Miss Hillary Schools a Scoundrel Read Online Free PDF

boorishness crossed the boundaries of her tolerance, which he must have deduced when Lana folded her arms over her chest and set her jaw.
    “Lana, be sensible.” His voice bordered on pleading. “You have your pick of fine gentlemen. Anyone you want. You’ve no cause to associate with libertines.”
    She sighed. Of course, she wouldn’t seek out the company of such scandalous gentlemen. She sincerely wished for a tidy match with a respectable sort, but her brother wore blinders in the ballroom. She didn’t have her pick of upstanding gentlemen. She had overbearing, destitute viscounts clamoring for her hand.
    “Tell me the true reason you dislike Lord Andrew,” she said softly.
    He hooked a finger between his cravat and neck to loosen it. “What do you mean by the true reason? I hardly need an additional reason to dislike any scoundrel found sniffing round my sister’s skirts.”
    “He wasn’t—He—” Good heavens, if her brother only knew the accuracy of this turn of phrase. “The—the man barely knows I’m alive.”
    “Oh, he knows, Lana. The gentleman came perilously close to salivating in your presence.”
    She scoffed as a rush of warmth infused her body. Jake behaved as if she was the Queen of Sheba, but she kept a looking glass in her bedchamber. She knew her unfashionable red hair and the freckles sprinkled across her nose were abominations. Her mother reminded her almost daily. Lana couldn’t help it if her ivory skin spotted just thinking about the sun.
    “Please, trust my intentions, Lana. I don’t want to see you hurt. Not again.”
    Her mouth dropped open but no sound came out. Her brother referenced Paddock, delivering the equivalent of a gut punch. Humiliation engulfed her, and she couldn’t squeeze out any words around the lump forming in her throat.
    Lord Paddock had duped her entire family, but Lana had been the biggest cake of all. She had ignored the ample evidence that he’d been with other women, the lip rouge on his cravat, his waistcoat reeking of lavender. Only a simpleton would believe a visit to his elderly aunt accounted for the blood red smears and cloud of cheap perfume clinging to his person.
    Lana had made excuses to her family to explain a missed afternoon stroll or his late arrival at the theatre. She’d accepted his flimsy tales with wide-eyed naïveté, convinced she only needed to be a better fiancée to make Leo love her as she had thought she loved him.
    Even when rumors of his mistreatment of Miss Bettis circulated, she had confronted him with the secret hope he would vehemently deny the accusations leveled against him. A foolish part of her believed Leo would reassure her everyone was mistaken, that he wasn’t responsible for the young lady’s injuries. That he’d never even made her acquaintance.
    Lana shuddered. She could have been in Miss Bettis’s shoes just as easily. Closing her eyes, she breathed deeply to gather her strength.
    Her brother had no reason to fear. Lana would never become enamored with a rake again.
    “One must offer one’s heart up in order to have it broken,” she said. “I shan’t be hurt again since I’m aware now that love is rubbish.”
    She opened her eyes to discover Jake’s unwavering stare. Sadness flitted across his features as he scooted across the carriage to assume the seat next to her and place his arm around her shoulders.
    “Please, don’t say that,” he implored. “Love isn’t rubbish.”
    “Perhaps not for you,” she murmured.
    Jake didn’t argue. Instead, he squeezed her in a brotherly hug, making tears prick the back of her eyes. She sniffled a few times before inching away and twisting sideways on the bench to face him.
    “Will you tell me of your infatuation with Lady Audley?”
    Jake’s eyes widened for one fleeting moment before his expression went blank. “I don’t know your meaning.” He directed his gaze forward; his jaw tightened. Clearly, he did know her meaning, but she would honor his