Read Online Always a Rogue, Forever Her Love by Christi Caldwell - Free Book Online Page A

bag in his hands. “Yer Lordship?”
    “There will be more when I return,” Jonathan shot over his shoulder as he climbed the steps of Drake’s townhouse. He pounded on the door. All the while his back burned with the interest trained upon the rose in his hand.
    He raised his hand to knock once more, when it opened. Drake’s butler, a one-armed fellow who’d served alongside the marquess in the Peninsula War motioned him inside, pausing momentarily to eye the rose.
    “Lord and Lady Drake are receiving visitors,” the butler, Jones informed him.
    Jonathan fell into step beside the fellow who moved with the precise, clipped steps of one who’d spent years marching to the drum.
    They arrived at the drawing room when Jones cleared his throat. “The Earl of Sinclair.”
    Emmaline sat beside her husband on a too-small sofa, a book on each of their laps. She colored at Jonathan and Jones’ appearance, and quickly jumped to her feet. “Sinclair, how wonderful to see you!”
    He sketched a deep bow, and flashed a grin knowing very well from the guilty flush he’d interrupted his friend and wife. “The pleasure is always mine, my lady.” He winked at her.
    Drake snorted. “Stop flirting with my wife, Sin.”
    Emmaline swatted at her husband’s arm. “Do behave.”
    Jonathan held forth the crimson rose and Emmaline accepted it with a soft exclamation of surprise. “How very lovely,” she murmured, raising the fragrant bud close to her nose and drawing a deep scent. “Isn’t it lovely, Drake?”
    Drake stretched his legs out in front of him, and yawned. “Yes, just lovely,” he drawled.
    She motioned for Jonathan to sit. “Allow me to ring for refreshments.”
    Jonathan sank into the nearest seat, a King Louis XIV chair. He looped his ankle over his knee and tapped his knee. “No refreshments, but thank you, Emmaline.”
    Drake continued to study Jonathan with that deep, probing stare. “What brings you round this morning?” he asked bluntly.
    Emmaline sank back into the seat beside her husband. She frowned up at him. “I said to behave.”
    “I am behaving,” Drake, said, a defensive note to his words. “Something brings him here.” He looked back to Jonathan. “Am I correct? Something brings you here this morning, no?”
    Of course, having known Jonathan since they’d been boys of three and ten, Drake correctly surmised something more than a mere visit between friends had brought him round. “I need help,” Jonathan said without preamble.
    “Absolutely, Sinclair.” Emmaline replied instantly. “How might we be of assistance?”
    Drake draped an arm around his petite wife’s shoulders. His fingers brushed the exposed skin. “You should know not to offer unconditional support without knowing for certain what this scoundrel intends.”
    “You’re unpardonable,” Jonathan shot back. “He’s unpardonable,” he said, this time for Emmaline’s benefit.
    They shared a commiserative nod.
    “Well, on with it, then,” Drake said around a grin.
    Jonathan rested his arms on the sides of his chair. “I’ve hired a new governess,” he said, because that seemed the least complicated place to begin.
    “Again?” Drake said with a pitying shake of his head.
    “You’ll find out the perils of rearing young ladies soon enough,” Jonathan muttered under his breath. The young couple, recently wed already had a small girl of nearly two years.
    “How can we be of assistance, Sinclair?” Emmaline encouraged.
    “I was tasked with the job of finding the sixth governess.” Technically, the seventh if one counted Mrs. Jenkins…which he did not. Still, it would have been seven.
    Drake brushed back a strand of brown hair that had fallen over his wife’s forehead. “Dare I even ask?” he asked.
    “It would be best if you didn’t,” he said under his breath. The less Emmaline, Drake, or anyone for that matter knew of the circumstances surrounding the hire of Miss Marshville the best off all would be.