A Gentleman Never Tells Read Online Free PDF Page B

happy match?” Oliver asked.
    â€œThe gentleman in question was Viscount de Lesser.”
    Oliver frowned. “He was a friend of my father’s, but surely—­”
    â€œThe viscount died a few years ago, of a combination of gout and dropsy. I kept an eye on him, because until he took offense to marrying a ‘Wooly Breeder,’ he was quite enthusiastic about marrying me.”
    â€œHe must have been already seventy!”
    â€œSeventy-­three. My father is fond of calculating odds. He decided that the odds of my husband dying while I was still of breeding age were quite high. Therefore, he chose to trade a year or two of discomfort for the title of viscountess.”
    It seemed bloody-­minded to Oliver, but he could hardly say that aloud. What did he know of daughters, after all?
    Still, irritating though Hattie could be, he would no more consider marrying her to an old man than to a beggar.
    â€œIt seemed reasonable to my father,” Lady Windingham said with a sigh. “Thank goodness Lord Windingham came along the next season. My father is inordinately proud of the fact that both of his daughters hold titles.”
    Oliver spent most of his time in the north country and rarely bothered to enter polite society, but even he had heard of Troutt’s adoration for Shady Sadie, which had to have predated his marriage. “I see,” he murmured.
    â€œMy father knew of my brother-­in-­law’s relationship with Sadie Sprinkle,” the lady said, obviously guessing his thought. “He decided that Troutt’s inordinately large girth suggested that he would live only a year or two. He was wrong; my sister had to endure a flagrantly adulterous husband for over four years.”
    â€œThat is truly unfortunate,” Oliver said. He couldn’t think of any comment on the subject that wouldn’t cast a pejorative light on her father, so he said, “I gather you were saved from de Lesser’s attentions by Lord Windingham?”
    â€œThat is exactly right,” she said, giving him another one of her wide-­mouthed smiles. “It’s family lore at this point, but the very first person I danced with in my second season was my future husband, Joshua. The previous spring he had been in mourning for his first wife and did not come to London.”
    â€œSo am I to understand that my callow remarks were in the ser­vice of fate?” Olivier said, a wave of relief coursing through his body.
    â€œExactly! I believe my husband will wish to thank you as well.”
    â€œFate cannot excuse the cruelty of my conduct,” Oliver said frankly. “I truly apologize, Lady Windingham. I’m sure I wounded you, and I am deeply regretful.”
    â€œYou were considerably younger than Darlington, weren’t you?”
    â€œThat is no excuse.”
    â€œYou’re being very nice about it, but Darlington told me a long time ago that it was entirely his doing.”
    â€œIf there is anything I can do to atone for what I did,” Oliver said, rattling off the sentence that Hattie had made him promise to utter, “you have only to ask.”
    His hostess’s eyes narrowed, and she came to a halt. They had walked a considerable way, so far that the far end of the room seemed shrouded in twilight.
    â€œDo you mean it?” she asked.
    â€œAbsolutely.” He was tired of feeling shame. It was an exhausting emotion.
    â€œI have need of a knight errant, as it happens.”
    What? She couldn’t possibly be asking for nightly privileges.
    She read his eyes and burst into laughter. “You are quite handsome, Mr. Berwick, but I’m afraid that my husband absorbs all my attention.” She had charming laughter wrinkles beside her eyes.
    Quite suddenly, Oliver discovered that he liked Lady Windingham. Really liked her. Not in that way, but in the way he used to like his sister before the Bible transformed her into such