The Heart Denied Read Online Free PDF Page B

sag.
    "I've incurred a sizeable debt to the Earl of...a certain earl," he confessed. "I'd no choice but to use a part of your dowry as collateral."
    "Then Lord Neville will not want me," his daughter retorted, making Elaine's heart skip a beat. "You might as well send me back to the convent."
    "Ha! You'd like that, wouldn't you?" Another glance showed the viscount wagging a finger near the girl's face. "You'll have your dowry, never fear," he assured her. "You're quite the catch at any rate, with your beauty and virtue and skills." Elaine pictured a wink with his next words. "Lord Neville's not so hard on the eyes, either, eh?"
    Elaine's heart sank as she saw the virtuous young "catch" blush and trace a finger over the moiré silk counterpane.
    "He is a handsome enough man," was the girl's soft admission. "Kind, as well."
    Radleigh chuckled. "He'd get a house full of children on you, girl. He's a vigorous man. He'd seek your bed often."
    "Stop, Father!"
    Elaine silently echoed the plea, her stomach twisting. Yet she could not resist another glance. Eyes closed, Miss Stowington had pressed a hand to her heart and taken a fan from her sleeve. Her father promptly confiscated it to wave gusts of air onto her burning face.
    "Well, Daughter?"
    "I shall think about it," she conceded breathlessly, opening glazed eyes. "But not a word to him , I warn you. I've no idea whether he desires-"
    "Oh, he desires all right," Radleigh cut in, sounding smug. "I've seen how he looks at you. He desires wholeheartedly."
    Elaine covertly clutched her midsection, trying not to bend double.
    "I meant marriage , not me ."
    Turning her head slightly, Elaine saw all trace of the blushing virgin vanish as Gwynneth Stowington reached out and stilled the fan in her father's hand.
    "For I can tell you this, Father," she vowed grimly. "I shan't marry anyone just to repay your gambling debts. Never shall I enter the sacrament of marriage to pay for a sin."

THREE
     
     
    From a window of her Georgian mansion, Caroline Sutherland stared across the brick-paved street at the greensward, where a duck had just waded from the pond to follow a big-breasted dowager walking a terrier. No doubt the bird mistook the waddling woman for his mother.
    Caroline felt relieved to hear Marsh trudging up the stairs--until the old servant, huffing and puffing in the doorway, spoke in her graveled voice. "Mistress, that Mister Hobbs is come calling again."
    "Bloody hell," Caroline muttered, then raised her voice. "Send him up, then."
    "Aye, Mistress." Marsh shuffled away.
    "For shame, Mistress Sutherland. You should be pleased to see your only kin."
    Despite its mocking tone, his voice could melt a glacier. Caroline hadn't even heard him on the steps. And though Marsh was too deaf to hear her cursing, Tobias Hobbs was not.
    Suppressing a shiver, Caroline turned to see him leaning against the doorframe, one fist braced against her glossy-white door casing, the other crumpling his woolen cap. Sweat spiked his cropped hair and glued his shirt to his chest. Mud and dung flecked his boots. "Get your grubby mitts off my woodwork," she ordered him through her teeth, "and close the door behind you."
    Without budging a finger from the door casing, Hobbs flashed his own teeth in a mirthless smile. "What a gracious hostess you are, Caroline. A true credit to London society. Or so I hear."
    "And you are utterly repulsive. How dare you come to my home looking and smelling the way you do? What must my servants think?"
    His amber eyes narrowed. "At least my stench is that of an honest day's work. 'Tis more than I can say for yours."
    "Mind your tongue," she warned him. "Is it money again? Neville isn't paying you enough to shovel horseshite?"
    Hobbs stepped into the room, hooked a boot on the edge of the door, and slammed it behind him. "No hands." Sneer turned to scowl. "I'm here to see Horace."
    "He's in Birmingham," Caroline hedged, scowling as well. "Why do you want to see him? And why the