Emily Hendrickson Read Free

within her was a character entirely different from that of Elinor Hadlow, for example. Lady Chloe revealed a spirit of sympathy he did not find very often. Most of the women he flirted with played their own game and cared little for what he might feel.
    This shy young miss revealed an odd sort of maturity beyond her years, along with surprisingly delightful common sense. Pity she was the virginal, marriageable sort of girl with whom he dare not flirt. Flirting with her might prove to be a charming adventure of a sort; he could envision teaching her all manner of interesting things. However, she was precisely the type of miss his father envisaged as the future Mrs. St. Aubyn. Julian barely suppressed a flinch at the thought of a wife—of any sort.
    “I could not bear to wed a man who loved another so now I shall most likely be compelled to marry a man I detest,” Chloe confessed in a low voice. One trembling hand smoothed the glove on her other, gently stroking out the delicate wrinkles.
    “I say…” Mr. St. Aubyn began, sounding most compassionate.
    “There is nothing you could do, short of whisking me away from here.” She laughed, but it had the sound of a cry. How she wished that some magic might help her escape this dilemma.
    “As to that, there is a possible solution,” Julian offered hesitantly. “We might help each other.” He stopped abruptly, aghast at what he had been about to suggest.
    “It has to do with more than the money from your father, does it not?” she said, suspecting this man would not permit mere money to upset him so much.
    “You are wise beyond your years.”
    “My cousins tumble into the most interesting scrapes and I have picked up a thing or two,” she said quietly. There was no trace evident of the wistful envy she had sometimes felt at the daring and spirit displayed by her more adventuresome relatives.
    Chloe glanced at the strange man at her side. She ought to run from this room instead of confiding to a confessed scoundrel. Mention of her dashing cousins reminded her of her own shortcomings. When confronted with the sophistication of the members of Society, that select group of the ton, her previous enthusiasm for London had faded little by little. Without her mother at her side to support her, her cousins to encourage her, and only her Tartar of a grandmother to scold and fuss at her, Chloe had been frightened.
    How strange that this particular gentleman frightened her not the least. Perhaps it was because she knew that he was not one bit interested in her or her fortune.
    “Your cousins being?” the diverted gentleman inquired.
    “The Dancys,” she replied simply, for she had learned that most of London knew of her illustrious relatives and the splendid marriages all had contracted. How could she, a mere dab of a girl with no special talents to recommend her, hope to do half as well? For the moment she had overlooked her more than presentable fortune.
    “Indeed,” he murmured and looked at the young woman by his side with increased interest. If she was related to that family, she must have something special concealed behind that composed exterior. Shy and plain, she most likely found London and Society a somewhat painful experience. For once, Julian did not view a woman as a potential conquest, but rather as another fellow being who was also in trouble.
    “What would you do if you were me?” Chloe blurted out and wondered where those bold words had come from.
    He studied her for some minutes until Chloe feared she had exceeded the bounds of propriety beyond what was acceptable even to this man.
    “Well, I would not marry Twisdale, that is certain.” Julian detested the man. He had seen Twisdale fleece young chaps at cards too often to think it accidental. The man was a cheat and not to be trusted.
    Julian mulled over the girl’s dilemma, denouncing interfering grandmothers and parents in general. Were his own father to leave him alone, Julian would eventually find