Page 81 of Ruthless with a Rogue
“Oh.My.God.”
Livy blinked, her wide gaze darting back and forth between the two women.
“Franny…” Phi’s voice had more alarm and curiosity baked into it now.
“I can’t believe her!That little hellion!And to have not told me.”Franny’s indignation echoed around the room.She met Phi’s gaze.“You willneverguess who just got married.”
Phi’s auburn brows drew together.“I’m trying to come up with a single match that could inspire your reaction, but…”
Franny grinned wickedly.“Oh, this is a match no one saw coming.But I have to say, thinking on it now, I’m not nearly as surprised as I should be.”
All right.Now even Livy was curious, and she didn’t follow gossip of the ton.
“Who?”Phi stomped her foot impatiently.
“Felicity.Jennings.”
Phi cocked her head, and she peered at Franny like Franny had lost her wits.“She and Lord Wessex finally married… Remind me, how is marrying your betrothed shocking?”
“Oh, it’s not,” Franny said casually.“It’s shocking when you marry his father instead.”
Phi fell off the settee.Literally.She scrambled back onto it.“I’m going to have to make you say that again.Felicity didwhat?”
Franny bit her lip and nodded, bouncing where she stood.“She married the bloody duke!”
Phi cackled, fingers pressed to her mouth.“How terribly Felicity-like of her.”She turned to Livy.“Felicity—Lady Felicity Jennings, that is—is one of our dear friends.The Jennings family is one of the loveliest families of the ton.They are…what you would consider the perfect family, above reproach.Only a few know the truth.”Phi winked.“That family is secretly scandalous.”
Livy grinned, and Franny and Phi’s chatter faded into the background.It sounded wonderful.And more than a little like her own life, she realized.Because wasn’t that what she was doing?Donning the mask of propriety in public, yet in private sneaking to gaming hells with a certain rogue.Livy traced a finger down the field spaniel’s nose where his fur took on a white and brown marble cast.Seducing said rogue in her parlor at midnight… Livy thought she’d get along well with this Felicity woman.She fluffed the dog’s curly brown ears between her fingers.
“Rap seems quite taken with you, Livy,” Franny said.
Livy smiled up at her friend, whose green eyes sparkled back.“He is the sweetest thing.”She looked back at the handsome dog.“Yes.Yes, you are, Rapscallion,” she cooed in a singsong voice.“The sweetest thing.”
“He truly is,” Phi said.“Come here, Rappy, sweet boy.”The pooch scurried over to Phi, tripping over his paws in his haste—and nearly upending the teapot, which Livy caught just in time.“We have to enjoy his presence while we can.As soon as Rutledge returns, this one won’t give us the time of day.”
Franny chuckled.“Those two, inseparable.Rupert giftedmeRapscallion.Yet somehow, he ended up being Rupert’s dog.”
Livy tilted her head, studying the pooch’s curly ears.“I see it.They both have unruly brown hair.”
Phi snorted.“It’s as though owner and dog have started to look like one another.”Phi’s blue eyes glinted with mischief, and she looked over at Franny.“Does Rutledge like being told he’s a good boy, too, Franny?”
Where Livy was expecting Franny to blush, the woman’s grin turned sly.“Good boy is the last thing I’d ever call Rupert.”
Livy’s eyebrows disappeared in her hairline, and Phi squealed, her red curls bouncing with the force of her gleeful clapping.“Heavens, how I’ve always envied you, Fran.”
Franny’s smile faded, and she plopped down onto the settee next to Phi.Her brows puckered as she gave her friend a squeeze.“I’m so sorry, Phi.Call me morbid, but I’ve never been happier to hear of a man’s passing.”
“If it makes you morbid, I’m not sure what it makes me.I am bloody elated.Yet, I have six months ofblack.”Phi glared at the crepe veil sitting next to her.The one she’d ripped off as soon as she’d set foot in the drawing room.Her eyes slid shut as if pained, and she let out a small whimper.“Not allowed to do anything fun.Especially when all I want to do is run through the streets of Mayfair shouting to the heavens that I’m free.”Her blue eyes turned glassy.“I’m finally free,” she whispered hoarsely.
“New beginnings,” Franny said softly.
Phi’s eyes cleared, and she glanced from Franny to Livy, chin held high.“New beginnings.Things are finally looking up.Especially now that Livy has assisted me in reviewing the family ledgers.I had feared that Pennington had squandered our entire fortune, leaving me with nothing for my widow’s share.”
Livy stiffened at the mention of Pennington’s name, her gaze darting away to the land on the floor.There was something about hearing the man’s name that instantly turned her blood cold.It was as though if he were discussed but never directly named, she could separate the discussion from the actual man.But his name only had visions of that night flooding her mind.
“It’s meager, but it’s enough.For now,” Phi was saying.“And you better believe I’ll be parking my bottom in that townhouse as long as I’m able until the new Earl claims it.”
What had the woman endured, being married to a man like that?
