A Pair of Rogues Read Free Page A

continued, “I have the most extraordinary gift. When marriage is in the air, the hair on the back of my neck always rises, the way a dog’s does when it senses a threat. It comes in quite handy, I assure you. It’s got me out of a sticky spot or two.”
    This wasn’t true, of course, but it was his usual tale, designed to entertain his hostesses, and Ned almost believed it himself now. “I felt it quite strongly when you and Robert were courting,” he said. “Wagered a hundred pounds at White’s on the outcome of your affair and made a nice, tidy bundle when you married. Paid off my immediate debts and carried myself for months on the surplus.”
    Louisa dimpled as they resumed walking. “And you say you’ve felt nothing of the sort since I mentioned Christina?”
    “Nary a twinge.”
    But the strange thing was, Ned felt a frisson right now, just at the sound of her name.
    Louisa’s smirk must have had something to do with it. She looked as if she knew something he did not know, and the result was, the hair on the scruff of his neck was standing straight up. He shivered.
    Louisa watched him closely. “You’re certain you feel nothing at all?”
    “Positively not.”
    “That is just as well, I suppose.” As she swept towards her place at the table, however, Louisa still managed to look uncommonly delighted. “For, as he said, Robert is quite opposed to the idea.”
    Ned pushed her chair in, and she glanced back at him with a secretive smile. “Quite adamantly opposed.”
    * * * *
    “Christina!”
    As Lady Christina Lindsay descended from the carriage which had carried her up from Bath, she spied a red-headed whirlwind descending from the steps of Broughton House. Louisa embraced her, then gave the coachman his instructions, before drawing her quickly into the house.
    Christina decided, as she did every time she saw her new sister-in-law, however brief their visits tended to be, that she liked Louisa very much. She had not been certain what sort of reception to expect when she had been foisted upon Louisa by a mother who could not be bothered to come to London herself. The Dowager Duchess of Broughton had made it clear that her family should expect no more of her efforts on their behalf. Her husband’s death, she said, which had occurred a year before Robert’s marriage, had robbed her of all desire to live.
    From Christina’s perspective, the Dowager did not appear to have altered at all.
    Her mother’s normal failings were only half the reason for Christina’s nervousness today. By now, she was certain her sister-in-law must have been made aware of her damaged reputation. Within the family, Christina was known to be something of a problem. Her own mother had declared her a rag-mannered hoyden since birth.
    Why would Louisa want the trouble of bringing out such a girl?
    But whatever secret fears Christina had harbored about her reception were momentarily laid to rest by Louisa’s warm welcome.
    “I shall give you five minutes to examine your room, and then you must come see Robert Edward.”
    “See the baby?”
    “Yes, of course. You will love him. He is so droll.”
    Christina laughed. “Louisa, you must be the only mother in London to say such a thing about her infant. Would you not rather relate to me the horrors of your lying-in?”
    “Pooh!” Louisa said, dismissing these with a toss of her carrot-topped head. “I can assure you they are easily forgotten. I quite ignored them myself as soon as I saw my darling.”
    Bustled up to her room, Christina could only marvel again at this strange creature her brother had wed. Who would ever have expected somber Robert to have so much sense? Twelve years younger than he, Christina had only sketchy memories of her serious elder brother. Seeing him with Louisa the first time had been a startling experience. The air between them had seemed to vibrate with a curious kind of energy. It had been something she could not fathom, but had vaguely