Earls Just Want to Have Fun Read Online Free PDF Page A

try.”
    â€œWe will not hurt you,” Brook said.
    â€œ You ,” she sneered. “You nabbed me. What is this place?” She looked around. “A bawdy house?”
    Dane raised a brow. “It’s a kitchen.”
    She did not look as though she believed him, and she continued to jerk her head about, jumping at the slightest sound. Dane was intrigued. He’d judged her thirty or older. She had a woman’s body, but her face was still that of a girl’s. She couldn’t be more than one and twenty, if that. And though her hair was a bit matted, her face had been scrubbed clean—or at least relatively clean. So perhaps she did not relish being dirty. She had large blue eyes that flashed with anger and hatred. This was no simpering miss. The ladies at Almack’s would have fainted dead away.
    A knock sounded on the door, and she jumped to face it, hands outstretched as though to fight off an attacker. “What is that?”
    â€œWe call it knocking,” Dane said. “A polite customary way to inform others you would like admittance.”
    Brook opened the door, and the Derring family jehu stood in the doorway. “Yes, Ezekiel?”
    â€œNote came for you, sir. I thought it best if I brought it.” His gaze found the girl, and he seemed relieved she was unharmed. “Wouldn’t want the other servants asking questions.”
    â€œThank you.” Brook closed the door and broke the seal on the letter. “Damn it.”
    â€œWhat is it?” Dane asked.
    â€œI have to go. Bow Street—”
    â€œNo.” Dane shook his head. “Absolutely not. I forbid it.”
    Brook shrugged. “You don’t have that sort of authority. I have to go.” He started for the door, and Dane moved in front of him, holding the door closed with his hand.
    â€œNow? This moment?”
    â€œIt’s urgent.”
    Dane glared at him. “What am I supposed to do with her?” he asked through a clenched jaw.
    Brook glanced back as though he’d forgotten her for a moment. “Clean her up. I’ll take her to Lord Lyndon tomorrow.”
    â€œIf you really expect to present that girl to Lord Lyndon as his daughter, you are completely daft.”
    â€œWe’ll see,” Brook said. He moved forward then gave Dane a pointed stare when he didn’t remove his hand. With a curse, Dane stepped aside, and Brook was gone.
    Dane turned and looked at the girl. She looked back at him, a challenge and a threat in her eyes. God save him. He’d only wanted relief from the ennui of the Season. He didn’t want a she-devil to contend with. Brook had said to clean her up. Dane supposed that meant clean clothes. But there was no point in putting clean clothes on a dirty body. He’d have to make her wash.
    The servants’ hip bath was kept in the corner of the room. He’d only need to heat some water over the stove. Not that he knew how to work the stove. That was why he had a cook. He’d have to fetch the cook. And when he returned, the girl would be long gone. Was that such a bad thing? Dane thought not, but his brother would disagree. Dane didn’t really care about ruffling Brook’s feathers, but he did wonder why his brother thought this girl could be Lady Elizabeth Grafton, daughter of the Marquess of Lyndon. He knew the story of little Lady Elizabeth. She’d disappeared one day in the park, and despite an exhaustive search for her, she’d never been found. The nanny had been blamed and thrown in prison, but Dane suspected the poor woman was innocent. There were men who kidnapped children to send to the colonies, or for darker reasons. Dane tried to remember more details. He’d been about ten at the time, and the little girl perhaps five. So that would make her twenty now. He glanced at the girl before him. She was about the correct age.
    â€œIf you would meet your parents, you will have to wash and