The Earl is Mine Read Online Free PDF Page B

will, I’m sure, be subject to a heartfelt remedy of all his ills.”
    Oh, he was incorrigible!
    Although he had called her the elusive Lady Pippa, which sounded rather grand. But how could she care when a bucktoothed, chinless loser at cards was coming to offer for her the next week—and Gregory didn’t even mind? Not only did he not object, he seemed to relish the idea.
    He wasn’t jealous at all.
    “We’re here to celebrate your birthday,” she reminded her uncle with a bright smile to mask her fury and—she must admit—her disappointment. “Tell us about your favorite one.”
    “Not now, Pippa.” Uncle Bertie leaned forward and pushed at Gregory’s knee with his hammy fist.
    Oh, dear. The push . Pippa bit the inside of her lip. The push meant the excruciating moment had finally arrived.
    “I’m not entirely sure Hawthorne’s suitable to marry Pippa,” Uncle Bertie said in the understatement of the year. “But I’ll see her settled before I die—and with the right man. You’re the husband for her, and you’ll never do better than my Pippa.”
    Dear God!
    Pippa wished she could be grateful—a tiny part of her heart was always touched at this speech of Uncle Bertie’s—but instead, she felt a great affinity with the corgi by the hearth scratching his fat, bald hindquarters and whining.
    Gregory looked calmly into his godfather’s eyes. “Bertie—” he began.
    Uncle Bertie’s face took on a stubborn look. “It’s my birthday wish, young man.”
    “Bertie,” Gregory said again in an unruffled manner, although he didn’t look at her. “I agree Lady Pippa’s not getting any younger.”
    She sat up straighter. Of all the nerve!
    “That fact alone would make her an ideal candidate for marriage,” Gregory went on, “but—” He paused a long second. A long, rude second. “But I’m afraid Lady Pippa is far too whimsical at the moment to become a wife and mistress of a well-run household, much less a ramshackle one, which is the sort I prefer. I don’t plan to marry for years, you see. However, consider it a promise that I’ll ensure she marries well, to someone who cherishes her as much as you do.”
    Pippa’s heart reluctantly warmed. He’d find someone to cherish her!
    “It might take years,” Gregory continued—years? She wasn’t that difficult to cherish!—“but I swear it on my mother’s grave.”
    Pippa wondered what his mother had been like. He’d never talked of her. But wait—she couldn’t be diverted from what was going on, which was the spoiling of all her plans.
    “I don’t want to marry,” she reminded everyone, but not a single person acknowledged that she’d spoken. Not even a dog looked her way.
    Uncle Bertie rubbed his chin. “That’s an extraordinary promise, godson.”
    “It’s my gift to you.” Gregory’s mouth and eyes were serious.
    Pippa nearly sputtered. Gift to Uncle Bertie? Did her wishes not count for anything?
    Bertie stared at Gregory a moment. “I accept it,” he finally said. “I’m an old man. It’s time to pass the baton to the younger, better man.”
    Pippa stared back and forth between them, her face agog. This conversation simply couldn’t be happening.
    “You’re hardly old,” Gregory replied. “And I’m not the better man.” He spoke low, and Pippa detected strong emotion in his reply.
    She was horrified to find that she felt vaguely jealous. Gregory was genuinely affectionate to her uncle and her mother, but not to her anymore.
    Never to her.
    “I’m her stepfather,” Trickle croaked. “ I’m in charge of whom the girl marries.”
    “Shut up, Wilfred.” Bertie patted Gregory’s knee.
    “Yes, do be quiet, Wilfred,” Mother added, and stared adoringly at Gregory.
    “I want it to be you, godson,” Bertie reminded him one last time, and linked his pinky fingers together to drive the point home.
    “I know you do,” Gregory replied softly, “but we’ve gone over this already. Remember what I said.” Swarthy