An Escapade and an Engagement Read Online Free PDF Page A

sent home to
Kent. Which would have felt like a victory, of sorts.
    It had taken the grim-faced viscount to make her see that there
would inevitably be repercussions for others tangled up in her affairs, too. To
wake her up to the fact that she would never have forgiven herself if Josie had
lost her job, or Harry had been cashiered out of his regiment, on her account.
Thankfully he had listened to her pleas for leniency for Harry and Josie, and
had given his word not to speak of what he knew about her activities
tonight.
    She reached up and patted Josie on the hand as her faithful
maid began to brush out her hair, separating it into strands so that she could
put it in the plaits she always wore to bed. How could she not have considered
that others might have to pay for her misdemeanours? How could she have been so
selfish?
    She raised her head and regarded her reflection in the mirror
with distaste.
    People were always telling her how very much she resembled her
father. They were beginning to whisper that she was as cold and heartless as
him, too, because of the wooden expression she had taken so many years to
perfect.
    But you couldn’t tell what a person was really like from just
looking at their face. Only think of how wrong she’d been about Lord Ledbury.
Earlier tonight, when she’d noticed him at Lucy Beresford’s come-out ball, she’d
thought him one of the most disagreeable men she’d ever seen. He had not smiled
once, though people had been falling over themselves to try and amuse him.
    She’d really disliked the way he’d behaved, as though he was
doing Lucy’s brother an immense favour by making his first public appearance as
Lord Ledbury in his home. She’d thought Lucy a complete ninny for going into
raptures about him for being some kind of war hero. He looked just the sort of
man to enjoy hacking people to bits, and there was
nothing heroic about such behaviour.
    But he wasn’t cruel at all. He could have ruined her
reputation, and Harry’s career, and left Josie destitute if he was the kind of
man who revelled in inflicting pain on others. But he had chosen not to.
    She looked at her cool expression again and felt a little
comforted. She might look like her father, but she wasn’t like him—not inside,
where it mattered. Was she?
    She gave an involuntary shiver.
    ‘Not long now, miss. Then we’ll get you all snug and warm in
your bed,’ said Josie, misinterpreting the reaction.
    Lady Jayne did not bother to correct her mistake. She had no
intention of adding to her maid’s worries by telling her what had happened. Or
confiding in anybody that Lord Ledbury’s very forbearance, when she knew she
deserved his contempt, had made her feel as though she had behaved in as selfish
a fashion as her father had ever done.
    She couldn’t bear to look at herself any longer. Had she really
encouraged Harry to fall so hopelessly in love with her that he’d acted
recklessly enough to jeopardise his whole career? In just such a way had her
womanising father destroyed the women who’d been foolish enough to fall for his
handsome face and surface charm.
    Not that Lord Ledbury would let that happen. Not now. He was
bound to prevent her from seeing Harry again. He had made it clear he
disapproved of a woman of her rank having a relationship with a man who had no
fortune of his own. Or at the very least a title.
    At last Josie had finished her hair, and she could get into bed
and pull the coverlets up comfortingly to her chin as she wriggled down into the
pillows.
    Though she couldn’t get comfortable. How likely was it that
Lord Ledbury would be able to deter Harry from contacting her again? Not even
her grandfather had managed that.
    She chewed on her thumbnail. She did like Harry. Quite a lot.
And she had been quite cut up when her grandfather had sent her to London to put
an end to the association that had started when his regiment was stationed in
Kent for training. And she had been pleased to see him