The Guise of a Gentleman Read Online Free PDF Page B

would be disappointed to learn the truth. People often assumed by his playful and impulsive nature that he was a philanderer. He’d have to work on his demeanor and be the kind of gentleman fathers would trust with both their daughters and their secrets. Especially their secrets.
    Greymore snorted. “Just don’t seduce any virgins.”
    Jared let out an inarticulate cry of outrage. “What do you take me for? I never seduce virgins.”
    Greymore pinned him with a searching stare. Jared resisted the urge to tug at his cravat. Cursed thing!
    Removing his assessing gaze, Greymore finished his drink. “Mr. Hogan is fond of faro, and we’re having an evening of games at his house two days hence. Care to join us? It would be the perfect way to introduce you to the others in the area.”
    Jared groaned. “I haven’t played faro in years. I suppose I should plan to lose heavily.”
    “They’ll love you if you lose.”
    Jared made a sound that was partly a laugh, partly a snort. “No doubt.”
    “And I’m hosting a riding party in three weeks.”
    “Perfect. And Lady Standwich has invited me to her soirée in two weeks.”
    Greymore’s eyebrows rose. “How’d you manage an invitation from Lady Standwich?”
    “Connections, dear fellow,” he replied, a bit smug.
    At the thought of a social affair involving ladies, a sudden hope flared. The soirée might prove more useful than he originally thought. His angel’s genteel demeanor, cultured accent, and the quality of her expertly tailored riding habit firmly proclaimed her a noblewoman. She’d no doubt be a member of the same elite social circle in which Lady Standwich traveled.
    And yet, the haughtiness he often encountered in peers and their kin remained absent in that lady. She’d attempted to emulate that attitude after he kissed her, but her anger and indignation only masked her true emotions. Emotions which clearly surprised and frightened her.
    “Say, Greymore, do you know a lady in this area with blond hair and grey eyes? She appeared perhaps five and twenty. She’s pretty and very proper.”
    “That describes about half the women in the parish,” Greymore replied dryly.
    “This one is special.”
    Greymore rolled his eyes. “You are here to fulfill an assignment, not bed every poor, hapless woman who has the misfortune of crossing your path.”
    “None of the women I bedded were hapless or misfortunate,” Jared replied with a wounded tone. Building on Greymore’s suggestion, he added to the tale. “Moreover, most of them are the seducers; I had to be the gentleman and oblige their whim. Think of how rejected they would have felt had I refused.”
    “I don’t know if I should admire you or despise you.”
    Jared smirked. “It’s a curse to be irresistible to women, but I do my best to survive.”
    “I’ll be sure to keep any future daughters of mine under guard whenever you’re in England,” Greymore said.
    “How is marital bliss?”
    Greymore softened. “Unlike anything I ever imagined. She adds a dimension to my life that I find most gratifying.”
    “Not dreadful to be tied down?”
    “Anchored, my man, not tied down. She gives me purpose and meaning.”
    “Careful, old friend, you are beginning to wax poetic.”
    “Perhaps, but I see things differently now. Having a wife and a child on the way makes me want to be a better man.”
    Jared shrank back with exaggerated fear. “I hope it isn’t contagious.”
    Greymore clapped a hand on his shoulder. “One day the elusive Jared Amesbury will stumble into the lure of matrimony. I only hope I’m there to see it.”
    Jared shivered. “A cage is not for me.”
    Unbidden, an image of a lovely angel with soft hands and concerned eyes settled before his memory. She possessed a sweet, uncomplicated beauty that brought out a protective side he did not often indulge. Her gentle touch had soothed him. Between her tender hands and the compassion in her eyes, she reached a spot in his heart he had