Page 47 of Ruthless with a Rogue
That was the only reason.
A mocking voice cackled in his mind.
He told it to shut the bloody hell up.
She gripped her aunt’s arm as she bounced ever so slightly on her toes.“I believe I just glimpsed Mr.Frederick Hodge!”
Derek’s lips curved.He’d known she’d be excited when she found out who was in attendance tonight.Not just the Dowager Duchess of Ironcrest, who he planned to introduce her to, butacademics.People who spoke Miss Forester’s language.
“Is that a smile, Lord Dunmore?”a soft, feminine voice murmured from his side.
He cleared his expression and met a pair of sparkling hazel eyes.“Lady Rutledge,” he greeted with a bow.“It must be your delightful gathering that had me nearly losing my senses.My frown is now firmly back in place.”He said the last for her ears alone, and she hid her smile behind her fan.He cleared his throat.“You remember Miss Forester from our sojourn at Hyde Park?And may I introduce her aunt, Lady Elliot.”
He stepped away as the ladies exchanged pleasantries and made his way over to the sideboard to greet Lord Rutledge.
“Rutledge.”
“Dunmore.”Rutledge nodded in greeting.He handed Derek a scotch without a word, and Derek gladly took it.He tossed it back, reveling in the smoky burn down his throat and the warmth spreading through his stomach.
Lord Rutledge—Rupert—was the one other person besides Rafe who had been by Derek’s side going all the way back to their days at Harrow.Though their friendship hadn’t always been an easy one, thanks to Rutledge’s cursed mother.Fortunately, Rupert’s marriage to Lady Rutledge had brought about a significant change in the man’s life, including his involvement in the foundling home and the strengthening of his and Derek’s friendship.
“Another great turnout.Should be interesting conversation tonight,” Rupert murmured.
“Isn’t it always?”Derek cocked an eyebrow, thinking of the diverse array of scholars, businessmen, and nobility that made up the Rutledge’s dinner parties.
Rupert chuckled.“Not in the usual way.”He subtly inclined his head to the left.
Derek barely contained his groan when his gaze alighted on the person holding Rupert’s focus.“I see now what you mean.You couldn’t convince the wife not to invite her bosom chum?”
“Unfortunately, no.”Rupert sighed.“But I could hardly argue.Poor Lady Pennington has to live with the man.The least we can do is endure his company for one meal.”
Derek observed Lord Pennington over his glass of scotch as the man surveyed the room.Pennington’s gaze lingered on something.Derek followed the man’s stare—and his entire body tensed.Miss Forester.She stood alongside her aunt, conversing with some of the scholars in attendance.Unbeknownst to her, a reprobate had set his sights on her.Derek had wanted to wring the man’s neck at his treatment of Miss Forester in Hyde Park.And Derek didn’t miss the loathing the man was directing her way right now.Pennington had been made a fool.Men of his ilk didn’t take well to that.
“Can we?”Derek murmured, his words rumbling from him with a growl.He wasn’t so sure he could tolerate the man.Even for something as short as a dinner.If the man kept his lecherous gaze on Miss Forester, he wasn’t going to make ittodinner.Derek’s hands curled into fists.
“I suppose we’ll find out.Dinner is ready to be served.Just try not to skewer him with the carving knife.It wouldn’t be fair to the maids to have to scrub the Aubusson clean of blood.”
Derek grunted in response, and they made their way through the guests toward the doors that led to the dining room.
“Oh, did you speak with Ironcrest about the foundling home’s expansion?”
Derek’s heart sank.Fuck, he’d forgotten.Guilt slithered through him.He’d been too preoccupied with himself.With Miss Forester.The children didn’t deserve that.“I did.As of right now, there will be no second home.”
Rupert stopped in his tracks.“Pardon?”
“There were massive fires at Ironcrest Castle, extensive damage.Ironcrest can no longer fund the project.It’s where he is now, assessing the damage.I need to start looking for ways to raise capital, but it’s a hefty investment.”Understatement.It was afuckingimmense amount of money.The new building was set to be large enough to house hundreds of children,hundreds.
“Bloody hell,” Rupert muttered.“We already have forty children relying on that home.We need to think of something.Maybe we can find an investor in tonight’s attendees.”
Derek scoffed.“With most of the academics hurting for money themselves, and the businessmen more interested in filling their pockets than a child’s belly, I’m not optimistic.”But they’d figure something out.They had to.Wentworth’s proposal nagged at his mind, painfully persistent.Not yet.They weren’t at that point yet.
They reached Lady Rutledge, who was conversing with the Dowager Duchess of Ironcrest, and a little of the gloom surrounding him dissipated upon seeing Dorothea.Derek offered his arm to Lady Rutledge, ready to escort her into dinner as the highest-ranked gentleman at the gathering.Rutledge stepped up to the dowager.
“I see you are alive and well,” Dorothea remarked, studying Derek enough to make him squirm.“I was beginning to wonder, as you haven’t graced me with your presence in quite some time.”
Despite her chastisement, she released Lord Rutledge and reached out to squeeze Derek’s hand, her slight frame belying the strength in that white-gloved grip.Rafe may be dubbed the Iron Duke, but he wasn’t the only one who possessed an iron core.Surviving whatever demons lay hidden in their past demanded as much.
He arched a brow.“I visited you a little over a fortnight ago, Your Grace.If I remember correctly, you maneuvered—quite deftly I might add—His Grace and me into escorting you to the Chesterfield Ball.”
