Page 23 of The Dangerous Love of a Rogue
‘Forgive me, miss,’ Evans said when he drew near, ‘you should not speak with gentlemen.’
‘I shall speak with whom I wish, Evans.’ Her reply sounded like John. She was not normally harsh with servants.
‘Miss Marlow.’ The man lifted his fingers to his cap and tipped it forward. ‘Forgive me, but it is my duty to inform your father.’
‘That I met a casual acquaintance in the park by chance and spoke with him? There is nothing to tell.’ She ought to feel guilty. She did not, not yet, perhaps later. She no longer knew herself. She had lied to her family and a friend, and now she was widening the net of deceit to the servants. It would trap her in the end if she was not careful.
She turned the stallion she had borrowed from John’s stables in the direction of the park gates.I cannot continue this.Tomorrow must be the last time she spoke with him and allowed his kisses.
Unless she chose ruin…
Her heartbeat flickered and her stomach somersaulted.Was she fool enough to do that?
But John had added to her father’s dowry as a gift so she could broaden her choice of husbands and marry for love if she wanted to. Why should it matter if she chose a man who needed the money?
Because John thought Lord Framlington was false and heartless.
She rode out of the park gates beside Evans.
She thought Lord Framlington was sincere. He had not hidden his need for her fortune, just said he’d chosen her over other wealthy women.
Her heart wanted her to choose him.
But John did not like him and therefore nor did her father. Lord Framlington could never be hers unless she defied them.
You are a fool, Mary. End it tomorrow. It can go no further.
Outside her brother’s front door, Evans swung down from his saddle and offered his hand to help her dismount. She did not need it. She lifted her knee from the pommel of her side saddle and lowered herself to the step he formed with his hands, before stepping onto the floor.
‘You need not trouble yourself to tell tales, Evans, I shall inform my father,’ she told him before walking up the front steps.
‘Miss.’ He bowed and removed his hat.
Mary entered the house, as a footman held the door for her.
Her family would be in the breakfast room. She headed there, removing her hatpin and taking off her hat, then stripping off her gloves. She passed the items to a footman on the way.
Her youngest brothers and sisters ate in the nursery, but those who could sit sensibly shared the adults’ table and so the breakfast room was noisy. She smiled at her father and mother when she entered and at John and Kate.
Mary loved her family. She’d never wanted for anything. She’d always felt secure. So why did the danger Lord Framlington dangle draw her away?
‘Mr Finch said you were riding, Mary,’ her mother said with a gentle smile. ‘That is unusual for you.’ It was a subtle question.
‘I slept poorly and the morning was so sunny I could not resist.’ Mary sat among her younger brothers and sisters.
‘Had you asked I would have ridden with you,’ her father said.
‘It was a momentary decision, Papa.’ A blush warmed her cheeks. Her eyes focused on the spout of the chocolate pot a footman used to fill her cup.
‘Was Hyde Park busy?’ John asked from the head of the table.
John was older than her by a decade. He behaved more like a second father than a brother. She helped herself to bread from a plate a footman held. ‘Not very.’ She looked at John. ‘I saw Lord Framlington, though. He stopped and spoke to me.’
‘Then you must not go again without a chaperon,’ John responded.
‘John,’ Kate said from the other end of the table. ‘Mary is sensible. She took a groom and I’m sure she can cope with Lord Framlington. She was in the open.’
Mary smiled aThank youat her sister-in-law.
