An Inconvenient Wife Read Online Free PDF

toward him with his usual enviable
balance. “You could at least stumble now and again, Carlisle,” Westcott
grumbled, half in jest.
    “You could fall off your
horse now and again,” Carlisle threw back at him with a laugh, referring to
Westcott’s equestrian skills and his own lesser proficiency in the saddle.
    “I could at that.” The
viscount’s smile was as broad as his friend’s. He, St. Clair and Carlisle had
been inseparable since their schooldays. They’d met  on his first day at Eton,
when Jasper, the smallest of them all, had jumped in, fists flying, to aid
Westcott when some older boys had attempted to ‘break the bloody viscount in’.
St. Clair had plunged in right behind.
    Carlisle’s searching gaze
swept the decks and the foam-topped waters below before he joined Westcott in
his sheltered corner. “What are you doing out here, Nick? It’s damn cold.”
    Westcott shrugged, his eyes
returning to the horizon. “The air helps, and since I’ve managed not to
disgrace myself this trip…” He shrugged again. “How long before we reach
Oporto?”
    Carlisle looked sideways at
him. “Tomorrow, if the weather holds and I expect it will. Anxious to get on
with it?”
    “Anxious to get it finished, ”
Westcott replied, “and get home to Sarah.”
    “I’ll bet a monkey Sarah is
thoroughly enjoying herself and will even more when St. Clair and his lady get
back to cosset her, along with your mother and every servant in the place.
Don’t worry about Sarah.”
    “I know that!” Westcott
heard the sour note in his voice and grimaced. “We haven’t been apart since the
accident,” he said. “She was so pleased about going.”
    Carlisle looked at him levelly.
“You can’t keep her sequestered forever, no matter how much you want to protect
her.” He glanced around again, and apparently deeming all was well, gripped
Westcott’s arm. “I’ve had enough of this wind. Come below. A shot of whiskey
will keep you shipshape.”
    “So you say,” Westcott
groused, but made no objection. Truth was, the wind did have a bite to it, and
settled a few minutes later in the Captain’s snug cabin, glass of spirit in his
hand, Westcott did feel more the thing. Maybe he was developing some sea legs,
at least when the water was calm.
    “Tell me again about this
French girl you are going to see.” Carlisle topped up their glasses. “I
couldn’t get much sense from St. Clair. Who would imagine that hey-go-mad being
bowled over by a baby?”
    They exchanged an amused
look and Westcott sipped at the brandy, savoring the fiery heat as it warmed
his chest and belly. “The girl is la Comtesse’ s niece. The child
was adopted but both parents have since died and she is in the care of her
adoptive mother’s second husband. For some reason, the man has taken her to
Portugal.” One corner of his mouth curled back and he lifted a brow. “This did
not sit well with la Comtesse . She is… was concerned for
Miss Durant’s well-being and her dying wish was for St. Clair and Juliette to
ensure she is in good hands.” He swirled the liquid in his glass around and
smiled cynically. “The girl is an heiress of sorts and is not aware of her true
parentage. It may be she is being taken advantage of.”
    Carlisle whistled. “What in
hell are you going to do if she does need rescuing? You could be walking
into a mess, my friend.”
    “You think I don’t know it?”
Westcott answered with some bitterness. “I counted on having Juliette along—to
take charge of the chit if necessary. Now….” He pushed his glass across the
table for a refill.
    Carlisle divided the
remainder of the bottle between them. “Let’s hope it will not be necessary.
Could be the girl is happy where she is and you can return home with a
good report.”
    Westcott snorted, held up
his hands in a resigned gesture, and returned his friend’s skeptical look with
one of his own.
    “That may be, but my gut
tells me otherwise and I’ve learned