The Rake of Glendir Read Free Page B

restraints while she had it, she decided, handing the card back with a flutter of excitement at her own boldness to Mrs Brown, Trevan’s long-time housekeeper.
    ‘You may send word to Lord Glendir that he can expect me around seven,’ she said, intending to sound confident and firm in her decision, and annoyed when her voice came out girlishly high and breathy. Mrs Brown raised her eyebrows but said nothing. Amelia made to leave, then remembered something Jasper had said to her the night before.
    ‘Mrs Brown?’
    ‘Yes, mam?’ The woman’s tone was completely respectful, but Amelia was sure her expression was nothing short of disapproving.
    ‘My aunt…did she know the old lord Glendir well? The new lord indicated that they were acquaintances.’
    Mrs Brown’s eyebrows nearly shot into her hairline, though her voice remained bland.
    ‘I believe they were close acquaintances, mam. They visited each other often. Your aunt was a very…independent woman.’
    Amelia nodded. So she had not been imagining the insinuation in Jasper’s comment. Did that mean his offer of dinner was based on the presumption that she was like her aunt? Yet Matilda, from what Amelia knew of her, had been no flighty woman but a force to be reckoned with and utterly her own mistress. Amelia gave a little nod.
    ‘Thank you, Mrs Brown,’ she said quietly, and left for the coach, Sally following close behind. On the journey into the nearby town, over roads that were a great deal rougher than Amelia was used to, Sally regaled the gossip about Jasper Glendir. ‘The Glendirs made their fortune raiding and smuggling, so people say, and then came into favour with the Crown when they helped to put down one of the Jacobite rebellions, but they’re still known for being awful wild, and this latest one is a notorious rake.’ Sally’s voice came out in a rush, so anxious was she to impart this news. Amelia merely muttered something non-committal in return.
    Inside, though, Sally’s words gave her cause for thought, and she found herself too distracted by them to properly enjoy her visit into town, no matter how many pretty ribbons Sally exclaimed over. She fingered a tartan shawl, feeling its rough plaid, and found herself wondering how Jasper would look in a Scotsman’s kilt, his legs bare. She dropped the shawl, flushing as an unmistakable voice came from behind her.
    ‘How much for this good plaid?’ the figure behind her asked the shopkeeper. Amelia froze. Surely she must be mistaken, yet as she slowly turned she knew she would forever recognize that voice from now on, with its soft Scottish burr.
    ‘My lord,’ she said, a slow burn creeping over her face. For all her proud wilfulness to the housekeeper, now that she was faced with him again she was as shy as an untutored country girl.
    In the daylight he was even more handsome than he had appeared before, with the afternoon sun bringing out the copper and gold in his hair—which he wore unselfconsciously loose—and showing the full intensity of those catlike green eyes. His figure too was every bit as strong and well-proportioned as she had reckoned it to be last night.
    When she had been pressed against it.
    The memory had her cheeks fully aflame and she cursed herself for having spoken, but it was too late now. He smiled at her, an easy smile that belied the heat leaping into his gaze. The little shop seemed all at once far too warm.
    ‘My lady. How lovely to see you again. Are you buying new dresses? I thought yesterday perhaps you had forgotten to bring all of your things from London.’ Understanding he was referring to her undressed state the night before, Amelia tossed her head at him, trying for haughtiness.
    ‘Not at all, sir. I am more than provided for. I came to look for ribbons to update my bonnets.’
    Jasper bowed his head to her, his eyes searching hers in a way that made Amelia feel lightheaded. Although his words were entirely proper, the look in his eyes was anything