Read Online Married to the Viscount by Sabrina Jeffries - Free Book Online Page B

where was not in his plan. But he was curious to know what was in hers. “And what will you do with the money?”
    “Why, I’ll produce the Mead, of course, and sell it.” Lifting the pear, she bit into it again with such gusto that his pulse quickened at the sight. By God, she was a piece of work—fearless and impetuous and so bloody American she fairly glowed with it.
    He forced himself to ignore her winsome charms. “So you mean to take over your father’s business.”
    “Oh, no, I can’t.” She cast him an arch look. “Technically, you’re still my husband, so my half belongs to you. All the papers have your name on them.”
    “What papers?”
    “The ones Nathaniel has, of course, that deal with the business. He took them for you to ‘review.’”
    One more little surprise, courtesy of his brother. “Nat certainly thought of everything, didn’t he?”
    “It seems that way. Lying must not be the only thing that runs in your family.”
    “What’s that supposed to mean?” He gritted his teeth. “Surely you don’t think I had anything to do with this…this fraud.”
    She sighed. “I suppose not. But you’re both profiting fromit. He gained my dowry and now you own half my father’s business. With your brother owning the other half.”
    “I don’t want your father’s business, I assure you. I’ll happily sign it back over to you when I get my hands on the papers.”
    One of her dark eyebrows lifted a fraction. “And when will that be?”
    “I don’t know.” Staring at the not yet blooming rose bushes lining the garden walls, he thought how sad they looked compared to wild ones. “I sent two of my most discreet investigators out looking for Nat, and what they learned was little help. Except to confirm that he did have somebody at the docks.” Spencer began walking again. “They questioned the lad, but he knew only that he’d been paid to watch for your ship and send a message here. He had no idea where Nat might have gone.”
    Abby kept pace easily with him despite his longer strides. “You don’t think anything horrible happened to him, do you?”
    Her concern for the rascal after how he’d treated her amazed Spencer. “No. More and more it appears that he left town, taking your dowry and those papers with him. Apparently he grew tired of frittering away his own allowance and has started working on your money.”
    When she halted abruptly, he did, too. She looked ashen-faced, holding her half-eaten pear poised in the air.
    He eyed her in alarm. “You’re not going to faint again, are you?”
    She shook herself, then dropped her hand to her side. “I-I…no, of course not. I don’t usually faint, you know. It was just the tight corset, that’s all.”
    “Right,” he murmured, though he stayed close all the same. “My men will find him, I assure you. But it may take some time.”

    “Enough time for him to spend all my money.” She stared up at him accusingly. “You can’t possibly expect me to wait here penniless until he’s found.”
    “You can’t gain the business free and clear until we find him.”
    “I don’t need it free and clear,” she protested. “Just advance me enough to pay for my return to America, simple lodgings, and a few supplies. Then I’ll produce the Mead myself. I’ll call it…Miss Mercer’s Medicinal Mead or something.”
    “There’s more to running a business than producing the product.”
    “I’m not an idiot, my lord. I realize it won’t be easy. But I knew many of Papa’s customers and all of his suppliers of ingredients. Though it might take me a while to get things going again, I’m sure I can manage.” With an air of defiance, she lifted her pear again and bit into it.
    “Running a business is difficult even for a man, much less a woman. How do you know your father’s business associates will deal with you? They might decide that Miss Mercer’s Medicinal Mead can’t possibly be as effective. They’ll wonder why you