Earl's Ward (9781460320594) by Scheidies Carolyn R

Author:Scheidies, Carolyn R.
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin Sales Corp
Published: 2013-03-21T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 7

In all his life the earl had not had to deal with a situation that affected him so dearly. Never had he cared so passionately for the outcome. The most surprising of all to him was that he was more concerned for Angella than for himself. That, more than all else, showed him the validity of his new faith.

Questions burned in his mind. What must Angella think of him? What disillusionment must she be going through?

In the parlor, he got up from the sofa, where he was sitting beside Margaret, to pace the room. He had seen the effort Angella made to comport herself like a lady in the face of Margaret’s patent snobbery. Fact was, Angella showed herself every bit a lady, unlike his “fiancée.” He recalled his fears that Angella would not know how to behave in polite company. If one could call Margaret and her brothers polite company. He ground his teeth. They were anything but, and he wished them any place but in his ancestral home. He had been mistaken about Angella in so many ways. If nothing else, Margaret’s arrival showed him the arrogant man he had become. He did not blame Angella for not wanting to be in their presence—nor his. He winced.

Moving to the window, he drew aside the heavy velvet winter curtains to look out toward the front of the hall. The snow sifted pristine and white over the bushes, the last of the flowers, covered the trees like goose down and gave the bridge an ethereal appearance as though it were emerging from the nether regions. The surface would be icy, he knew, and he reminded himself to have Benson ask the servants to clear it at first light.

No, he did not blame Angella for avoiding the after-dinner tête-à-tête. He cared not much for it himself. Besides Margaret’s efforts to make a cake of Angella, he was also aware of Angella’s attempts to fend off the lecherous Lord Hinton. The earl clenched his teeth in frustration.

That very forenoon he had again cautioned Harry. “I will not have you frightening the girl, so keep your hands off her.”

A slow smile had played at the corners of Harry’s mouth. “You have your cozy armful, so leave me to my entertainment. There is little enough to do in this godforsaken place. Besides, it is a trifle, a mere harmless flirtation.”

“If you overstep your bounds, I vow you’ll find yourself married to Miss Denning. I’ll not have you trifle with her affections.” From the look of amusement on Harry’s face, the earl well knew the man sensed he had no intention of forcing him to come up to scratch. Even the thought turned his stomach.

Hinton’s indifference to the earl’s warnings vexed him to no end. His prospective brother-in-law sensed Spensor’s tendre for his ward and played upon that affection. Bother! He would never force Angella to marry the bounder. Lord Hinton wasn’t good enough for her by half.

Still and all, the earl

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