To Protect An Heiress (Zebra Historical Romance) Read Online Free PDF Page A

Merry gritted her teeth, refusing to be charmed.
    Then Jason invitingly patted the seat beside him. Merry’s mouth quirked faintly, but her gaze was sharp as she took the place so solicitously offered by her brother.
    “All right, out with it. I know I shall not have a moment’s peace until you have revealed your latest plan.” Meredith primly folded her hands together and placed them in her lap. “I’m listening.”
    Jason leaned forward eagerly. “We have devised a most clever way to ensure we win this latest wager. All we require is a bit of help from you—in a very limited role.”
    “For once my brother does not exaggerate,” Jasper agreed heartily. “It will take very little effort for us to be victorious, and the best part is that we will walk away not only in possession of the bays but with a tidy sum in our pockets.”
    “More than enough to last until we receive our regular quarterly allowance,” Jason said.
    “I hardly dare ask, but with whom have you placed this oh-so-easy-to-win wager?”
    “The Marquess of Dardington,” both men said simultaneously.
    Color flared high on Meredith’s cheeks and she had difficulty catching her breath. The Marquess of Dardington! The last time she had set eyes on Trevor Morely was at Lavinia’s funeral, eight years ago. He had stood beside the black-silk-draped coffin stiffly, without a trace of emotion marring his handsome features, as his young wife was entombed in the family vault.
    The grief of the day had nearly shattered Meredith’s own heart. She had worn a dark, heavy veil to hide the constant flow of tears that would not cease. The sadness had seeped inside her very soul and would not abate.
    Eventually time had lessened the pain Meredith felt, but somewhere inside she knew she would always grieve for the friend she had so abruptly lost.
    Jason and Jasper had been away at school that ill-fated year Meredith made her debut into society and knew nothing of her friendship with Lavinia. They knew of the tragic, accidental death of the lovely young marchioness, for that harrowing tale had reached even the halls of Eton, but they had no idea of its impact on Meredith’s life.
    Immediately after the funeral, the marquess had disappeared from Society entirely. Rumors abounded as to his fate. Some said he had joined the army, others said he had shut himself away in one of his father’s remote estates and nearly gone mad with grief. There were even hints that in a raging fit of madness he had taken his own life.
    It was all nonsense, of course. Trevor had emerged again among the ton two years after Lavinia’s death and became a formidable presence among the rogues and rakes who existed on the fringes of society. Meredith often wondered how she would feel, how she would react, if she once again met the marquess, but their paths never crossed.
    She attended fewer and fewer Society events each Season, and apparently the marquess went to even less. By all accounts, he seemed to prefer the company of men, those who had reckless and daring reputations that equaled his own, and women who were known for their beauty, not their moral character. It surprised and worried Meredith to realize that Trevor was an acquaintance of her brothers. She wondered what a jaded, worldly man like the marquess would find interesting or even amusing about her younger siblings.
    Meredith struggled to control her emotions, but when she spoke her voice was nearly a whisper. “I know the marquess has a reputation as a reckless gamester, but he is not a fool. Why would he make a wager with you that can be so easily lost?”
    “He does not realize how clever we are.” Jason slapped his thigh gleefully. “That is the true beauty of our plan. By the time Dardington discovers we have tricked him, it will be too late. The wager will have been lost, and we will already be in possession of our winnings.”
    Meredith sincerely doubted it would be as easy as her brothers insisted, but she needed to