Read Online Desire Becomes Her by Shirlee Busbee - Free Book Online
Authors: Shirlee Busbee
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will beggar me.”
Silas laughed. “What flummery! I am not called ‘Lucifer’ for my devilish luck at the gaming tables.” Smiling at Gillian he said, “He’s a modest lad. Believe me, he is a far better gambler than I ever was on my best days, and the Lord knows that they are behind me.”
A gambler, she thought bitterly, just like Charles—and like Charles, using his charm to disarm and take advantage of the unwary. Only Luc Joslyn, instead of preying on silly, young women, as Charles had done, had set his sights on a lonely old man. Guilt smote her. It was her fault that Uncle Silas appeared to be alone, with no one around who cared about him or who would question this sudden friendship. Though she and Sophia regularly exchanged letters with their uncle, they had not been frequent visitors to High Tower.
We should have realized that letters, she scolded herself, no matter how frequent or how warm and affectionate, were not enough and that Uncle Silas needed his family around him. If only, she thought, I had swallowed my pride and given in to his many requests for Sophia and me to come for an indefinite visit. But she had not, and her only consolation at the moment was that they were here at last. She glanced at Joslyn from beneath her lashes, her heart sinking at the easy familiarity between the two men—that and her uncle’s obvious fondness of the younger man. Her lip curled. “Lucifer” had probably seen the old man as easy prey. And that, she vowed, was about to change.
Keeping up a polite façade Gillian smiled and nodded at the right places, but as the evening progressed, behind her smiles she considered how best to oust such a charming, dangerous predator as Luc Joslyn from her uncle’s affections. Silas was a sophisticated man, a man of the world, not easily duped, and she wondered how Joslyn, with his obviously practiced charm and guileful smiles, had slipped beneath her uncle’s guard and insinuated himself into the old man’s affections.
Gillian sighed. The situation was complicated and there was no denying that her motives would be questioned. The odds were that her arrival on Silas’s doorstep after all this time would cause talk and that many members of the ton would view her visit in the worst possible light. The gossip, she admitted with an ache, would only add to her already scandalous reputation. Not only was she labeled a murderess, but now she could add fortune hunter to her title as well, and nothing, she thought fiercely, in either case, could be further from the truth.
As his only relatives besides her half brother, Stanley, it was likely that she and Mrs. Easley would be named in their uncle’s will, but the two women had always agreed that it was Silas’s fortune to dispose of however he saw fit. Her gaze fell on Luc’s handsome face and her lips thinned. Uncle could leave his entire estate to a home for calico cats for all she cared, but she wasn’t going to stand by and watch him be taken advantage of by someone like Luc Joslyn.
A pang knifed through her. The last thing she wanted was to cause Silas pain. It was clear, whatever plan she concocted to break Joslyn’s hold over her uncle, it had to be done in such a manner as to cause Silas as little disillusionment and disappointment as possible.
Watching as Silas’s face lit up at something Luc said, beneath the table her hand formed a fist. Oh, Uncle! she almost cried aloud. Don’t you see him for what he is? Can’t you see that he is a wicked predator with you as his intended prey?
Gillian’s hostile regard hadn’t escaped Luc’s notice, but her attitude didn’t surprise him: he had already come to some conclusions of his own about her. Like hers of him, none of them reflected well on her. He’d not missed the flash of antipathy in her eyes when they’d met: from the beginning the dark-haired sprite had not been happy to find him on such friendly terms with Silas. All through the evening, he’d noted her
Silas laughed. “What flummery! I am not called ‘Lucifer’ for my devilish luck at the gaming tables.” Smiling at Gillian he said, “He’s a modest lad. Believe me, he is a far better gambler than I ever was on my best days, and the Lord knows that they are behind me.”
A gambler, she thought bitterly, just like Charles—and like Charles, using his charm to disarm and take advantage of the unwary. Only Luc Joslyn, instead of preying on silly, young women, as Charles had done, had set his sights on a lonely old man. Guilt smote her. It was her fault that Uncle Silas appeared to be alone, with no one around who cared about him or who would question this sudden friendship. Though she and Sophia regularly exchanged letters with their uncle, they had not been frequent visitors to High Tower.
We should have realized that letters, she scolded herself, no matter how frequent or how warm and affectionate, were not enough and that Uncle Silas needed his family around him. If only, she thought, I had swallowed my pride and given in to his many requests for Sophia and me to come for an indefinite visit. But she had not, and her only consolation at the moment was that they were here at last. She glanced at Joslyn from beneath her lashes, her heart sinking at the easy familiarity between the two men—that and her uncle’s obvious fondness of the younger man. Her lip curled. “Lucifer” had probably seen the old man as easy prey. And that, she vowed, was about to change.
Keeping up a polite façade Gillian smiled and nodded at the right places, but as the evening progressed, behind her smiles she considered how best to oust such a charming, dangerous predator as Luc Joslyn from her uncle’s affections. Silas was a sophisticated man, a man of the world, not easily duped, and she wondered how Joslyn, with his obviously practiced charm and guileful smiles, had slipped beneath her uncle’s guard and insinuated himself into the old man’s affections.
Gillian sighed. The situation was complicated and there was no denying that her motives would be questioned. The odds were that her arrival on Silas’s doorstep after all this time would cause talk and that many members of the ton would view her visit in the worst possible light. The gossip, she admitted with an ache, would only add to her already scandalous reputation. Not only was she labeled a murderess, but now she could add fortune hunter to her title as well, and nothing, she thought fiercely, in either case, could be further from the truth.
As his only relatives besides her half brother, Stanley, it was likely that she and Mrs. Easley would be named in their uncle’s will, but the two women had always agreed that it was Silas’s fortune to dispose of however he saw fit. Her gaze fell on Luc’s handsome face and her lips thinned. Uncle could leave his entire estate to a home for calico cats for all she cared, but she wasn’t going to stand by and watch him be taken advantage of by someone like Luc Joslyn.
A pang knifed through her. The last thing she wanted was to cause Silas pain. It was clear, whatever plan she concocted to break Joslyn’s hold over her uncle, it had to be done in such a manner as to cause Silas as little disillusionment and disappointment as possible.
Watching as Silas’s face lit up at something Luc said, beneath the table her hand formed a fist. Oh, Uncle! she almost cried aloud. Don’t you see him for what he is? Can’t you see that he is a wicked predator with you as his intended prey?
Gillian’s hostile regard hadn’t escaped Luc’s notice, but her attitude didn’t surprise him: he had already come to some conclusions of his own about her. Like hers of him, none of them reflected well on her. He’d not missed the flash of antipathy in her eyes when they’d met: from the beginning the dark-haired sprite had not been happy to find him on such friendly terms with Silas. All through the evening, he’d noted her
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