend. She’ll need a chaperone.”

“Oh. Of course.”

And Mary Grace desperately wanted to go. Isa had learned that at lunch when she’d quizzed the young woman. It had never occurred to her that Mary Grace might have a tendre for Rupert, but apparently she did. Once Isa prodded her a bit—and hinted that Mr. Cale, not Rupert, was the man who’d snagged Isa’s interest—Mary Grace became positively voluble.

His lordship was so brilliant. His lordship was so handsome. His lordship was the finest man in all the world.

“Well, then,” Isa said, “I’m happy to play chaperone.” Especially if it solved the problem of Rupert finding a spouse who was not her.

Mr. Gordon gazed steadily at her. “But if I am to encourage the girl’s father to let her attend, I’ll need to know the extent of his lordship’s interest in her. If he has his eye on you and merely thinks to make you happy by inviting her—”

“I don’t think that’s it. I think she intrigues him.”

“He damned well intrigues her,” Mr. Gordon said dryly. “She couldn’t stop going on about him today.” He shook his head. “Though if his interest turns serious, it will send his mother into apoplexy.”

Isa chuckled. “It certainly will.” She sobered. “But it’s not as if Mary Grace came from the gutter. Her father is a well-admired coffee merchant and she has a substantial dowry.”

“All of that means nothing to a wealthy peer, and you know it. Her father is still in trade, as are the rest of her relations.”

“More money is more money, even to a peer. Besides, Rupert isn’t like other peers. He needs a special kind of woman as a wife, no matter what his mother thinks. Mary Grace might never be good enough for Lady Lochlaw, but as long as Rupert is happy, it doesn’t matter.”

“And do you honestly think he would be happy with my niece?” he asked earnestly. “She’s not you.”

“I know. But even if he may have . . . fancied me a little, I think his affections are already shifting. They might shift more if she gives him any encouragement. And it’s not as if there could ever be anything between me and him.” She met Mr. Gordon’s gaze. “I will never marry him.”

Mr. Gordon searched her face. “Because of Mr. Cale?”

She blinked. “Why do you say that?”

“I’m no fool, Mrs. Franke.

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