Read Online If He's Sinful by Hannah Howell - Free Book Online Page B

certainly does not have what would be needed if Charles called in those debts. It is sad when fathers decimate fortunes, leaving their families to suffer. From the way Radmoor’s father behaved, I have to think that his parents did not have a happy marriage and the man then bequeathed his son the need to endure the same.”
    Artemis frowned as he snatched a slice of apple. “It would seem to me that some of the aristocrats do not want to give up anything. Not their fancy clothes, not their fancy carriages and fine horses, not the balls and the opera.”
    Penelope nodded. “That is some of it. They would rather plunge themselves into a miserable marriage that will last a lifetime just to be able to keep buying embroidered waistcoats from whatever tailor is au courant . I must say that, if Radmoor thinks Clarissa will give up even one small luxury while he repairs his fortunes and his lands, he has failed to see her clearly. Sadly, Clarissa is the sort of woman who will constantly remind him that she was the one who pulled him out of debt. Nay, I change my mind. The truly sad thing is that I think he would do his utmost to be a good and true husband, but Clarissa has no interest in that. She will turn what could be a good marriage into the same miserable, faithless union too many in society endure. The same sort of marriage his parents had.” Penelope sighed and stared at the bowl full of apple slices in front of her. “I think that is what troubles me most of all. She will not make him happy.”
    “Do you care for him that much then?” Artemis asked quietly.
    “I think I might. He has fascinated me from the first moment I saw him. But I do not have what he needs. Whatever inheritance was left to me is in Charles’s hands and I doubt much of it, if any, will remain when I reach the age to take control of it. What little I get now, and that is given most reluctantly, is spent here. It would not help Radmoor anyway.”
    “But you would make him happy.”
    “Would I? He has three sisters, a mother, two aunts, and two brothers to support. If he loses even one of his properties, there goes a dower for a sister or a living for a brother. If he married a woman like me, one without a fortune, he would soon see the loss of one property after another and his sisters denied their seasons and thus a good and prosperous match. Two of his sisters are already past the age when they should have made their debut due to the family’s lack of funds. I think all that loss would soon bring bitterness to the door.”
    “So it is not just clothes and carriages.”
    “Not with Radmoor. It is the futures of his siblings and the comfort of his mother and aunts.”
    “Pen! That fool what got hisself betrothed to the bitch is here! And he has brought four of his friends.”
    Penelope stared at Artemis in open-mouthed shock as that blunt announcement bellowed out in young Paul’s choirboy voice echoed throughout the house. She recognized the words as her own but how had Paul heard them? Then she realized that Lord Ashton had undoubtedly heard them as well and groaned. After giving Artemis a fierce scowl for laughing, she buried her face in her hands.
    “Pe—ne—lo—pe!”
    “I will be there in a moment!” she yelled back. “Show them into the parlor!” She then looked at a cackling Artemis in horror. “I just bellowed like a costermonger.”
    “Stiffen your spine, sister. Clean the flour off yourself, set up a pretty tea tray. And go to greet your guests.”
    “But—”
    “If you feel any embarrassment creep up on you, do try to remember where you last saw that rogue.”
    “Oh.” She thought about that for a moment and then shook her head. “Not a good idea.”
    “Why not?”
    “Because he was naked.”
    After glaring at her brother, who was laughing so hard he was in grave danger of falling off his chair, Penelope hurried to clean up and prepare a tea tray. Five gentlemen were waiting in her parlor. This, she thought, was