Stealing the Bride Read Online Free PDF

her.”
    “But—”
    Temple held up a hand to stave off any arguments. “Diana has the luck of the devil. She’ll land on her feet like a tabby cat. We both know her only too well. She’ll probably have Cordell sober and knitting socks for orphans before they reach Northamptonshire.”
    Colin gave a grudging nod to that notion. There was no arguing the lady had bottom and nerve to spare. The scandal at Almack’s and her escapades in Hyde Park were proof of that.
    “So enough of this,” Temple said, pulling up a chair for Colin and then one for himself. “Tell me what brings you back to town so soon.”
    Colin remained standing. “I don’t believe this. You aren’t going after her?”
    “No.” He let his tone ring with a firm measure of finality to convince Colin of his resolve not to get involved where Lady Diana Fordham was concerned.
    Reluctantly, Colin took his seat, and Temple changed the subject immediately. “Now tell me what has you back in port so soon. I thought you were bound for Spain again.” He waved for a bottle to be brought over, then leaned back, stretching out his legs in front of him and folding his arms over his chest. “Let me guess—you discovered your devious wife stowed away again and had to bring her back. Now there is a task for the stout of heart.”
    “No, Georgie is safely home. Actually, I was in France and happened upon some disturbing information. I came home immediately to—”
    Temple sat up in his seat. “Is this about Orlando’s murder?”
    Colin’s youngest brother, Orlando, had been murdered two years earlier, and there were still more questions than answers surrounding the circumstances.
    His cousin shook his head. “No, it is something entirely different. In fact, I asked Pymm to meet me here.”
    Temple’s brow arched at the impending arrival of the Foreign Office’s disreputable spymaster. “Pymm? Here? It must be dire indeed. Especially if you got him to come to the hallowed halls of White’s rather than meet him in that wretched hellhole he loves so much in Seven Dials.”
    Colin shuddered. “So you’ve been to the Rose and Lion, have you?”
    “Only once when I was green and foolish,” Temple confessed, grimacing at the memory. “I still can’t believe you enticed Pymm to come here . You know he never mixes with the ton unless it is an absolute necessity.”
    “Actually, I suspected I’d find you here as well. I wanted to ask if either of you had heard rumors about—”
    “There you are.” A sharp voice interrupted Colin’s question.
    Temple spared a glance over his shoulder. There was no mistaking that dirty, ill-tied cravat, or the rumpled and stained coat. “Pymm, my good man, would it hurt you to simply find a decent tailor?”
    Already several of the members were casting disparaging glances in their direction at this latest unwanted addition to Temple’s coveted table. Given his shabby appearance, they probably assumed Pymm was a bill collector who’d managed to slip past the watchful eye of White’s imperious doorman and was even now dunning the marquis for his long unpaid tailor’s or greengrocer’s bill. As a courtesy to Temple, they edged away from his table, staying a respectful distance from his unwanted guest—besides, most of them had their own credit problems, and they might well be next on this man’s list of those up the River Tick.
    “Tailors! Bah,” Pymm said, waving a hand at his favorite, and at times most exasperating, agent.
    For if the truth were told, it wasn’t Temple’s gadding about town that the Duke of Setchfield found so objectionable. What galled him to the core and had been the bane of their relationship for over a decade was that Temple chose to risk his life and limb, as well as the continuation of the Setchfield dukedom, in the secret service of his King and country. Instead of basking in the luxury his grandfather’s goodwill could provide, the marquis took assignments that had sent him into the