Bargaining With a Rake (A Whisper of Scandal Novel) Read Online Free PDF

patted her knee. “Your worries are unfounded. If it makes you feel
better, I know he has a country estate, which you could reside at permanently
if you were to marry.”
    Her father’s words of assurance
actually made her feel like retching. She swallowed convulsively. God help her,
her thoughts had been selfish. Shame washed through her. She’d not even
considered whoever was threatening them. Her worry was solely that she was
positive marriage to a man like Mr. Mallorian would make her miserable.
    The carriage jerked to a start, and
as it rolled down the road she stared out the window. Her sister took her hand
and squeezed. Gillian offered Whitney a quick reassuring smile before turning
back to pretend interest in the scenery. The trees blurred by her. She was
prepared to sacrifice marrying for love to protect her sister, but that didn’t
mean she wanted to marry a man she detested. Mr. Mallorian was not a good man.
Angry tears burned the back of her throat at her father’s willingness to pawn
her off on anyone who may be interested, whether he was a good person or not.
    The trip to the Primwitty ball was
fortunately quick. The silence in the carriage had been deafening. As they
ascended the stairs to the entrance of the ball, Gillian blinked in surprise at
her Aunt Millicent’s smiling face. “I thought you couldn’t come tonight,” she
said and rushed over to give her aunt a hug. Auntie was just what she needed.
Someone in her corner who might be able to talk reason with her father or at
the very least distract him so she could find Mr. Sutherland. She knew for a
fact he was supposed to be here.
    She pressed her mouth close to her
aunt’s ear. “Auntie, can you distract Father long enough for Whitney and I to
slip away unnoticed?”
    Her aunt raised a silver brow at her.
“Are you up to anything improper?”
    “Shall I lie?” Gillian held her
breath, waiting for her aunt’s response. Auntie was the least conventional
person Gillian had ever known, but she wasn’t sure her aunt would approve of
her plan to seduce Mr. Sutherland into marrying her. Then again, Auntie might
approve if she knew about Whitney, but the only thing Auntie knew was the same
as everyone else.
    Whitney had lost her memory of the
night their mother died. According to the doctors, the simple shock of losing
her mother so young had been the culprit. The doctors couldn’t say if her
memory would ever come back. All they had ever said was it could be dangerous to
Whitney’s fragile mind to press the memories on her. And the doctors didn’t
know the half of it.
    Auntie looked between Gillian and her
father. “What’s he trying to do?”
    “I think he may be trying to arrange
a marriage between myself and Mr. Mallorian.”
    Auntie’s eyes narrowed into pale
green slits. “That family is horrid. I’d sooner see you a spinster.”
    “So you’ll help me?”
    Auntie patted absently at her silver
hair. The gesture always signaled when her aunt was deciding on something.
Finally, she ceased her ministrations to her already perfectly coifed hair and waved
a hand through the air. “Lucinda, dear, over here.”
    A muddy-haired matron in a flowing
violet gown wiggled around Gillian’s father and toward them. She stopped,
breathless and smiling, her brown eyes lit with warmth. “I may dance tonight, Millicent,”
she announced before pointing down to her feet. “My toes are not bothering me
in the least since I lost a bit of weight.”
    Auntie’s chuckle made Gillian smile
despite her concerns. Auntie’s friend Lucinda looked as if the only thing she’d
lost was her ability to quit eating when full, but the woman seemed genuinely
nice. Auntie nodded toward Gillian. “Lucinda, this is my niece.”
    The woman looked her up and down, her
cheeks rippling into folds when she smiled. “You are just as pretty as your
aunt said. Take heart, dear. Millicent told me you were once friends with the
Duchess of Primwitty. And she’s the ton’s