Read Online Married to the Viscount by Sabrina Jeffries - Free Book Online
Authors: Sabrina Jeffries
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throw you out of this garden!” With a pained look he reached for her, but she was having none of that. “Explain yourself first. Then I’ll decide if I can forgive you. At the moment, it’s not at all certain.”
He grimaced. “All right, all right. But let me reassure you of one thing. I love you. I’ve always loved you. We’ll be married as soon as I can manage it. But you’ll have to be patient,my darling. Because like it or not, Miss Mercer is here now, and if my plan is to work, I have to disappear for a while.”
“Oh, really?” She crossed her arms over her chest. “Then this explanation of your had better be very, very good.”
Chapter 4
If an American should visit your employer, do not expect him to behave like the average Englishman. Americans are a breed unto themselves and must be treated with caution.
Suggestions for the Stoic Servant
T he morning after the dinner fiasco, Spencer sat at the breakfast table, waiting for the servants to fetch Miss Mercer. The Times sat at his elbow, his coffee was hot and strong, and his buttered eggs were perfectly cooked, yet all he could think of was that bloody female and how she might react to the proposition he meant to put to her this morning.
Surely she would be relieved to have her financial situation so well settled. Then again, the woman was not like an Englishwoman. She had a decided streak of American independence in her.
But he’d considered every other way out of their current predicament, and nothing else sufficed. Evelina had already jumped to strange conclusions. Soon others would, too. So he must act quickly to avoid a scandal.
Whatever happened, the truth must not come out. It would harm too many people—Evelina, her mother, Miss Mercer, him. Nat, too, of course, but at present Spencer didn’t much care what that rascal suffered. Especially since the idiot had vanished, leaving Spencer to pick up the pieces.
Fortunately, Spencer excelled at that. And his solution to this dilemma was eminently workable.
So it was a pity that he hated it. He could only hope she didn’t hate it, too.
McFee entered the breakfast room, his composure ruffled for a change. Worst of all, he was alone.
“Well?” Spencer demanded. “Where’s Miss Mercer?”
“I beg your pardon, my lord, but…you see…we don’t know where she is.”
A kernel of unease sprouted in Spencer’s gut. “What do you mean—you don’t know?”
“The lady is not in her chambers. And that harridan she calls a servant will not say where she’s gone or even if she’s gone.”
He rose from his seat. “But you’re sure she’s not in the house. You’ve checked all the rooms, searched the kitchens, looked in the street.”
“The search is currently under way, my lord. I merely thought I should inform you that we are having trouble locating her.”
Devil take it, now what? Surely Miss Mercer wasn’t the sort to strike out on her own to look for his brother. And even if she did, would she leave her servant behind? He thought it unlikely.
“If you don’t mind my saying so,” McFee went on, “American women are a great deal more independent than Englishwomen. Perhaps she went for a morning walk.”
“Alone, in the streets of a city she doesn’t even know? She better not have done such an idiot thing. I won’t have it.” Refusing to wait for his staff to find her, he strode for the doorway, only to be nearly knocked over when a footman rushed in.
“We found her!” the young man cried, then paled when he saw his master. “Begging your pardon, my lord. We…um…found your guest. She’s in the garden.”
Of course. Where else would a wild American rose go?“Thank you,” he said as he hurried off in that direction. Now he felt foolish for worrying. But the thought of Miss Mercer wandering London alone with no money…
He was being absurd. She’d never do such a silly thing. She might be naive and overly optimistic about life’s prospects, but she wasn’t
He grimaced. “All right, all right. But let me reassure you of one thing. I love you. I’ve always loved you. We’ll be married as soon as I can manage it. But you’ll have to be patient,my darling. Because like it or not, Miss Mercer is here now, and if my plan is to work, I have to disappear for a while.”
“Oh, really?” She crossed her arms over her chest. “Then this explanation of your had better be very, very good.”
Chapter 4
If an American should visit your employer, do not expect him to behave like the average Englishman. Americans are a breed unto themselves and must be treated with caution.
Suggestions for the Stoic Servant
T he morning after the dinner fiasco, Spencer sat at the breakfast table, waiting for the servants to fetch Miss Mercer. The Times sat at his elbow, his coffee was hot and strong, and his buttered eggs were perfectly cooked, yet all he could think of was that bloody female and how she might react to the proposition he meant to put to her this morning.
Surely she would be relieved to have her financial situation so well settled. Then again, the woman was not like an Englishwoman. She had a decided streak of American independence in her.
But he’d considered every other way out of their current predicament, and nothing else sufficed. Evelina had already jumped to strange conclusions. Soon others would, too. So he must act quickly to avoid a scandal.
Whatever happened, the truth must not come out. It would harm too many people—Evelina, her mother, Miss Mercer, him. Nat, too, of course, but at present Spencer didn’t much care what that rascal suffered. Especially since the idiot had vanished, leaving Spencer to pick up the pieces.
Fortunately, Spencer excelled at that. And his solution to this dilemma was eminently workable.
So it was a pity that he hated it. He could only hope she didn’t hate it, too.
McFee entered the breakfast room, his composure ruffled for a change. Worst of all, he was alone.
“Well?” Spencer demanded. “Where’s Miss Mercer?”
“I beg your pardon, my lord, but…you see…we don’t know where she is.”
A kernel of unease sprouted in Spencer’s gut. “What do you mean—you don’t know?”
“The lady is not in her chambers. And that harridan she calls a servant will not say where she’s gone or even if she’s gone.”
He rose from his seat. “But you’re sure she’s not in the house. You’ve checked all the rooms, searched the kitchens, looked in the street.”
“The search is currently under way, my lord. I merely thought I should inform you that we are having trouble locating her.”
Devil take it, now what? Surely Miss Mercer wasn’t the sort to strike out on her own to look for his brother. And even if she did, would she leave her servant behind? He thought it unlikely.
“If you don’t mind my saying so,” McFee went on, “American women are a great deal more independent than Englishwomen. Perhaps she went for a morning walk.”
“Alone, in the streets of a city she doesn’t even know? She better not have done such an idiot thing. I won’t have it.” Refusing to wait for his staff to find her, he strode for the doorway, only to be nearly knocked over when a footman rushed in.
“We found her!” the young man cried, then paled when he saw his master. “Begging your pardon, my lord. We…um…found your guest. She’s in the garden.”
Of course. Where else would a wild American rose go?“Thank you,” he said as he hurried off in that direction. Now he felt foolish for worrying. But the thought of Miss Mercer wandering London alone with no money…
He was being absurd. She’d never do such a silly thing. She might be naive and overly optimistic about life’s prospects, but she wasn’t
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