Between the Devil and Ian Eversea Read Online Free PDF

him.
    “Congratulations, Captain Eversea,” the duke said. “Rising in the ranks there, are we? Aiming for a governorship?”
    “I don’t think my wife would like to live in India, but it’s not out of the question.”
    “I don’t think they have any puppets in India, so it’s safe,” Ian reassured him, and Chase kicked him under the table.
    The duke either didn’t notice or chose to ignore this non sequitur.
    “And Ian has been offered a promotion as well,” Chase said. “You did know his rank is Captain, Falconbridge?”
    “Ian,” Ian said, “is taking a trip around the world, and will be booking passage very soon. And will be gone for quite some time.”
    “Ah. Around the world you say,” the duke mused. “Coincidentally, we have a guest lately arrived from across the ocean. I’m not certain whether Genevieve has told you about my young ward, Miss Titania Danforth, and her imminent arrival from America.”
    She had. But they’d all forgotten until now. A relative of the duke’s, who was to be married off apace to a title approved of by the duke. Something of that sort.
    “Miss Danforth arrived yesterday.”
    “Safely and well, I hope?” Colin said politely.
    “Quite safe and well. And a more unspoiled, well-bred, impressionable young woman you’ll never meet. It’s my sincere hope that, while she’s here, you will consider her welfare in the same light with which you consider Genevieve’s, and treat her accordingly.“
    No matter how obliquely stated, Ian knew at once it was a warning.
    The man had a lot of bloody nerve. As if he couldn’t resist mounting any female in his vicinity. He had criteria.
    There was a silence at the table, roughly akin to the sort that follows an invitation to duel.
    Don’t say it, Ian. Don’t say it. Don’t say it.
    “Or you’ll . . . what?”
    Colin and Chase were motionless. He knew they were each holding a breath. In the silence that followed, Ian imagined he could hear the condensation trailing the glass of ale.
    The duke said nothing.
    “I would die for Genevieve,” Ian added into the silence. Grimly.
    It was only what was true. He’d put his life on the line for others more than once. And it was one of the reasons his sleep, for years, had hardly been a peaceful one.
    He didn’t do it lightly.
    The duke finally moved, lifting and sipping at his ale leisurely.
    “Well,” he said, “let’s hope you won’t need to die for Miss Danforth.”
    He drained his ale in a final gulp, then raised his eyebrows in approbation. “Excellent brew. Perhaps I’ll have to visit the Pig & Thistle more often.”
    And with that horrible threat he bowed and took his leave.
    “She must be magnificent if the duke thought he needed to warn you.” Colin was thrilled.
    “Nonsense. She sounds dull,” Ian said idly. “The innocent ones generally are.”

 
    Chapter 4

    T HE DUKE SENT FOR Tansy that afternoon, and she smoothed absurdly clammy palms down her skirts before hurrying to a room with a large polished desk in it. He sat at it as though it were a throne, but then, nearly everywhere he sat would seem that way, she thought.
    “In all likelihood I don’t need to remind you of the terms of your father’s will, I’m certain, Miss Danforth, but I’ll state them thusly: the entirety of your fortune will be released to you upon your marriage to a man of whom I approve.”
    Why did he sound like a lawyer? Perhaps that was why her father had entrusted her fate to this man. Perhaps he was capable of communicating only in orders, or by flicking that formidable eyebrow. It was difficult to argue with that eyebrow.
    “Thank you. I’m aware of them.”
    There was an awkward little silence.
    “The last time I saw you, you weren’t any taller than . . .” He held his hand a few feet above the floor. “You hid behind your mother’s skirts. It was at Lilymont.”
    She smiled politely. If she’d hidden behind her mother’s skirts, it was, in all likelihood, the