Read Online An Unexpected Gentleman by Alissa Johnson - Free Book Online

tossed up her accounts on the shoes of the vicar’s son in front of the entire congregation. She’d been twelve then, old enough to know what mortification was, and still young enough to be certain she could die of the affliction.
    Oh, how she wished she’d been right. Because in comparison to what she was facing now, ruining a young man’s footwear was really but a slight embarrassment. And if there was ever a time a young lady ought to be able to die of shame, it was when half the guests of a house party, including her almost-fiancé, caught said lady tossing away her family’s future in exchange for a kiss . . . from a near stranger.
    A stranger who had compromised her on purpose .
    “What have you done?” she whispered in a daze.
    Connor’s voice floated softly over her head. “I’ve saved you.”
    Thoughts of her own death were immediately replaced by visions of his. If there was ever a time a young lady ought to be able to get away with murder . . .
    “You—”
    The list of vile names she had on the tip of her tongue was lost in the sudden explosion of noise from the guests. They found their voices, all at once, and assailed her with a volley of questions and demands.
    She stammered and rushed, trying to address them all at once.
    “I demand an explanation!”
    “You shall have one, Sir Robert. I—”
    “Good heavens, child, what were you thinking?”
    “If you would allow me to explain, Mrs. Cress. We—”
    “La, I never expected it of Miss Ward.”
    She opened her mouth, then closed it. She had no response to that.
    “Connor?” Lady Engsly, a pretty woman with kind blue eyes and dark hair, appeared in a small gap between the shoulders of two guests. It was another moment before her husband, the Marquess of Engsly, stepped aside and the rest of her became visible. “Connor? What on earth are you doing here?”
    “Never mind that.” Lady Engsly’s sister-in-law, Lady Winnefred, fought her way to the front of the crowd, her amber eyes wide with fascination. “How did you get out of prison?”
    Adelaide was sure she hadn’t heard the young woman correctly. “What did . . . Prison?”
    “Little Freddie,” Connor drawled, “always so tactful.”
    She had heard correctly. It hadn’t seemed possible for things to become any worse . . . but there it was. She’d been compromised by an escaped convict.
    “Prison?” The word was barely more than a squeak, but it was a wonder she managed even that because, honestly— Prison?!
    Mrs. Cress gave Connor a quick looking over. “I do not recall issuing you an invitation, sir.”
    Connor returned her censure with an eloquent bow. “I beg your pardon, madam. I assumed Sir Robert’s was extended to his family.”
    “We are not family,” Sir Robert barked. Several heads, including Adelaide’s, snapped from Connor’s, to Sir Robert’s, and back again.
    “You’re related?” someone asked.
    “Absolutely not!” Sir Robert’s face had gone from mottled to uniformly purple. Adelaide fully expected him to begin foaming at the mouth at any moment.
    “Brother,” Connor drawled, “you wound me.”
    “Brother?” She turned to Sir Robert. “You’ve an escaped convict for a brother?”
    Not the most pertinent question at the moment, but it did a fair job of turning attention away from her . . . Until Mrs. Cress turned to her and said, “You have an escaped convict for a lover?”
    “She does not,” Connor said stiffly. He even looked a little offended on her behalf, which was rather nice. Surprising, but nice. “I was released .”
    Oh, the rotter.
    “This man is not my . . . my . . .” She couldn’t even say it. Surely the guests could see that a lady incapable of even saying the word “lover” was highly unlikely to possess one. She looked from expectant face to expectant face. Apparently, they didn’t see. “He is not . Mr. Brice took advantage of . . .” Of her willingness to sneak away into the garden to meet with him. “What I