consolidate them into one exorbitant sum.”
Lilith didn’t waste a breath asking the obvious question. It was never his fault. Not for the losses he suffered at the tables, not for the investments an infant would recognize as too risky, not for the women he seduced and abandoned, not for the daughters’ futures he spoiled.
“The baron is a born shyster,” he continued. “He bought up the debt for pence on the pound and demanded Sissy and interest of three percent per annum with a measly five years to pay off the entirety! Can you imagine? Why, it’s highway robbery.”
“And yet, you agreed to stand and deliver.”
“I did no such thing,” he protested. “I countered with two percent, ten years and an alternate bride.”
“You didn’t,” Lilith hissed. “Harry would never agree to such a thing.”
“Of course not. The girl despises me and would be only too happy to see me in debtor’s prison. Not that she would visit me there.”
“You could not have meant to pull Kate out of school to marry the man.”
“What would Malleville want with a sheepherder’s granddaughter?”
“The same thing you wanted with the sheepherder’s daughter.”
Dunaway waved one elegant, long-fingered hand in the air, carelessly batting away the reminder. “No, pet, I offered you.”
“You what?”
“I offered you up as the next Baroness Malleville.”
“My God, you’ve a set of ballocks big enough to float an army battalion across the channel,” Lilith said in mingled shock and awe.
“Alas, Malleville wanted apples for apples, an eye for an eye and all that.”
“An innocent girl to replace the one you plucked from his grasp.”
“Rose may have been a virgin, though I am in no way conceding the point, but she was by no means an innocent girl by the time I got around to sampling her charms.”
“Tell me you didn’t attempt to fling that argument in Malleville’s face.”
“You wound me, love. Even I would not be so foolhardy as to call the lady’s virtue into question, all things considered.”
In truth, Lilith was surprised he hadn’t attempted to paint Miss Rose Parkhurst as a harlot in order to save his own skin. And doubly surprised the baron hadn’t heard the rumors surrounding the pretty little flirt he’d nearly taken to wife.
“I know what you’re thinking,” Dunaway said with a chuckle.
“I rather doubt it,” Lilith answered.
“You’re thinking you might have played the innocent for a titled husband, even if he is only a baron, and a big, ugly one at that.”
Lilith burst out laughing, amused despite her frustration at his wily attempt to barter her happiness as payment for his transgressions.
When she’d reined in her mirth and wiped the moisture from her eyes she looked across the table to find Dunaway watching her with a toothsome, dimpled smile, his eyes bright with amusement.
“You are a ridiculous man,” she chortled. “What would you have done had Malleville agreed to take me in Sissy’s place?”
“Seeing as I don’t hold your purse strings, you mean?” Dunaway reached across the table to lay his hand over hers.
“Or anything else you might use as leverage to force me to your will.”
“What of affection?”
“Your affection waxes and wanes,” she replied, smiling to soften the words. “I would hardly risk my future on something so inconstant and unsubstantial.”
Dunaway’s lips twisted into a wry grimace. “I was speaking more of familial affection.”
Lilith tugged her hand free with a weak laugh. “What on earth do I know of familial affection?”
Chapter 2
“My lord, if I might have a word?”
“Not now, Dervish.” Jasper Edward Grimley, the ninth Baron Malleville, ignored his butler as best he could, his attention focused upon the column of numbers running the length of the ledger page.
“I do apologize, but—”
“Can’t it wait?” He traced a blunt-tipped finger down the column, willing the figures to add up to more
Lilith didn’t waste a breath asking the obvious question. It was never his fault. Not for the losses he suffered at the tables, not for the investments an infant would recognize as too risky, not for the women he seduced and abandoned, not for the daughters’ futures he spoiled.
“The baron is a born shyster,” he continued. “He bought up the debt for pence on the pound and demanded Sissy and interest of three percent per annum with a measly five years to pay off the entirety! Can you imagine? Why, it’s highway robbery.”
“And yet, you agreed to stand and deliver.”
“I did no such thing,” he protested. “I countered with two percent, ten years and an alternate bride.”
“You didn’t,” Lilith hissed. “Harry would never agree to such a thing.”
“Of course not. The girl despises me and would be only too happy to see me in debtor’s prison. Not that she would visit me there.”
“You could not have meant to pull Kate out of school to marry the man.”
“What would Malleville want with a sheepherder’s granddaughter?”
“The same thing you wanted with the sheepherder’s daughter.”
Dunaway waved one elegant, long-fingered hand in the air, carelessly batting away the reminder. “No, pet, I offered you.”
“You what?”
“I offered you up as the next Baroness Malleville.”
“My God, you’ve a set of ballocks big enough to float an army battalion across the channel,” Lilith said in mingled shock and awe.
“Alas, Malleville wanted apples for apples, an eye for an eye and all that.”
“An innocent girl to replace the one you plucked from his grasp.”
“Rose may have been a virgin, though I am in no way conceding the point, but she was by no means an innocent girl by the time I got around to sampling her charms.”
“Tell me you didn’t attempt to fling that argument in Malleville’s face.”
“You wound me, love. Even I would not be so foolhardy as to call the lady’s virtue into question, all things considered.”
In truth, Lilith was surprised he hadn’t attempted to paint Miss Rose Parkhurst as a harlot in order to save his own skin. And doubly surprised the baron hadn’t heard the rumors surrounding the pretty little flirt he’d nearly taken to wife.
“I know what you’re thinking,” Dunaway said with a chuckle.
“I rather doubt it,” Lilith answered.
“You’re thinking you might have played the innocent for a titled husband, even if he is only a baron, and a big, ugly one at that.”
Lilith burst out laughing, amused despite her frustration at his wily attempt to barter her happiness as payment for his transgressions.
When she’d reined in her mirth and wiped the moisture from her eyes she looked across the table to find Dunaway watching her with a toothsome, dimpled smile, his eyes bright with amusement.
“You are a ridiculous man,” she chortled. “What would you have done had Malleville agreed to take me in Sissy’s place?”
“Seeing as I don’t hold your purse strings, you mean?” Dunaway reached across the table to lay his hand over hers.
“Or anything else you might use as leverage to force me to your will.”
“What of affection?”
“Your affection waxes and wanes,” she replied, smiling to soften the words. “I would hardly risk my future on something so inconstant and unsubstantial.”
Dunaway’s lips twisted into a wry grimace. “I was speaking more of familial affection.”
Lilith tugged her hand free with a weak laugh. “What on earth do I know of familial affection?”
Chapter 2
“My lord, if I might have a word?”
“Not now, Dervish.” Jasper Edward Grimley, the ninth Baron Malleville, ignored his butler as best he could, his attention focused upon the column of numbers running the length of the ledger page.
“I do apologize, but—”
“Can’t it wait?” He traced a blunt-tipped finger down the column, willing the figures to add up to more
Similar Books
The Lifeboat Clique
Kathy Parks
Bleeding Violet
Dia Reeves
Fish Out of Water
Ros Baxter
Patient Z
Becky Black
If I Could Do It Again
Ashley Stoyanoff
Battle Scars
Sheryl Nantus
And Condors Danced
Zilpha Keatley Snyder
Good Girl Gone Plaid
Shelli Stevens
Tamam Shud
Kerry Greenwood
The Language of Flowers
Vanessa Diffenbaugh