Read Online Anything but a Gentleman by Amanda Grange - Free Book Online Page B

the fun she and Kit had had on their father’s yacht, and how they had enjoyed swimming in the nearby sea, he thought what a pity it was that he could not invite her to go swimming with him when the weather improved. But such a thing was impossible. The sight of her delectable body rising from the waves was, alas, not one he would be allowed to see. ‘It sounds as though you were very happy.’
    ‘We were,’ she said, warmed by his tone. ‘At least for a time.’ She sighed. ‘But now I am worried. If Kit has been gambling again then he may well have fallen into debt, and I am afraid that Mr Windham has come here to find him and possibly throw him into prison.’
    ‘Ah. So that is what you think.’
    Marianne, preoccupied with her worries, did not hear his sigh of relief. ‘If he has come to find Kit,’ she said, following her own train of thought,  ‘then he will be disappointed. Kit hasn’t been back to the Hall since he told my father of his disgrace. But Mr Windham does not seem to be the sort of man to give up. If he doesn’t find Kit here, I’m afraid he will find him elsewhere, and if he finds him, what then?’ She turned to face him, her eyes looking into his own. ‘ Will he be thrown into prison? If he can’t pay his debts?’ She coloured, realising she had gone further than she intended, but she had been led on by the fact that there was no one else she could ask. Her father would not hear Kit’s name mentioned in the house and Tom and Trudie, though willing to help, had no knowledge of these kinds of things. Nor, she suspected, had Mr Cosgrove. He would bluster embarrassedly if she spoke to him, and assure her in a bluff and hearty way that everything would be all right. But she did not want to be reassured. She wanted to know the truth. And she felt sure that Lord Ravensford, with the hard edge she had witnessed in his character, would tell her that. ‘It must seem strange to you, me asking you these things,’ she began hesitantly, ‘but –’
    ‘No. It doesn’t.’ He seemed to understand her dilemma. ‘It seems to me that I am the only person you can ask.’ He paused, as if unsure of how much to say. ‘Windham is a vicious man, and I would advise you to keep well away from him. But as for chasing Kit with regard to the payment of gambling debts – no, that’s not his line.’
    Marianne gave a sigh of relief. ‘Are you sure?’
    ‘I am.’
    ‘But then, why did he want to know about Kit?’ she asked, speaking more to herself than to him. ‘Unless it is simply that he was making conversation. If he is vicious, as you say, then that is enough to explain my aversion to him; and I don’t see how his questions could have done any harm.’
    ‘Did he ask any further questions?’ asked Lord Ravensford carelessly. ‘Anything more than where Kit was?’
    ‘No. You came in before he could ask anything else.’
    ‘Then I should put it out of your mind.’ He finished his boiled fowl and carried his empty plate back to the table. ‘We ought to return to the company. We don’t want to give rise to gossip. You see, I am still careful of your reputation.’ He gave her a warm smile. ‘I suggest that you go back into the ballroom without me, and I will go back into the hall and return via the card room. It will save your chaperon from feeling any alarm.’
    It was the first time she had seen any warmth in him, she realised. Heat, yes; but this was something different. She felt herself flush, as though his warmth had brought forth an answering warmth of her own. He raised her hands to his lips and kissed them in a way totally different to the way he had kissed her hands before, then took his leave of her.
    She waited a minute and then returned to the ballroom. As she rejoined the other guests she was pleased to find that Miss Stock was happily chatting to a group of older woman and had not noticed her absence.
    ‘Did you find something good to eat?’ asked Jennifer, bounding up to