Happily Bedded Bliss: The Rakes of Cavendish Square Read Online Free PDF

admit that I may have danced with her once, years and years ago. Is she ginger haired?”
    “No, she most certainly is not.”
    Gabriel shrugged. “Well then, there you are. I guess I do not know her, after all.”
    Gresham made a sound like an angry bear.
    “Calm yourself, Adam,” Clybourne told his brother-in-law in a low aside. “Mallory is not at issue here, and it’s clear he does not know her.”
    “Then he ought not to have even mentioned her name,” Gresham said.
    Gabriel briefly lifted his eyes to the ceiling before focusing again on the duke.
    Clybourne looked back. “We are speaking of our other sister.”
    “And what is her name?”
    “Lady Esme.”
    Silence fell, the others clearly waiting for his reaction so they could pounce again.
    But he didn’t have one. “Sorry, I’m afraid I don’t know her either. She’s not a ginger, is she, by any chance?”
    Cries of outrage erupted.
    “Bastard!”
    “Blackguard!”
    “Liar!”
    “Lord Northcote,” Edward Byron said in voice so cold it could have frozen the Thames, “you are walking a very fine line. We all know you are lying and that you
do
know our sister. Tell us how it is you came to meet her and how long this”—the duke briefly closed his eyes as if he were in pain—“liaison has been going on. Was it at Cavendish Square? Did you see her perhaps when she was visiting one of her brothers, or Lady Leopold, and formed an acquaintance?”
    Gabriel grew abruptly annoyed, his hands turning to fists at his sides. If there was one thing he disliked, it was being accused of deceit. “As I’ve told you already, I do not know her. I have never met Lady Esme Byron. I don’t even know any women named Esme.”
    He shot looks at Leo and Lawrence, meeting their eyes. “The pair of you know me, at least a bit. Do you honestly believe I would seduce your sister? Your unwed sister, I presume, since there has been no mention of a cuckolded husband demanding we trade pistol fire at dawn. No, black as my reputation may be, and I in no way dispute the fact that it is every bit as bad as rumor claims, I am not in the habit of pursuing naive young girls.”
    The twins gave identical frowns and exchanged looks with each other. Their silent debate went on for several tense moments before they returned their gazes to him.
    “Very well, if it is as you say,” Lawrence stated in the erudite rhythms of a trained barrister, “and you take pains to avoid romantic dealings with innocent young ladies, then why is it our sister happens to have a drawing of you in her sketchbook?”
    Gabriel stared. “Does she? How very peculiar.”
    “A
naked
drawing!” Lawrence added.
    Gabriel took a moment to digest that particular revelation. “Are you certain it’s me?”
    “Of course it’s you,” thundered Leo. “You’re not all that difficult to recognize.”
    “Show him,” Clybourne ordered.
    One of the others came forward, Lord Cade, if he remembered correctly. The man walked with a slight limp, courtesy of an old war wound, he thought. “Here.” Cade held open a sketchbook.
    Gabriel glanced at the picture, which was surprisingly well-done. “A fine likeness. But the drawing appears to be of a flock of sheep in a field. Although I do agree that they’re all naked except for their natural woolly coats.”
    Cade looked down, scowling heavily. “No, not that one.” He flipped to the next page. “This one.” He held the book out again.
    This time Gabriel saw what they were all talking about as he looked at a drawing in which he was very plainly the subject—and in which he was indisputably naked.
    Again, the picture was exceptionally well drawn, the artist having captured his likeness with considerable skill. Astonishing skill, actually, if this was indeed the work of an untrained young woman.
    He studied the scene, noticing that he was asleep and out of doors, a pastime in which he rarely engaged. In fact the only time in the past couple of years that he