Page 37 of The Tempting of a Devilish Lord

“Lucinda will likely scold me for telling you.”

“Mary-Anne,” he prompted.

“But I have never seen her smile as I have with you, and you persuaded her to go to the castle.”

“I think that was down to you, Mary-Anne.”

She grinned triumphantly. “It does not matter. The point is, my sister has been miserable for far too long and I am heartily sick of it.”

“Is this to do with all this medieval stuff?”

“I do not even care for castles that much, but Lucinda used to adore it all. She told me all sorts of tales and promised we could visit every castle in Britain when we were older.”

Alex smiled at the image of a young Lucinda sharing gory tales with her little sister.

“I was hoping if we did some interesting things during our stay here, she would be more like her old self.”

“So this ruination—that changed her?”

Mary-Anne nodded. “I do not remember it. Lucinda was sixteen and I’m ten years younger than her. But I remember what fun she was.” She smiled softly. “But then she went out one day, and my parents kept speaking in whispers and everything changed.”

He had to prevent himself from curling a fist at wherever this story was to go next. Lucy had never married so he had to assume the man, whoever the bastard was, had not done the right thing by her. “So she was ruined then?”

“Lucinda had snuck out to visit this old abbey near us. She was always doing these sorts of things and my parents were fearful she was going to damage her reputation one day with all her adventures.”

“I knew Lucy was hiding some part of her.”

“Grandmama said she met a Mr. Yardley there who was quite a bit older than her, and they were seen kissing.” Mary-Anne wrinkled her nose. “I think the man practically forced himself upon her but Grandmama blames Lucinda.”

He bit back a curse. “So they were caught?” he managed to ask with more calm than he felt.

“The man refused to marry Lucinda.” Mary-Anne balled both her fists, her small knuckles white. “Then the person who had spied them demanded money from my parents to remain quiet. Apparently it was a huge sum and my father had to borrow money to see it paid.”

Shaking his head, Alex released a long breath. “I would not mind getting my hands on either of those two.”

“The blackmailer went to America apparently and Mr. Yardley is married to a woman who looks like a pig.” She gave a smug grin. “I hope she’s horrible to him.”

“That certainly explains why Lucy is so cautious.”

“She has tried so hard to be boring and bland for fear of causing a scandal and I know our mother is terrified she will do it again, but I loathe to see her that way.”

“I’m not certain what you wish me to do about it.”

“You make her smile, Alex, and I’ve seen how you look at her.” She gave him a smug look. “I might be young but I’m not foolish.”

“I would not dare suggest such a thing.”

“You care for my sister. A lot. And I think you could make each other happy.”

Alex could not deny it. He might not be obeying his mother’s wishes, but she could not complain if he was to properly court a woman, surely?

First, however, he had to persuade Lucy he had no desire to scandalize her.

“Your sister will not see me,” he pointed out.

“Well with my brains and your brawn, I am certain we can come up with a way of getting her to see you.”

His lips quirked. “Brawn?”

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