A Most Scandalous Proposal Read Online Free PDF

I would have withdrawn at the same time.”
    Mama’s jaw firmed. “You ought to have at any rate. You’ve given no regard to the consequences.”
    “On the contrary. As long as nobody else learns of this, there is little chance of damage to Miss St. Claire’s reputation.”
    Splendid. Sophia leapt on the idea. “Mama, no one knows of this but us. I’m sure we can count on Lord Highgate’s discretion as a gentleman. What harm has been done here?”
    Pale blond curls softening to a silvery gray quivered as Mama drew herself up. At her fullest height, she was nearly as tall as Sophia—and Highgate. “Plenty, if word should get out. Do not forget the maid, who saw fit to inform me of your whereabouts in front of Lady Whitby. You’re fortunate I was able to convince the shrew her presence was not required here. But as things stand …”
    Mama let her voice trail off into menacing silence. Sophia well understood its import. What Lady Whitby couldn’t gather as fodder for gossip, she’d willingly invent.
    Sophia’s head spun, and her knees turned to rubber, as she fought off insensibility for the second time that evening. All she needed was to swoon into Highgate’s arms in front of the wrong witnesses, and they’d find themselvesexchanging vows under special license within a week.
    The entire corridor, awash in the portraits of generations of Posselthwaites, swam before her eyes. Her hands turned to ice. “Mama, I do not think—”
    “Miss St. Claire, are you certain you’re feeling quite the thing?” Highgate’s voice seemed to reverberate along the empty hall. “You’ve gone pale.”
    “I should like to go home now.” She forced the words past the constriction in her throat.
    “I shall send for my carriage at once.”
    Her hand fluttered in an ineffectual attempt to wave Highgate off. “No, not—”
    Ee-ee-eeee
.
    The distinctive laugh cut off her refusal. At the far end of the hall, the faces of two new arrivals blurred. William and the strumpet. Why had he brought her back to witness Sophia’s downfall?
    The floor beneath her feet heaved. Not again! In spite of her efforts, the corridor constricted to a tiny point, and for the second time in an hour, she fainted.
    “R EALLY .” Rufus’s sister, better known to society as Lady Wexford, approached from behind Mrs. St. Claire. “Two spells in one night? That’s rather much.”
    He shifted his weight, the better to support Miss St. Claire’s limp body. After all, it would hardly do to let a young lady of quality slump to the floor, most especially while wearing such a fine ball gown. At least, that was what his sister would tell him.
    Mariah was a stickler for the finest points of protocol. She’d happily spent all thirty-seven years of his life terrorizing him on such matters until they were drilled into his being. He’d always thought their father would havemade a sound investment in buying her a commission—preferably in India.
    Said sister now advanced along the corridor, rather like an Indian elephant, less the trunk, of course. Cloaked in disapproval, she came to stand beside Mrs. St. Claire.
    “Rather than tutting over this turn of events, you might lend a hand.” He shifted Miss St. Claire in his arms, and soft curves pressed into his chest. If his sister divined the direction of his thoughts, she’d berate him for that, too. “Ring for a footman, carry her off yourself.”
    Mariah’s lips disappeared entirely as she pressed her mouth into a rigid line. “I would not make light if I were you.”
    “I say, what seems to have happened?”
    He jerked his head up to find Ludlowe strolling toward them, a woman on his arm. Capital. Just like the man to return to gloat. Hadn’t the bastard done enough damage? The evening just kept getting better and better.
    Ludlowe craned his neck to peer at them. “Why, that’s Miss St. Claire.”
    Rufus barely spared him a glance. “Perceptive of you.”
    Ludlowe’s companion let out an awful