Pure Temptation Read Online Free PDF Page B

say?” Jack asked with gruff impatience. “You’ve nothing to lose and everything to gain.”
    What did she have to lose? Moira wondered. What if she chanced to meet her former employers while she was out and about in society? What if she met Lord Roger at some social function or other? Perhaps he wouldn’t recognize her dressed as a lady, she reflected hopefully. Due to their age, the elderly Mayhews attended few social events, and as for Roger, tame amusements did not interest him. But there was always a possibility of their paths crossing. She’d just have to cross that bridge when she came to it.
    “Very well,” Moira reluctantly agreed. “Your scheme has some merit. I will do it to prove to you that I am a lady, that I’m as good as any woman born to the gentry. And to help my brother. But mostly because I do not wish to remain a burden to you.”
    Jack sent her a dark look. “I must marry money myself if I am to survive, but I will fulfill my responsibility where you’re concerned. If not for me, you would be hale and hearty today instead of recovering from injuries.”
    “Good show, Miss O’Toole!” Spence enthused, sending Moira a pleased look. “When you’re ready, Jack will introduce you as a distant relative and let nature take its course. You’re a beauty, Miss O’Toole. There is nothing coarse or common about you. If Jack wins, we’ll be toasting your engagement inside three months. But if I’m victorious…”
    “That’s enough, Spence!” Jack warned. “We’ve tired Miss O’Toole. I suggest we repair to the study and let her rest. We’ve plans to make.”
    “Don’t we though,” Spence said as Jack hustled him out the door.
    Moira cradled her injured arm and pondered Jack’s outrageous plan. She’d been a fool to agree, but what choice did she have? Despite Jack’s argument to the contrary, clearly he did not want the added responsibility she represented. He thought he had run her down with his carriage, but she knew for a fact he couldn’t have hurt her much more than she’d already been when she’d flung herself from Lord Roger’s coach. She felt guilty about lying to Jack about his involvement in her “accident,” but she feared that telling the truth presented a far greater risk.
    She was in so deep that Moira saw no way to extricate herself gracefully from this muddle. She’d see this through and prove to Black Jack Graystoke that being a lady did not depend upon one’s birth.
    Moira’s thoughts scattered when she heard a discreet knock on the door. Moments later Pettibone poked his head into the room.
    “Come in, Mr. Pettibone.”
    He stepped inside. “Can I get you anything, miss?”
    “No, thank you. You’ve been more than kind. Have you been with Sir Graystoke long?”
    “Aye, miss, a very long time.”
    Moira bit her lip, then blurted out, “Is he as black-hearted as his name implies?”
    For a moment Pettibone looked rattled, then he quickly recovered his dignity. “Not at all, miss. You mustn’t believe everything you hear. I’ll admit he can be a bit of a rogue at times, but I’ve never known him to hurt anyone knowingly, particularly a woman.”
    “Does he truly earn his living at the gaming tables?”
    “True enough, miss. His folks left him little beyond this haunted mansion. And as you can see, it’s in a pitiful state of disrepair.”
    Moira’s eyes grew round. “Haunted?”
    “Indeed, miss. ’Tis said Lady Amelia Graystoke wandersthe halls at night, so don’t be alarmed if you see or hear anything out of the ordinary.”
    “Have you ever seen her?”
    “’Tis said Lady Amelia appears only to family members in desperate need of her help. ’Tis rumored she has saved more than one rakehell of the family. In recent years she’s had little reason to appear and no one to redeem, until Black Jack, that is. But alas,” the old man sighed, “as far as I know, Lady Amelia has yet to appear to her wayward great-great-grandson.”
    “Why