A Lord Rotheby's Holiday Bundle Read Free

displayed it to exquisite
advantage. Then I asked if I might view it a bit
closer.”
    “ Devil take it.”
    “ She was kind enough to
allow me to do just that. Amongst a few other things.”
    Jonas’s gaze burned. “Is that what
you’re here for? To make a cuckold of other gentlemen? You had
better find a new entrée into society, if that’s the
case.”
    “ You know me better than
that.”
    “ Do I? If that’s not it,
why are you here? You owe me an explanation, Quin. Something more
than ‘Let me stay with you for a while so I can attend some balls.’
You’ve been scaring the young ladies and their chaperones. Not a
man I know trusts you. And now you’re going after their
wives.”
    “ Lady Kiss-Me…er, Lady
Kislingbury was just a distraction.”
    “ From what?”
    Quin shot up from his chair and paced.
“From this bloody nonsense Rotheby has set for me!” Well. Blast.
That wasn’t quite the way Quin had intended to go about all of
this.
    Jonas raised an eyebrow but withheld
his questions.
    “ Rotheby sent for me a
fortnight ago. Said it was urgent, that I must attend to him at
once. When I arrived at Roundstone Park, he threatened
me.”
    “ Your grandfather
threatened you. His heir.” The baronet had perfected the art of the
dubious expression.
    “ I couldn’t make this up if
I tried,” Quin said. “The old codger said that if I don’t change my
ways, if I don’t marry and produce an heir, he’ll cut me off. Take
Quinton Abbey from me. Leave me to fend for myself until such time
as he dies and can’t keep me from everything anymore. Hell, I think
he’s already decided to leave Roundstone to someone else. It isn’t
under entail.”
    “ Is that it? All of this is
because your grandfather wants you to secure the line?”
    “ He spouted off some other
excrement about needing to learn to manage my estate, about not
being a ‘wastrel,’ but the bulk of it was about the damned
heir.”
    “ Well, if that’s the case,
you’re not going about any of this in a very intelligent manner.
Lady Kislingbury cannot fill your nursery. And the ladies
who could do as
much will all be running for the hills, based on the
recommendations of their chaperones. You need a new
strategy.”
    Didn’t he know it? “Any suggestions?”
Quin drawled.
    “ A few.”
    No surprise there. Jonas may be his
best friend, but he was never slow to tell Quin when he needed to
change his ways. Which was often. Almost perpetually.
    Jonas pierced him with a solemn stare.
“To start, you must stay away from married ladies.”
    “ Noted.” He could easily
find a whore or two willing to slake his needs. In fact, he might
have already done just that last night. Damned if he could remember
them though.
    Jonas continued to spout off his list.
“You must make yourself presentable to the unmarried ladies and
their chaperones—mothers, sisters, aunts. They have to believe you
are a worthy gentleman, not a scoundrel.”
    “ But I am a
scoundrel.”
    “ I know. And therein lies
our problem.”
    If Jonas didn’t get to the solution
before Quin took two more breaths, he might just throttle him.
“So…?”
    “ So you have to change your
ways. Present a good image. Play the part.” A cheeky grin spread
wide across Jonas’s face.
    “ Meaning what, precisely?”
Quin wished he hadn’t asked. He didn’t want to know.
    “ Meaning no more drinking
and gambling and whoring. Meaning you must seem like a perfect gentleman, even
if you aren’t one.” Jonas took a long look at him, spending more
time than necessary on Quin’s overlong hair, his unkempt jaw line,
the wrinkled and disheveled clothing. “Meaning dressing and
grooming according to the current fashions.”
    “ You’re joking,” Quin said.
He liked having his hair long. He hated shaving. And he bloody well
could not abide the thought of primping himself like a blasted
dandy.
    Jonas barked with laughter. “I’m not.
I assure you, I am quite serious.”
    “ Damned