Saved by a Rake Read Online Free PDF Page A

red carpet was the perfect place for this tête-a-tête.
    “ Out with it, Eversley. You nearly knocked my teeth out. You are usually a clever fighter, not an aggressive one.”
    “ It is private.”
    “ Yes, and I am your friend. Tell me you have not got some chit with child.” Eversley frowned.
    “ No. Devil take it, Ramsey. What sort of a cad do you think I am?”
    “ Something has you riled.”
    Eversley sighed and frowned, shaking his head while tugging at his cravat. He looked for a moment at Daniel then shook his head again before staring straight past him and out of the large window that overlooked St James Street.
    “Is it something to do with your sister?” Eversley narrowed his eyes as he turned his head sharply back to his friend. “I heard a few rumours here when I came in to read the morning papers. It seems her courtship with Newthorpe is finished.”
    “ It had better be. There is no way Rebecca is marrying that…that…blaggard.” He practically spat the last word as his lips tightened. Daniel had never seen blue eyes turn so dark and brooding before. But he pressed on.
    “ I’m afraid that the words ‘light skirt’ were being bandied around with regards to Lady Rebecca.”
    Daniel didn ’t see the fist coming. He was on his back, his chair upended and the table rocking as if it was about to tip over. Placing his hand over his thudding jaw, he stared at his scowling friend.
    Chairs scraped behind him and a chorus of ‘I say old chap’ and ‘devil take it’ assaulted his ears as other men moved over to find out what the ruckus was about. Once he had extracted himself from the legs of the chair, Daniel quickly scrambled to his feet. Maintaining eye contact with Eversley, whose fists were still balled, Daniel spoke. “Everything is fine. It was just a misunderstanding.”
    “ Are you sure?” It was Freddie Dashford, a young gentleman whose father had made his fortune in the slave trade.
    “ Yes. Thank you.” He quickly righted his seat, and then nodded at Eversley to follow his lead and sit back down. He did not speak again until the general murmur of conversation indicated that the other men in the room had returned to their seats.
    “ Devil take it, Eversley. I was quoting the gossips. I would never say that about your sister,” said Daniel, still rubbing his pounding jaw. He did not know Rebecca at all well, having only ever been introduced to her at one ball a few years back. He suspected James was keeping her well away from rakes like any decent brother would.
    “ You had better not and if I hear of Newthorpe spreading lies about Rebecca, I will slap a glove in his face. Of course, I have not yet decided whether I will have to slap a glove in his face anyway—if for no other reason than to stop my father from doing it.”
    Daniel ’s eyes widened. The Earl of Chapelbrooke was the most mild-mannered man one could ever meet. A real genial fellow, in fact. Their fathers had been friends for years.
    “ You had better tell me what this is all about, especially if I am going to be your second in a duel in Hyde Park.”
    Eversley looked reticent, then he glanced furtively around the austere dining room to check that no one else was within earshot. He leaned back, stretching his long legs that were clad in buff riding breeches and gleaming black top boots. He pulled his quizzing glass out and twirled the handle in his fingers, studied his friend and seemed to make up his mind. Then he leaned forward and spoke in a hushed tone.
    “ You understand that Newthorpe has been paying court to my sister. The whole of the Ton have been expecting an engagement announcement any day. Yesterday, he took her to his house on Upper Brooke Street and showed her upstairs. Then, the blaggard ravished her.”
    “ Ravished her?”
    “ Yes. Ravished her…fully.”
    “ Good God, Eversley, no wonder you want to beat him to a pulp.” Daniel understood exactly what Eversley was implying. This was no