Regency 09 - Redemption Read Online Free PDF Page B

offered his
arm. He sent a questioning glance Jenny’s way but she politely
refused to accompany them.
    When they were a sufficient
distance away, he remarked, “Your sister seemed to want to ask me
something.”
    “I believe she wonders
where your brother is, sir,” she told him.
    “But why would she want to
know that? I thought they took a dislike to each other.”
    His companion smiled
enchantingly. “Have you not heard that there is a thin line between
love and hate, sir? I do believe my sister reacts so to your
brother because she is enamored of him. I have never seen her react
so to another man, I assure you.”
    “Perhaps I should warn her
about him,” murmured Miles thoughtfully, glancing back at Denbigh’s
other daughter.
    “Oh, please do not, Mr.
Prestwich,” said Gwen in distress. “I should not have spoken so out
of turn, you see. It would embarrass her greatly to discover she
had been found out. I regret telling my brother about it but I
cannot undo that now.”
    “Lord Connor is aware of
their attraction?” he asked in disbelief. He hoped the other man
had refrained from mentioning it to Dare. If Dare was warned off,
he might court the girl just to spite everyone.
    “Yes, I am afraid so. I
confessed in a moment of unease over the angry words they exchanged
yesternight. Con assured me he would look into it. I only hope he
didn’t find anything… alarming.”
    Miles nearly groaned aloud.
Of course, Lord Connor found something alarming lurking in Dare’s
past. And Dare had mentioned meeting Lord Connor earlier that very
day. It was inevitable that Lord Connor warned Dare to stay away
from his sister.
    “Mr. Prestwich? Miles?
Whatever is the matter?”
    The distress in Gwen’s soft
voice pierced his ruminations and he smiled down at the petite
beauty. “You just called me Miles,” he said in some
wonder.
    “I admit, I did,” she
confessed, her face turning a becoming shade of pink. “I apologize
if you thought it forward of me, sir, but I could not get your
attention otherwise.”
    “I do not think it forward
of you, my lady. I would be honored if you would call me Miles.
And,” he added with a special smile that warmed her to her toes,
“you always have my attention.”

 

Chapter Five

    He tried, he really did.
But it was no use. Dare’s contrary nature would not be silenced. He
had been told a few things about Lord Connor that made him uneasy
but he was self-destructive enough to disregard his own common
sense. He decided to try to woo Lady Genevieve just to prove he
could.
    He had no way of knowing
that Lady Genevieve, who had been hurt at his obvious defection,
was just as determined to ignore him should he try to come around
now. Although, after a lecture from her brother, she was just as
tempted to flout convention.
    Jenny was crossing the hall
to enter the library when Connor stepped into the foyer. She went
down to greet him with a hug and kiss, as was her habit, and
inquired after his wife and children.
    “They are well, Jenny, they
are well,” he said, smiling. “I wonder, could you spare me a few
moments? I’d like to talk to you.”
    “You came expressly to see
me?” she asked in some surprise.
    “Do not sound so like I
ignore you the rest of the time, Jenny, I beg you. You make me feel
like a boor,” he complained good-naturedly.
    “You could never be that,
Con,” she said. “I was just on my way to the library to see if
Father has a book on phosphates. I heard about this new way of
planting that has me itching to read more about it but I also want
to compare it to other writings about the use of
phosphates.”
    Connor smiled at her
enthusiasm for a topic most ladies shuddered to even think about.
“I could share a bit of my own knowledge on the subject but I have
a lowering feeling that you already know more than I
do.”
    “Perhaps,” she allowed.
“But we could talk about it anyway.”
    Connor took her arm and led
her into their father’s spacious