A Perfect Scandal Read Free

discretion.”
    Isabel tossed her head. “Poor discretion! I do not wish to wed Lord Walling.”
    “Why not?”
    “He’s positively ancient. He has no interest in my art. And…and…he”—she struggled for the words—“he has depraved appetites in the bedroom,” she blurted out, not knowing how else to persuade her father.
    “What?” Edward’s jaw dropped.
    Her face grew hot. “That’s the latest gossip.”
    He blew out his cheeks like a blowfish before releasing a burst of air. “Of all the nonsense, please stop listening to your friend, Charlotte Benning.”
    His anger slightly abated, he took a seat in a chair next to hers and reached out to take her hand.
    “My Isabel,” he said. “I will not live forever, and I need to see you well settled before I die. Your mother, bless her soul, would have wanted you respectably married.”
    Isabel’s heart lurched, and a stab of guilt pierced her heart. Despite everything, she loved her father dearly. She squeezed his hand. “What would make me happy is to live with Auntie Lil in Paris. I could study my watercolors, just as she did. Ever since my visit two summers ago, she has regularly written asking for me to stay with her.”
    Edward shook his head. “Your mother’s sister is an eccentric who never married. That’s what happens to women who never have a man’s guidance and who never bear children.”
    “I don’t believe that.”
    “Either way, you are a few months shy of your twenty-first birthday. You have already destroyed two previously good matches, now must you destroy a third?”
    “I didn’t destroy anything.”
    “Ah, you merely told Lord Darby that you were unable to bear children, and you merely let Lord Shelton’s controlling mother believe that insanity runs in the family, by using your Auntie Lil as an example. Both men ran as fast as their legs would carry them.”
    “I won’t apologize for either man. Darby only sought a brooding mare to produce heirs, and Shelton wanted the country estate in Herefordshire that you had promised him. Don’t you see, Father, I want more .”
    “It’s unspeakable. Forget returning to Auntie Lil. Letting you travel to Paris was an unfortunate mistake. As for Lord Walling, I gave him permission to pay a visit tomorrow afternoon. You had best be a perfect lady. The engagement will go forward.”
    Edward rose and patted her shoulder. “As the eldest child, think of the twins. You will be setting a good example for them.”
    Isabel often did think of her younger twin siblings, Anthony and Amber, and believed that setting a good example meant passionately pursuing one’s dreams.
    At her silence, her father smiled. “Good girl, Isabel. I know you will stop carrying on about this artistic nonsense. I’ve allowed your watercolors as a pastime fancy, but now it is time for you to put art out of your mind and secure your future as a wife.”
    Head bent low, Isabel nodded in what she hoped was a demure manner. From a sideways glance, she watched him turn and leave.
    As soon as the library door clicked closed, she jumped to her feet and rushed to her father’s desk. Yanking open a heavy file drawer, she began to rummage through mounds of paper.
    If Walling was coming tomorrow afternoon, there was no time to waste.
     

    Marcus Hawksley took the front steps to the Westley mansion two at a time in his haste. He did not like to lose, and there was a Gainsborough at stake.
    The London Stock Exchange had been particularly busy this morning. When Marcus had heard about the estate sale in which the 1781 painting by Thomas Gainsborough, Seashore with Fishermen , would be auctioned off to the highest bidder, his secretary had scrambled to reschedule several important appointments.
    Marcus reached the mansion’s top steps, and before he could knock, a dour-faced butler swung the door open. People were already milling about inside, attesting to his lateness.
    A muscle flicked at his jaw. He refused to be outbid.
    He