Read Online Andrea Pickens - [Lessons in Love 02] by Second Chances - Free Book Online

cobblestones and the shouts and curses of the crowded city streets. Still, it would only be for a short time, and Max would be ecstatic to visit London.
    His eyes strayed up to his son's window as a fond smile ghosted over his lips. It was dark tonight, though many times he had noted the faint glow of a candle that revealed he was not the only one who spent half the night with his nose buried in a book. At least now the lad seemed to be getting the intellectual challenge that he craved.
    Wrexham's gaze drifted over the long expanse of stone to Mrs. Proctor's room. It, too, showed no sign of life. He felt another twinge of conscience at the thought of turning her out despite the excellent job she had been doing. It was for the best, he assured himself. Max would be better suited with a male tutor and the young widow would be more comfortable in a different situation. He would make sure that his man of affairs gave her sterling references...
    The cheroot nearly slipped from his lips as he saw a booted leg swing over the sill of her window. A figure clad in a thick jacket and breeches scrambled out onto the ledge, took hold of the thick vines growing up the side of the carved limestone and began to climb down. If he hadn't been so nonplussed he might have chuckled.
    Was the prim, proper Mrs. Proctor engaged in a liaison with one of his grooms or gardeners? She was, after all, a widow and allowed a good deal more leeway than an innocent girl. And by the way her green eyes could flash with fire, he had sensed there was more than ice lurking beneath her steely reserve. Still, he could not tolerate such illicit behavior from his employees. He would have to deal firmly with her in the morning. At least now he had an adequate reason for terminating—
    The earl's jaw dropped even lower as he caught movement at Max's window. Another dark form began to descend to the ground. His initial shock turned to seething anger as he looked once again at the figure climbing down from Mrs. Proctor's window and realized it was no man.
    How could he have been blind to the fact that the worthless baggage was indeed bent on seducing his son? Her acting ability certainly rivaled that of Mrs. Siddons, for he wouldn't have believed it possible if he hadn't seen it with his very eyes!
    He stood absolutely still as the two of them dropped to the ground and met for a hurried conference beneath a bower of ivy. As they began to move off, keeping to the shadows of the tall privet hedge, the earl ground out his cheroot beneath his heel and, with a string of silent oaths, started after them. As he fumed, he couldn't help but wonder what they were up to—surely a tryst could have been arranged without going to the trouble of sneaking out into the wilds of Yorkshire, especially since he had played the fool and been blithely ignorant of what was going on beneath his very nose.
    It gave him some little gratification that perhaps Max felt a reluctance to betray the trust shown in him within the Hall itself. The direction turned towards the stables. So that was it, thought the earl with a curl of his lip. An empty stall, a roll in the hay. He could hardly blame the lad, he supposed. He was reaching an age when it was only natural to feel... certain urges, even more so if urged on. It was the widow he wanted to shake until her teeth rattled.
    The two figures up ahead swung one of the doors of the stable open just a crack and disappeared inside. Wrexham stopped for a moment as he debated what to do next. He wasn't sure he wanted to humiliate his son by catching him with his breeches down around his knees in his first attempt at being a man. He wasn't so far into his dotage that he couldn't imagine what that would be like. But on the other hand...
    His breath came out in a sigh.
    Good lord, it was deucedly difficult to be a father at times.
    As Wrexham pondered his predicament, the door opened again and his son and his companion came out leading two horses. His brows came