Darker Than Love Read Online Free PDF Page A

him.
    ‘Oh, I have news of great import,’ she cried excitedly, suddenly recalling the help Alicia had asked of her. ‘Remember me talking of Clarissa?’
    ‘Your prim little cousin,’ replied Julian, encouraging her with a raised eyebrow.
    ‘Well, she’s in London and she’s to be wed. And you’ll never believe who to.’ Lucy paused, eager to create dramatic effect. ‘To Lord Marldon. Isn’t it perfectly dreadful?’
    Sir Julian whistled between his teeth. ‘Well, well. I never thought I’d hear those words. Marldon getting wed, eh? Still, I’d heard his coffers were rather low. I assume the dowry is quite substantial.’
    ‘Oh, but of course,’ said Lucy gravely. ‘And, in return, Clarissa becomes a countess. Apparently her father is as proud as punch.’
    ‘An excellent match, as they say,’ said Julian. ‘And dear papa? Is he also delighted at the prospect of gaining a son-in-law whose tastes are … how shall I phrase it, a little rare?’
    ‘Pah!’ said Lucy in a sharp, cross breath. ‘I doubt he’s given much thought to that. Why, the lovelorn fool merely wants Clarissa off his hands, and quickly.Wouldn’t you with a wife like Alicia, eager to mete out punishment at your slightest wrongdoing? A woman always ready to –’
    ‘Not my taste, I’m afraid,’ interrupted Sir Julian, squeezing her hand and smiling suggestively. ‘You of all people should know that.’
    Lucy, for once unable to summon up a breezy, flirtatious quip, sighed despondently. For a moment she fell silent, her thoughts turning bitterly to her own ill-treatment at the hands of Charles Longleigh. He was a selfish browbeater and, worse still, he was a hypocrite. Here was a man who, having once denounced her for all manner of indecencies, was about to marry off his own daughter to the most notorious debauchee in London. Was he completely shameless? Devoid of the merest scrap of conscience?
    Why, a woman of the loosest morals would be hard-pressed to keep pace with Lord Marldon, and poor Clarissa was but a sweet young virgin. And, according to Alicia, she was utterly blind to her father’s scheming ways. She had not the faintest notion of what lay ahead of her.
    As they turned into Piccadilly Lucy’s spirits rose. ‘But all is not lost,’ she exclaimed, taking a couple of sideways skips. ‘Alicia has hit upon a most wonderful plan. She thinks it prudent to try and make Clarissa somewhat more amenable to Marldon’s demands. And guess who’s been charged with the task of, shall we say, introducing her to a little of what’s to come?’
    Julian laughed and shook his head. ‘You haven’t, have you? What on earth for? Marldon’s hardly going to reject the girl, is he? He needs the money. I would have thought he’d take her if she were riddled with the pox and as coarse as a sailor’s drab.’
    ‘Well unfortunately she isn’t,’ replied Lucy, hooking her arm over Julian’s. ‘So she won’t have the luxury of being cast aside or locked in a broom cupboard. No, apparently – and more’s the pity – the poor girl’s growninto quite a beauty. Alicia, dear Alicia, simply hopes to ease Clarissa’s suffering, reduce the trauma of the conjugal bed.’
    ‘How very benevolent,’ said Julian, smiling. ‘So, my little Jezebel, what is the plan?’
    ‘Ah,’ said Lucy enigmatically. ‘First you must show me my gift. Perhaps then I may consider telling you.’
    ‘I shall hail a cab at once,’ he replied, fingers clicking in the air.
    At Chester Square the hansom drew to a halt. To Lucy’s relief, the stucco terraces looked sleepy and the streets were quiet. Nevertheless, she kept her head bowed as Sir Julian reached up to hand the cabman his fare.
    Belgravia could be such a gossipy neighbourhood and her reputation was in no need of scandalised embellishments. She’d enlivened quite enough afternoon teas when she’d failed to complete her year of mourning. But Lucy knew that dear old Robert, God rest his soul,