The Bridegroom Read Free Page A

said.
    “Why not?”
    “You must play the game a little longer.”
    At Reggie’s inquiring look, her sister explained, “To prove nothing untoward happened during your absence from the ballroom.”
    Reggie’s chin jutted. “I don’t give a fig what anyone thinks.”
    “A scandal will do none of us any good,” Becky said.
    Reggie saw the plea in her sister’s eyes and relented. “Very well. I shall be a flower and let the bees buzz around me for another half hour at least. Will that suit you?”
    “Yes, it will. Afterwards, I shall be glad to escape along with you.”
    Over the next half hour, Reggie laughed and smiled until her jaws ached. She was aware, the entire time, of Carlisle’s heavy-lidded gaze watching her from the other side of the ballroom. He spoke to no one. He danced with no one. Until at last the moment came when she looked for him, and he was gone.
    “Please, Becky, may we leave now?” she said.
    Becky squeezed her hand. “I think we have done as much as we can tonight. I will send a footman to findPenrith in the card room and tell him we are ready to retire.”
    On the ride home in the carriage, the thoroughly foxed viscount raged incessantly at his wife. “I feel certain my luck was turning when you sent for me,” he ranted, the words slurring together. “As it is, I left at least a monkey on the table.”
    “You could have stayed, my lord,” Becky said meekly. “We would have been happy to return home without you.”
    “What? And have it said I let ladies under my protection go about unescorted?” Penrith snorted. “I know where my duty lies. Even if it costs me dearly at times.”
    There was no winning the argument, as Becky well knew, yet Reggie watched her sister attempt to soothe her cupshot husband.
    “Regina met an acquaintance of yours this evening,” Becky said.
    “What? Who’s that?”
    “Lord Carlisle,” Becky said.
    “Good man to know,” Penrith mumbled.
    “Why is that?” Reggie inquired.
    “Rich as Croesus. Been advising me which funds are best in the ’Change.”
    Reggie frowned in confusion. “Did I understand correctly? You are taking
investment
advice from Lord Carlisle?”
    “Why not? Man has a fortune. Must know what he’s about, don’t you think?”
    “I think he made his fortune as a pirate,” Reggie said dryly.
    Penrith shook his head. “Shows what you know, missy. He earned a bit from shipping, but he doubled that in the funds.”
    “Why is he so willing to share his knowledge with you?” she asked.
    “Likes me,” Penrith said. “Said so himself.”
    “One scoundrel recognizes another,” Reggie muttered under her breath.
    “What’s that?” Penrith asked.
    “Lord Carlisle is coming to call on Regina tomorrow,” Becky said, stepping into the breach.
    Penrith’s eyes focused slyly on Reggie. “There’s a match I would pay to see. Such a man would soon put you in your place, young lady.”
    “Oh?” Reggie said, arching a disdainful brow.
    Becky shot her a beseeching look, but Reggie was still stinging from her encounter with Carlisle and was in no mood to back down. “What place is that?” she demanded.
    “Lying beneath him,” Penrith said, his eyes glittering.
    Becky gasped. “How dare you—”
    Penrith’s hand lashed out and caught Becky on the mouth. The slap was loud in the carriage, and the sound of it echoed—along with Reggie’s cry of alarm—in the silence that followed.
    Reggie was already half out of her seat when her sister cried, “No, Reggie!” It took every ounce of restraint Reggie possessed to sit back down.
    She watched, tight-lipped, as Penrith reached out with a trembling hand to touch the edge of Becky’s lip, whereblood had begun to seep. “I did not mean—I would never—” he stuttered. “It was an accident.”
    Becky fumbled to open the drawstring on her reticule, and Reggie reached across and opened it for her, drawing out a lace handkerchief and thrusting it into her sister’s shaking