Page 31 of A Rake's Redemption
The women looked relieved and started talking at once, assuring Amelia how they would forever be in her debt. Caroline wondered if they had any idea what they were committing to. She would have to let Alex know what had transpired tonight. He’d have to stop pursuing the wives of George’s friends, at least for a while. Meanwhile, the conversation had planted a seed of another sort in Caroline’s mind.
…
“Good God Almighty.” He stared at Caroline, seated in his library the next morning, and wished he hadn’t consumed so much whiskey last night at the gaming hell. “How could Jeannette Compton be such an idiot?”
“Miranda started it by saying she was hoping you could smooth Charles’s ruffled feathers, but I suspect Jeanette was jealous.”
Alex took a good swallow of strong, black coffee. He preferred coffee to tea, especially in the morning.Thismorning, it had a particularly restorative benefit, given he hadn’t gotten in until quite late. “Apart from the fact that the woman brays like a donkey and has about the same amount of appeal, her husband is not one of George’s close friends.”
Caroline tilted her head to study Alex. “Maybe you should send Jeannette a negligee, then she will feel as though she fits in. I doubt she would admit tonotbeing in your bed.”
“Actually, the baron is a decent sort.” Alex took another sip of coffee. “I would rather leave the man his dignity.”
Caroline nodded. “Joshua Compton would prefer traipsing about his country estate discussing crop yields with his steward than to be in Town.”
“One of the few men who has any sense,” Alex said.
“What about Charles Locke? He is a different matter.”
Alex shrugged. “He has no proof that I was the man in his wife’s room. I’m sure I’m not the first she’s invited to her chamber.”
Caroline picked up the cup of hot chocolate Evans had left for her. “If Charles gets wind of the negligees being gifts, he could trace Miranda’s back to you.”
“That would be hard to do. I pick them up from Madame Dubois myself and have my own runner deliver them. They are both paid extremely well to know nothing.”
“Still, it might be wise for you to lay low for a while,” Caroline said. “If Amelia decides to tell George—”
“She will not. At least, not right now. She acquired ammunition last night, which means she can control those four ladies.” Alex felt a muscle in his jaw twitch. “And Amelia likes to control.”
“So does Miranda. She is dead set on luring you back to her bed.”
Alex shook his head and then wished he hadn’t. The gaming hells didn’t serve a high class of whiskey. He poured more coffee. “Miranda is wrong. One visit is all she gets. I do not need entanglements.”
“You might need to tell her that, then. I just stopped by at this ungodly hour to warn you that Amelia is aware of what you have been doing.” Caroline set her cup down and rose to leave. “We both know how manipulative she can be.”
The thought remained in Alex’s semi-revived brain as he escorted Caroline to the door and made sure her carriage was waiting. He returned to the library and sank down in a wing chair by the unlit hearth.
The room might be cold, but his capers had certainly ignited the wrong fires. Alex was sure Amelia would hold on to the information she’d gleaned to use to her benefit if the case arose, and he didn’t want to be called out. He was an excellent shot—and had quick reflexes when his brain wasn’t afloat in liquor—but there was no sense in wounding a man physically.
He finished his coffee, wishing his head didn’t feel as though a hammer were banging on it from the inside. He shouldn’t have gotten so sotted, but he wanted to forget about the deal he’d made with Inis to send her to America once his charade was over.
He didn’t want her to leave. He lusted for her more than any of the willing women he took to bed. He wanted to run his hands across every inch of her naked skin and then let his mouth do the same. At the same time, he felt oddly protective of her, and not as an employer. For the first time that he could remember, the idea of having a permanent mistress was appealing. He’d told Caroline he wanted no entanglements. As far as his trysts were concerned, one episode was definitely enough.
But Inis was different. He wanted to provide for her. To set her up in a small house with her own allowance and visiting privileges. Ninety-nine percent of women in her circumstances—poor, uneducated, with no connections—would leap at the chance to be settled in style.
Instinctively, he knew Inis was the one percent who wouldn’t.
Damnation.
He was feeling better when he met Brice at John Adler’s stables in Covent Garden later that afternoon. He wasn’t especially interested in purchasing additional horses, but it had dawned on him that perhaps he could get some additional information from the man who’d lost Inis to him in the card game.
John recognized him immediately, and a wary look crossed his face. “Is the lad not working out for you?”
“Ah…yes.” Alex managed at the last second to remember John thought Inis was a boy. “I mean, he is doing quite well. He did not happen to mention if he had any brothers? I could use a few more like him.”
John shook his head. “Not that I recall.”
“We actually came to look at the horses you have out in the paddock,” Brice said. “The sign by the door says you are a horse trader as well.”
