The Rules of Seduction Read Online Free PDF Page A

However, she is far too busy to honor your request. Being ruined and made destitute is very time-consuming.”
    His jaw tightened enough to give her a small satisfaction. The victory was brief. He set down his hat on the marquetry table. “Then I will find my own way. When I said my aunt had an interest, I did not mean a casual curiosity but rather that of ownership. This property is already my aunt’s, Miss Welbourne. Timothy Longworth signed the papers yesterday. I presented my requirements as a request out of courtesy to his family, not out of any obligation.”
    The news stunned her. The house had already been sold. So fast! She quickly calculated what that might mean to her plans and to Roselyn and Irene.
    “My apologies, sir. The new ownership of the house had not been communicated to either Miss Longworth or me. I will show you the house, if that will do.”
    He nodded agreement and she began the ordeal. She led him into the dining room, where his sharp gaze did not miss a thing. She heard him mentally counting chairs and measuring space.
    The rest of the first level went quickly. He did not open drawers and cabinets in the butler’s pantry. Alexia guessed he knew they were already empty.
    “The breakfast room is through that door,” she said as they returned to the corridor. “My cousin Roselyn is there, and I must beg you to accept my description instead of entering yourself. I fear that seeing you will greatly distress her.”
    “Why would my presence be so distressing?”
    “Timothy told us everything. Roselyn knows that you brought the bank to the brink of failure and forced this ruin on us.”
    A hard smile played at the corners of his mouth. The man’s cruelty was not to be borne. He noticed her glaring at him. He did not seem embarrassed that she had seen that cynical smile.
    “Miss Welbourne, I do not need to see the breakfast room. I am sorry for your cousin, but matters of high finance exist on a different plane from everyday experiences. Timothy Longworth’s explanations were somewhat simplified, no doubt because he was giving them to ladies.”
    “They may have been simple, but they were clear, as were the consequences. A week ago my cousins lived in style in London, and soon they will live in poverty in the country. Timothy is ruined, the partnership is sold, and he will have debts despite his fall. Is any of that incorrect, sir?”
    He shook his head. “It is all correct.”
    She could not believe his indifference. He could at least appear a little embarrassed. Instead, he acted as if this were normal.
    “Shall we go above?” he asked.
    She led him up the stairs and into the library. He took his time browsing the volumes on the shelves while she waited.
    “Will you be going with them to Oxfordshire?” he asked.
    “I would never allow myself to be a burden on this family now.”
    His attention remained on the books. “What will you do?”
    “I have my future well in hand. I have drawn up a plan and listed my expectations and opportunities.”
    He replaced a book on its shelf, quickly surveyed the carpet and desk and sofas, then walked toward her. “What opportunities do you see?”
    She led him through the other rooms on the floor. “My first choice is to be a governess in town. My second is to be a governess anywhere else.”
    “Most sensible.”
    “Well, when facing starvation it behooves one to be so, don’t you think?”
    The third level was not as spaciously arranged as the public rooms. He cramped her in the corridor. She became too aware of the large, masculine presence by her side as she showed the bedrooms. It seemed very wrong for this stranger to be intruding up here.
    “And if you do not find a position as a governess?” The casual query came some time after their last exchange.
    “My next choice is to become a milliner.”
    “A hatmaker?”
    “I am very talented at it. Years hence, if you should see an impoverished woman wearing a magnificent hat artfully devised