London's Perfect Scoundrel Read Online Free PDF

waiting.”
    Victor swung his head around. “Dare.”
    Tristan Carroway, Viscount Dare, nodded back athim, his solemn face at odds with the twinkle in his light blue eyes. “Ruddick.”
    Sending her a last, angry look, Victor strode off in the direction of his latest political allies. “Ogre,” she muttered.
    “I hope you realize I’d rather break my neck than dance a quadrille,” Dare said, taking her arm.
    “I know.”
    “I’ve been commanded to escort you to Georgiana,” he said amiably, guiding her around the fringes of the crowd. “She wants to chastise you.”
    Everyone seemed to, tonight . “And what do you think, my lord?”
    “I think that whatever game Saint is playing, you probably don’t want to be a part of it.”
    “I thought you were friends.”
    The viscount shrugged. “We used to be. Now we play cards together on occasion.”
    “Why does everyone call him Saint?”
    “Besides the obvious? He inherited the St. Aubyn title when he was six or seven. I would guess that ‘Saint’ seemed better suited to a youth than the mouthful of ‘Marquis of St. Aubyn.’ Now, though, I imagine he finds it…amusing, since he’s about the furthest thing from a saint there is without taking hell into account.”
    “Why?”
    “You’d have to ask him—not that I would, if I were you. Which I’m not, thank God, since I’d look dreadful in an evening gown.”
    Evie chuckled, though Dare’s comments were a little surprising. His own reputation as a rake had been well warranted, to say the least, though now that he’d married his heretofore harshest critic, most of the gossip had ceased. If he felt it necessary to caution her aboutSt. Aubyn, his words were something she should take seriously.
    “Thank you for the warning,” she said, granting him a warm smile, “but Lord St. Aubyn is merely an obstacle to the commencement of a project of mine. In another few days I’ll have little or no reason even to set eyes on him.”
    “Well, until that time, just don’t turn your back on him, Evie.”
    That didn’t leave her feeling the least bit better about any of this. At the same time, all of the rumors and finally meeting St. Aubyn face-to-face made her nothing if not more curious. As things were, however, she’d be better off leaving her questions about him unanswered.
     
    She spent the next morning organizing questions and points to look for during her tour of the orphanage. Thankfully Victor stomped off to one of his meetings early, leaving her with one of his perturbed glares that wondered why she even breathed when he hadn’t instructed her to do so. The longer she could put off a confrontation over her waltz with St. Aubyn, the more likely he was to forget about it—especially if he needed her to go to a tea party or charm one of his fat, bald compatriots.
    If he discovered her plans, he would forbid her to have anything to do with the orphanage. And if that happened, she wasn’t certain what she would do. Best, then, if he didn’t find out.
    The only places she could go without a chaperone were Lucinda’s, Georgiana’s, or her Aunt Houton’s, so she told the butler that Victor would be able to find her at her aunt’s. That seemed the location least likely to raise his ire or his suspicions. It was ridiculous, to haveto lie about doing good deeds, but she didn’t want her plans ruined before she even had a chance to begin them.
    When Phillip stopped the coach on Great Titchfield Road, she sat inside for a long moment, making certain she had her pencil and papers and notes so she wouldn’t look like a fool in front of her escort—or the children. “Please wait for me,” she said as she emerged. “I may be a short while.”
    The driver nodded. “It’s all that heavy traffic between Ruddick House and Lord and Lady Houton’s,” he said, shutting the door behind her and climbing back up to his perch.
    Evelyn smiled at him, more grateful than she could express. Since Victor’s return