A Matchmaking Miss Read Online Free PDF Page A

him; he has a family to feed, after all, and he can't be expected to go without wages for another year."
    "What the devil are you talking about?" Joss demanded, the ropes binding him temporarily forgotten. "My solicitor assured me there were no problems with the estate!"
    "Your solicitor? That would be a Mr. Reginald Hedgerton of Harrowby Street?"
    "Yes." He wasn't sure he cared for the tone of her voice.
    "I've written to him several times since Lord Frederick's death, and I found him to be . . . shall we say, less than sympathetic?" Matty said, her lips thinning in renewed anger at the thought of the solicitor's high-handed behavior. "Easy for him to advise Lady Louisa to live within her means, when he's not the one attempting to keep an estate going on a quarterly allowance."
    Joss shifted uncomfortably, recalling that the solicitor had said something about the countess dunning him for more money. At the time he'd attributed her actions to greed, but now . . .
    "May I ask what you mean?" he queried, trying not to topple over as the carriage rounded a particularly sharp bend. "It was my understanding that the estate was entailed."
    "The estate, yes, but not the fortune to run it," Matty answered, feeling a pang of guilt as he struggled to keep his balance. "The bulk of the money is being held in trust for you, and Mr. Hedgerton seems determined not to part with a penny of it — not even when I wrote to him that Lady Louisa was reduced to selling her jewels to pay the grocer's bill."
    "
What?
" Joss tried sitting forward, and almost landed in Miss Stone's lap. He straightened himself with a muttered curse and shot her an exasperated look. "Ma'am, if I give you my word that I won't escape, would you kindly untie these blasted ropes? I feel a fool sitting here trussed up like a Christmas goose."
    The analogy brought a reluctant smile to Matty's lips. She'd already determined he posed no particular threat to her, and decided she had nothing to lose in granting his request. Still . . . "Your most solemn word, sir?" she asked, eyeing his broad shoulders with trepidation.
    "My word as a gentleman," he promised, furious that she would dare question his honor in so bold a manner.
    "Very well." She moved over to sit beside him, her slender fingers making easy work ofthe knots. "But I warn you, I shall be extremely vexed if you give me the slip."
    "I won't," he promised, biting back a groan as pain shot through his hands and feet.
    "Does that hurt?" She gently stroked the chafed area on his tanned wrists. "I am sorry. James assured me that the ropes didn't hurt a bit when I tied him up. But of course, he didn't try escaping as you did."
    "Then you're saying I have only myself to blame, is that it?" he asked, his shoulders relaxing as the pain gradually eased.
    "Perhaps," she conceded, uncertain if he was teasing. "I
did
warn you not to struggle."
    "So you did." He raised curious eyes to study the face that was inches from his own. "And who is James, might I ask? I thought you didn't make a habit of kidnapping innocent men."
    "James is our groom; he let me tie him up so that I would know what to do," Matty explained, her color deepening as she realized she was still cradling his hand in hers. She gently dropped it and returned to her own seat.
    "I see. That was very obliging of him," Joss replied gravely, his jaw clenching as he tried not to smile. By rights he knew he ought to be furious, but somehow the image of Miss Stone studiously practicing her skills on a hapless servant appealed to his sense of the ridiculous.
    "I thought so; Kingsley almost had a fit ofthe vapors when I asked him."
    "Kingsley!" Joss exclaimed, temporarily diverted at the mention of the butler he remembered from his youth. "Good heavens — never say he is still at Kirkswood! He was almost Methusula's age when
I
was a lad."
    "Indeed he is, and still as pompous as ever," Matty said, with a rueful shake of her head. "He asked me to assure you that Cook