Victoria and the Rogue Read Online Free PDF Page B

very
    nearly a married woman.”
    She slid her gaze toward her cousin to see how she took this news. She was gratified to see an
    astonished Rebecca suck in her breath.
    “What?” Rebecca cried. “You’re engaged?”
    “Indeed I am,” Victoria said, delighted that she was able to share her news at last. She’d been feeling as
    if she might burst from keeping it to herself. It was a relief to tell someone, even if that someone had the ill
    judgment to think of Jacob Carstairs as marriageable.
    “See, here is his signet ring.” Victoria held out her hand so that Rebecca could examine the gold ring that
    Victoria was forced to wear on her middle finger, and not her third, as it was so large on her. Mariah,
    sidling by with her arms full of Victoria’s underthings, also stopped to admire it.
    “But this is the crest of the Earl of Malfrey,” Rebecca cried as she bent to examine the ring. “Oh, Vicky!
    Don’t say you are engaged to Hugo Rothschild!”
    “Indeed I am,” Victoria said importantly, pleased to see that this news seemed to be causing Mariah to
    treat her pantaloons with more reverence. “I met him on board the ship, and he asked me to marry him
    three nights ago, just before he disembarked for Lisbon, where he has business.” Then she added as an
    afterthought, “You must promise not to tell anyone, Becky. You, too, Mariah. Lord Malfrey asked that
    we keep our engagement secret until he returns to London and can introduce me properly to his mother.”
    “I’ll not say a word, m’lady,” Mariah declared staunchly. Rebecca was not so quick to promise,
    however.
    “Engaged!” Rebecca looked stunned. “And to Lord Malfrey! He is so very handsome! And stylish, too.
    Why, I have seen him at Almack’s many a time, and never once has he worn the same waistcoat. He is a
    most pleasing gentleman… all that is amiable and obliging.” Then the pretty face clouded over. “But
    Vicky, you’re only sixteen. Will your uncles allow you to marry so young?”
    Victoria shrugged. “What can they do about it? They’re back in India, and I’m here.”
    “There is quite a lot they could do about it,” Rebecca declared. “They could refuse to allow it. And then
    you’d have to elope. But then they might cut you off! And then what would the two of you live on? For I
    have heard, Vicky, that the earl’s fortune is not what it once was.”
    Victoria said kindly, “Don’t trouble yourself on that account, Becky. My uncles cannot cut me off, for I
    came into my fortune last year. The money my father left for me is mine to do with what I like. And I
    know all about Lord Malfrey’s lack of wealth. That’s why our engagement is such a joy to me. I’ve
    always longed for something worthy to do with my wealth.” Victoria tried to put from her head the
    uncomfortable memory of Jacob Carstairs saying earlier that day, Well, you must be feeling very happy
    indeed, Miss Bee. Finally a chance to be useful to someone. Such a tiresome young man! “Now I will be
    able to put my fortune to good use, helping to restore my husband’s family to its former place as one of
    the best of London.”
    Rebecca continued to look dubious. “I don’t think Mama will like it, Vicky,” she said. “Nor Papa, for
    that matter. In fact, I think it might be my duty as your elder cousin to tell them. You are so young, you
    know.”
    Victoria prickled. “Only a year younger than you,” she pointed out.
    “Still,” Rebecca said gravely. “There’s a great difference between sixteen and seventeen, you know.
    After all, I’ve already had a season out, and you haven’t. What could you possibly know about men?
    You’ve spent the whole of your life in India!”
    Living with three of the most vexing, egotistical men in the world, who were completely incapable of
    taking their boot heels off the tabletop, Victoria thought crossly to herself. What I don’t know about men,
    Miss Becky, would fit into your thimble with room to