Page 89 of The Art of Sinning
“Both, to be honest.”
Blakeborough nodded grimly. “I blame myself for Samuel’s behavior. I knew he was in debt to a number of fellows in the prizefighting set. I should have seen the signs, should have realized he was desperate.”
“How could you? Sometimes people can be very good at hiding what’s in their hearts.” He should know. “Besides, it was your father’s responsibility.”
“Of course.” As if realizing he’d already revealed more than he wished, he pasted a cool expression to his face. “If Father had been here, I’m sure he would have acted. And he did cut Samuel off eventually.”
“You could have told Yvette about Samuel’s perfidy then.”
A scowl knit Blakeborough’s brow. “You’ve heard how she talks about herself. If she’d known her own brother had sold her to his friend, all it would have done was make her feel even worse about her ability to attract men. At least after it was over, she was able to believe that the courtship part was real, even if the end result was bad.”
“Sadly, even that was denied her. She found out later that Ruston was a fortune hunter and put two and two together.”
The earl blinked. “She did? How?”
“Oh, for God’s sake, you can’t protect her from everything. She hears gossip like anyone else.”
Blakeborough dropped into a chair. “She never said anything.”
“Of course not. She was embarrassed and humiliated. And she didn’t know that you knew. She wanted to preserve her pride.”
He nodded absently. “That was another reason I didn’t reveal my part in it. So that she could preserve her pride.”
Jeremy rolled his eyes. Thanks to Blakeborough’s careful consideration of her feelings, she’d risked her reputation to find Samuel’s son. Perhaps he should tell the earl about that.
And have Blakeborough find out that Jeremy had been squiring her about town to brothels? That would hardly help the situation.
“You still haven’t answered my offer of marriage,” Jeremy said bluntly. He had to get over that hurdle first. Then he could persuade Yvette.
“Do you love her?” Blakeborough asked.
Thunderation, leave it to the earl to ask the one question he’d been dreading. He’d planned on lying, but faced with the man’s somber expression, he couldn’t. Because he knew it would get back to Yvette, and it would give her hope for things he couldn’t give her.
When Jeremy didn’t answer right away, Blakeborough added, “Look, I am the last person to say that marriage requires love. I’m not even sure I believe in the word—I rather suspect that it’s nothing more than a sly term for good old-fashioned lust. But I know my sister. And she expects to have some semblance of... whatever it is.”
“And I can give her that,” Jeremy said, relieved by Blakeborough’s practical approach. “Because I do feel a deep affection for her, I assure you. As long as that’s enough—”
A knock came at the study door, and Jeremy tensed.
“Excuse me a moment,” the earl murmured, then called out, “Come in.”
A footman entered. “My lord, there’s a woman here to see Mr. Keane.” The servant’s posture was rigid, and he wouldn’t look at Jeremy. “Sheclaimsthat she’s his sister.”
Amanda washere? Oh, God, just what he didn’t need. Time had run out.
And why had the servant said that she’dclaimedto be his sister?
Oh, right. Except for her blue eyes she looked nothing like Jeremy, who was the spitting image of their father. Amanda looked like their Irish mother, short and small, with a head of auburn hair and a dusting of freckles over her lightly tanned skin. No doubt the fellow thought Amanda was his mistress.
Of all the times for his sister to show up, why must it be now? The last thing he needed was Amanda reminding Yvette of all his shortcomings. Perhaps if he could whisk her away before Yvette awoke—
“Thank you,” Jeremy said to the footman, and headed for the door. “Is my mother with her?”
The footman’s expression faltered as he realized he’d stepped wrong. “Er... no. Miss Keane has come from town with a man who claims... whoisanother relation of yours. A Mr. Bonnaud?”
Oh, damn. Bonnaud was here, too. And that could mean only one thing—he’d learned something about Samuel’s by-blow. Otherwise, he would have waited until he saw Jeremy in London again to speak to him about it.
All the more reason to get to his relations before they got to Yvette. “Blakeborough, if you don’t mind...”
