The Lady Mercy Danforthe Flirts With Scandal

The Lady Mercy Danforthe Flirts With Scandal Read Free Page B

Book: The Lady Mercy Danforthe Flirts With Scandal Read Free
Author: Jayne Fresina
Tags: Fiction, General, Erótica, Romance, Historical, Regency
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chin, but she didn’t appear to notice.
    Mercy drew an imaginary line through her idea. Perhaps not. Carver would chew the girl up and spit her out. He was far too critical; that was his problem.
    “I’m afraid I must be off, Miss Gibson. I am expected at a friend’s wedding in the country, and I still have my brother to organize before I leave, but when I return, I shall attend to this matter. Worry not.”
    “Oh, thank you, Lady Mercy. You are too kind.”
    Yes, she mused, she probably was—devoting so much of her time to girls who hadn’t the gumption to find their own husbands. She really couldn’t understand what they feared. Mercy had just become engaged to Viscount Grey, a gentleman she’d picked out for herself and pursued with single-minded intent until he proposed. He was away now enjoying the sights of Italy, taking benefit from the dry, warm climate that improved his health, but in a month he was due to return, and then they would make the wedding arrangements. Everything proceeded on Mercy’s say-so, and just as it should be. Viscount Grey, having reached his fortieth year and survived the most trying age, would fit very well into the small space she’d allotted for a husband. He would not get in her way too much. He had coloring that coordinated very well with her favorite garments and furnishings, he was a perfectly proper three inches taller than she, and his love of outdoor sport, when health permitted, would keep him out of her hair for a good portion of the year. His wavering bouts of infirmity also gave her something to fuss over. A man in too fine a working order was often more independent than was good for him or his marriage, but Viscount Grey was just needy enough to give Mercy a purpose. And she did love a purpose.
    As Julia Gibson said, a young lady must marry; there was simply nothing else to do. Far better to pick out the man for oneself, make certain he did not have any unsightly edges—if he did, file them down—and then quickly stake one’s claim. All very simple.
    Women like Julia Gibson fretted and whimpered as if they were being asked to scale the dome of St. Paul’s. In their drawers.
    Mercy stood briskly, making the last adjustments to her gloves. “I bid you good day, Miss Gibson.”
    The other young lady scrambled out of her chair for a clumsy curtsy, tripping over her own feet. “Lady Mercy.”
    It was a good thing the Gibsons had wealth—even if it was acquired merely through trade. Poor Julia hadn’t much else in her favor. Fortunately for Miss Gibson, her aristocratic friend never balked at a challenge.
    ***
     
    Mercy swept into her brother’s library without knocking. “Well, I’m off. Although it hardly need be asked—I suppose you will not come with me?”
    Dealing with the daily correspondence, Carver did not look up from the letters on his desk. “Why on earth would I attend the wedding of your maid?”
    “She is far more than my maid, Carver. Molly Robbins is my friend and has been my companion for twelve years. As you well know.”
    He gave a small snort. “You may think she is your friend, but she is your employee first and foremost. You pay her a wage. Thus, she’s obliged to be nice to you.”
    “Carver, you have a very bitter, distrusting view of people.”
    “And you have an overly romantic one.” He smirked at his papers. “Perhaps the less said about that the better.”
    Mercy strode to his desk, hands tucked securely within her muff. “Molly will be disappointed.”
    “Your maid can make her own silly mistakes without me bearing witness.” His brow creased in a stern frown. “Marriage is a fool’s venture at the best of times. Besides, does she not have ambitions to begin her own dressmaking enterprise?”
    Mercy was surprised he knew that. It might have been mentioned in his hearing, she supposed, but he seldom listened to anything she had to talk about and generally acted as if Molly Robbins was invisible. Which was, as he would

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