Miranda's Dilemma Read Free

talking to earlier were any indication, her ploy would likely work beautifully.
    Cool cynicism made a soothing balm for his inflamed lust and hardened his softened heart. He nodded towards the open doorway. “You command quite an impressive court.”
    She met his gaze evenly. “I use no sorcerer, my lord. They follow no call but that of their own will.”
    “Hmm,” he replied. “So you are a guileless girl?”
    She laughed, a woman’s sensual laugh. “I never claimed that , my lord.”
    “Surely you have prospects?”
    “I do.”
    “So who is next?”
    She laughed again. “That’s too intimate a question, my lord.”
    He couldn’t help a frown. “The Duke of Froster,” he said, meaningfully.
    “He’s a dear man.”
    “He’s besotted with you. Anyone can see that.”
    She lifted her finely arched, dark russet brows. “You disapprove?”
    “You’d do better elsewhere.”
    “He is a kind man.”
    Froster was a fool. A boy trapped in an older man’s body. He’d be totally taken in by a skilled courtesan. He wouldn’t stand the least chance saying no to her.
    Adrian regarded Miranda, seeing not her cool, jaded facade but that lost girl whom he had first met.
    Before Carrville had her.
    Debauched her.
    The words echoed inside him with painful poignancy.
    Yes, Carrville had been his friend. And she was wrong. He had been quite close to Carrville, cared for him deeply in fact. But after that twelfth night ball, after Miss Miranda Jones had left with Carrville in his carriage and never returned to her mentor’s house…
    A cold, heavy weight settled in Adrian’s chest.
    Had Carrville’s family really put her to the street as she had claimed?
    “It is not that great a misfortune, my lord.”
    Her velvety tone, warmer now with some emotion… humor? pulled him from his thoughts. “Misfortune, eh what?”
    “You said it was unfortunate that we had not yet come to know each other well. It is really not that unfortunate.”
    He frowned. “Why do you say that?”
    “Because I won’t be treated like you treat everyone else, cheaply.”
    He flinched.
    Then his blood flared.
    Satisfaction lit her gaze. The coldest sort. The kind that held itself superior and took joy in irony.
    He didn’t fancy being the object of her amusement.
    He was not the one in the wrong.
    He was not the one on trial here.
    His heart hardened.
    It did not matter what she had been before.
    The only thing that mattered was what she had become.
    Jaded. Heartless. A money-hungry harpy preying on the carnal weaknesses and vanity of noblemen who were weighed down by the harsh expectations placed on them, desperate for lovely distraction. The pressures put on a man to possess such a creature could even lead to his death.
    So it had been for his father.
    Perhaps for Carrville too.
    “I am watching you, Miss Jones.”
    The slight widening of her eyes. That was the only indication that she’d heard the firmness in his tone. She smiled and laughed softly. “I have noticed how you watch me.”
    “Don’t make a jest of this.”
    She cocked her head and drew her brows together. “My lord?”
    “I watched as you hounded Carrville into investing more of his wealth than he felt comfortable with. I watched how the strain of it drove him weaker and weaker.”
    She paled. “You dare accuse me?”
    “I do.”
    “I would never hurt Carrville.” She narrowed her gaze. “Never.”
    “You knew how Lady Danvers’ death had weakened him.”
    She looked stricken. “It has been three years since Lady Danvers died.”
    “I know how long it has been. I also know that Carrville never recovered.”
    She stared at him, her eyes wide, her expression stripped of all artifice, all pretense. “He never blamed you.”
    Adrian’s blood turned to ice.
    He had never considered that Carrville might have confided family affairs to his mistress. But just how much did this chit know?
    “He was distraught, in shock.” Her voice was soft, almost pleading. Nothing