The Earl's Intimate Error Read Online Free PDF Page B

What the devil had Archer done to her? And how the hell had he managed to do it while Woodleigh was keeping close watch over the girl? So help him, when that plundering bastard returned with their lemonade, Woodleigh ought to…But his gaze fell on his mother. Yes, she had emerged from the card room, and there was someone with her, but who… oh hell .
    “I don’t recognize that young man,” Miss Canton was saying.
    “No. You wouldn’t.”
    “You know him?”
    “I do.”
    “Well, it looks like your mother wants us to join them. Will you introduce me?”
    “Absolutely not.”
    “No? But who is he?”
    “One of my brothers.”
    And exactly the type of person Miss Canton did not need to meet. His brothers were not nearly as upstanding and temperate as he. Damn, but Miss Canton would gobble them up! If Woodleigh was to get the chit married off before she dragged them all into further scandal, the last thing he needed was his lusty younger brother sniffing after her. And she seemed to be sniffing back!

    Pru tried desperately to stifle her yawn. She’d still not gotten used to these Town hours. Balls, it seemed, ran interminably late. Not that she hadn’t been having a lovely time, but it seemed the evening had dragged on and on. How many more young men must she smile at and listen to as they pored over her features, drooled on her hand, and played fool just for a morsel of her attention? Did they not realize so much effort was hardly needed? She was a captive audience, of course.
    Papa’s last letter indicated he’d not been entirely honest with her. Their stables—their lifeblood—were failing. If she did not marry, there’d be nothing left for them. He only told her these things, apparently, since she’d not been entirely honest with him and had indicated in her first week’s worth of letters that she loved London and was finding the gentlemen charming and sweet.
    It had been her intention to let him believe she was doing her part, then simply wait out the Season. He’d see no damage had been done to her reputation—or any other part of her—and she’d go back home, releasing Woodleigh of his duty so they could all get on with their lives. End of distasteful story.
    Papa’s letter, however, had changed all that. He’d admitted how desperate he was for this gambit to work, to see her securely wed to a gentleman of means, to believe she was settled and happy. It broke her heart to think she might disappoint him.
    It broke her heart more, however, to think she’d have to end up married to one of these trousered ninnies. Were there any that she could tolerate seeing at breakfast on a semi-regular basis? Not so far.
    Mr. Delmer was ancient, Mr. Clingly was cross-eyed, and on more than one occasion she’d found Sir Dick picking his nose. Of course they weren’t all that bad. Woodleigh’s brother was dashing and clever—he took after his brother, it seemed—and Lord Archer was attractive and had something of a brain. He seemed to know how to handle himself, too. Of course, he seemed to know how to handle a lady as well, which made her think whomever he married would likely not get a lot of sleep. And try as she might, she just couldn’t imagine spending her nights with Lord Archer.
    After all, he was no Woodleigh.
    Drat, but she’d have to stop thinking like that! Woodleigh had been kind and attentive to her these two weeks simply because it was his duty. Why did her foolish insides keep dancing around as if it were something more? She’d met Miss Holycroft, seen for herself what Woodleigh wanted for a wife. She could never be that, not even for him.
    Whatever had happened to her? What worm had crawled into her brain to leave her so fixated on Woodleigh? She simply had to find a way to get out of there. The sooner she convinced herself of his total unsuitability, complete lack of finer qualities and couth, the better she’d be. She’d been dancing with every gentleman who asked her, trying