In Pursuit of a Scandalous Lady Read Free Page B

frame.
    â€œTaking what is ours,” she answered without looking at him.
    â€œThe club purchased the painting from the artist quite legally,” he pointed out.
    â€œIt wasn’t meant to be here at all,” Elizabeth said, frustration evident in her frown.
    â€œYou meant it to be in a private collection,” Peter said slowly. “That makes sense, Elizabeth, with your brother being who he is. But you miscalculated.”
    â€œYou all miscalculated,” Julian amended.
    â€œSusanna, spell that for me,” Leo called.
    She ignored his drunken teasing.
    â€œSurely you do not want every man to see this during your wager,” Rebecca said. “What if others hatch similar ideas?”
    â€œYou should have thought of that before you posed.” Julian wondered if anyone else had recognized the diamond from the portrait—or when it was around her exquisite neck one night at a ball. Or perhaps no one cared any longer about a maharajah’s gift, he thought bitterly. It gleamed above both of them now in the lamplight. Why had she been so foolish as to wear it in public?
    Because she’d thought her secret well hidden in France.
    With a toss of her head, Rebecca demanded, “And what do we get if none of you can determine the truth?”
    â€œSo you’re going to play an active part in our wager?” Julian asked, intrigued by the possibilities. Why was he so eager to see this young woman—and she was surely several years younger than he—openly participate in something that could ruin her?
    But of course, she’d already risked all of that, posing nude for endless hours. He found himself envying the artist and wondering at their relationship. Tamping down his interest, he reminded himself to focus on the diamond.
    â€œWhy, you’ll win the painting, of course,” Leo responded before Julian could.
    Julian couldn’t imagine surrendering it, but it was too late.
    â€œLet me understand this,” Rebecca said, eyes narrowed. “The three of you are wagering with each other over who the model is. If you cannot discover the truth, then we win the painting.”
    â€œCorrect,” Julian said, his mind continuing to calculate the best way to use this ridiculous wager to his advantage.
    â€œSurely we must include the element of time.” Rebecca glanced with speculation at her friends, and then at the men. “You have a week to name the true model, gentlemen, presenting substantial proof and not just a guess.”
    â€œRidiculous,” Leo scoffed. “A week is not nearly enough time. We need until the end of the Season.”
    â€œNo,” she said. “I’ll counter with one month, but nothing more.”
    Julian exchanged a look with his two friends, and then bowed his agreement. It would give him enough time to follow the clues to the Scandalous Lady and clear his father’s name. But it couldn’t bring his father back from the dead, Julian thought grimly.
    The three women marched past them. Sharing a glance, the three men followed, then leaned over the balustrade as the women descended to the ground floor and out the door.
    Leo grinned. “Now, that was an enjoyable evening.”He glanced at Julian. “You surprise me, old friend.”
    And they were friends, Julian thought, even as he shrugged. Julian had been forced to leave Eton at ten years of age, when his father could no longer pay the tuition. Though he was a future earl, his poverty had many boys—and then men—ignoring him, until he’d made himself into a man who couldn’t be ignored.
    But Leo hadn’t cared about money. He’d still invited Julian home with him at holidays and had still visited him, putting up with the chaos of Julian’s too-large family. Peter’s friendship had come later, when Julian had sensed that the man needed help finding a place for himself as a younger son with little to recommend him. Peter