Never a Gentleman Read Online Free PDF

He’d offered marriage, and she had rejected
     him. The onus now rested on her. But he resented the hell out her blithe dismissal of his sacrifice.
    “You just promised to cooperate.”
    “I promised to help. By that I meant I could disappear into the country where nobody cared about what happened in Canterbury,
     and you would be able to avoid a marriage neither of us wants.”
    She was exacerbating his headache. “Don’t be absurd,” he said. “Every gossip in London is waiting outside. You can’t leave
     this room without announcing an engagement.”
    Her eyes had gone flat. “An engagement? Oh, is that what we’re talking about?”
    “Of course it is.”
    Kate gave him a quick kick in the shins. “An actual proposal might come in handy, Diccan.”
    Diccan sucked in a breath. He didn’t have time for this. The longer Miss Fairchild balked, the farther behind he got. Evenham’s
     confession weighed on him; he swore he could still smell the boy’s blood on his hands. “Oh, hell,” he muttered, digging the
     heel of his hand into his eye, as if that could ease his throbbing head. “Fine. Miss Fairchild. Will you do me the honor of
     marrying me?”
    It might not have been the most romantic proposal ever. It certainly didn’t warrant Miss Fairchild’s reaction.
    “If you want to insult me,” she said in deliberate tones as she rose majestically to her feet and approached him, “You might
     as well do it behind my back. I have too much to do to waste my time.”
    “Damn it—”
    She never let him finish. Winding up like a premierboxer, she punched him in the nose and walked out the door.
    In her wake, the room echoed with a thick silence. Diccan was surprised his nose didn’t bleed all over his cravat. Miss Fairchild
     hadn’t spent her life with the army without learning how to hit.
    Kate, too, got to her feet. “Well,” she said, sounding suspiciously amused as she settled her primrose dress about her. “Now
     I understand why you’re thought to be the suavest man in England.”
    Diccan knew he had no right, but he felt aggrieved. “I’m marrying her, Kate. What do you want?”
    She gave him a sad look. “Courtesy would be a good start.” And she walked out too.
    Diccan was still standing slack-jawed when the maid finally came in to answer his call. He slumped back into his seat and
     dropped his head to his hands. “Coffee,” he growled. “And see if you have any hemlock.”

Chapter 2
    G race was folding her clothing into her portmanteau when Kate strolled into the room.
    “May I come in?” she asked, closing the door.
    Grace didn’t bother to look up. “As long as you haven’t brought anyone else with you.”
    Kate laughed. “I believe he’s downstairs making sure his nose is intact.” Before Grace could respond, she raised a hand. “And
     don’t you dare apologize. I’ve known that scapegrace since my christening, and I have never once seen him bollocks up a situation
     like he did just now. If it had been anyone else, I would have said he was overset.”
    “I imagine he was,” Grace allowed, shaking out her gray moiré evening gown. “I’d think the very last place he would expect
     to find himself was in bed with an antidote like me.”
    “Grace,” Kate warned, settling herself back on the window seat. “That is unworthy of you.”
    As miserable as she felt, Grace smiled. “Dearest Kate,” she said, smoothing the drab silk with her hand. “I was notlooking for sympathy. I know perfectly well who I am.
And
who I am not. And I am definitely not a woman Diccan Hilliard would notice if he hadn’t met me in your parlor.”
    “He likes you perfectly well,” her friend protested.
    “Of course he does. To tip his hat to in the street. Not to bed.”
    Feeling the heat of yet another blush, she decided she was tired of always being uncomfortable. But the feel of his hand had
     been so delicious…
    “Here,” Kate said as if she heard the turmoil inside Grace’s