Page 20 of The Danger of Desire
“Miss! You’re picking up all sorts of bad language from these jaunts to Covent Garden. If you’re not careful, you’ll start using it in society, and then you’ll never find a husband.”
She glanced away. “I don’t want a husband. Men only care about themselves.” When he bristled, she added hastily, “Present company excepted, of course. But you’re a Wesleyan—you’ve been raised to care about people. Most men do whatever they want, without considering what’s good for their families.”
Papa had dragged the family from pillar to post during the war and afterward, looking for better chances to make money at the tables. If he hadn’t won Camden Hall in a stroke of amazing luck, who knew how long they would have wandered the world?
Then there was Reynold. She’d never forgive him for abandoning his family. For gambling away her and Brilliana’s futures. And sweet little Silas’s.
Tears stung her eyes. Silaswouldhave a future, even if she had to gamble herself into the grave.
Lord Knightford could probe all he liked into her life, but he wouldn’t stop her from finding the man who’d cheated Reynold.
And he damned well wouldn’t stop her from getting back what Silas deserved to inherit. Woe be unto him if he tried.
Six
The day after Miss Trevor disappeared from the gaming hell, Warren waited in the foyer of Lady Pensworth’s town house for his card to be accepted.
He’d dragged himself out of bed early to make certain he caught the ladies before they went shopping or some such feminine foolery. After Miss Trevor had left him dripping with port and his clothes ruined, only to disappear, he wasn’t about to let that happen again.
Last night he could have roused her household and told her aunt what she was up to. But he hadn’t wanted to make trouble for her—just put an end to her dangerous game.
He needed to speak to her privately, and he wasn’t leaving until he did. Fortunately, Lady Pensworth was sure to have him admitted, since she wanted a husband for her niece.
The footman came back. “Her ladyship is in, my lord, if you will follow me.”
With a nod, he allowed the servant to escort him back to the drawing room. Before the man could announce him, Warren heard Lady Pensworth say, “Out, you beast! I’m not putting up with your shenanigans today!”
The footman showed Warren in, where they found Lady Pensworth shooing a Persian cat. Or trying to, since the feline merely scurried beneath the furniture.
Either the baroness had not heard them enter or she was too intent on dealing with the puss to notice, for she stamped her foot in front of the settee.
That would have sent any other feline fleeing; this one hissed at her from beneath the settee.
“Lord Knightford, milady,” the footman announced.
The tall, bespectacled woman whirled around. “Knightford! So glad you’ve come to call. Perhaps you can coax that horrible creature out from under the settee. The damned thing never heeds what I say.”
He chuckled as he bowed. “I don’t think there’s a cat alive who will. If you want a pet who will obey you absolutely, madam, you should probably get a dog. They’re more easily trained.”
“Oh, the beast is not mine, but my niece’s. She hates me.”
“I doubt seriously that Miss Trevor is so foolish as to hate—”
“Nother.” Lady Pensworth rolled her eyes. “The cat. I’ve no idea why it despises me. It’s not as if I’ve done anything to her.”
“Some cats are cantankerous.”
Rather like Lady Pensworth, who had a reputation for being forthright, irritable, and a little eccentric. But he’d known her as a boy, when she’d visited his mother, and he always remembered her giving him lemon drops.
That had been before Mother had converted to Methodism and lost some friends in the process, including Lady Pensworth.
With a rustle of skirts, the baroness took a seat and eyed him closely. “How kind of you to call,” she said, as if recalling her manners. “Though I assume my niece is the person you actually came to see.”
So she knew of his attentions to Miss Trevor? Apparently the gossips were already pairing them.
That was just as well. It would make it easier for him to learn what was going on. “I assure you I came to see you both. And you’re looking very well today. That color becomes you.”
“Hmm.” When he strolled over to take her hand and kiss it, the corners of her lips twitched. “Delia is still abed, I’m afraid. The poor girl had such a headache after dancing in the heat yesterday that she came home early, retired straightaway, and has not yet risen.”
