Read Online Rules for Reforming a Rake by Meara Platt - Free Book Online

and strode past the gaming room and dining room, peering into each before proceeding down the long, dimly lit hallway . Is Lord Hornby too cheap to provide adequate candlelight for his guests? he thought testily.
    He reached the door to the conservatory and was surprised to find it closed. He flung it open with his shoulder and immediately heard a giggle coming from behind an overgrown fern. Graelem truly had allowed Daisy to go off alone with that dull cabbage, Lumley! He couldn’t believe it! Daisy was obviously inexperienced, unaware of the games played at such ton gatherings. “There’ll be no more of that, young lady!”
    He reached into the ferns and pulled out Dorothea Hobbs and the pimply-faced Tom Quigley. Dorothea squinted up at him, her lips curling in a too broad smile. “Lord Dayne, were you looking for me?”
    “Er, pardon me. My mistake.” He backed out of the conservatory.
    Where was Daisy?
    He began to open doors along the hallway. Billiard room. Study. Lady Hornby’s parlor. Library.
    He paused at the threshold of the library. “Daisy? What are you doing in here?”
    She stood alone in the near dark, a lone, lit candle revealing her slight frame slumped against the fireplace mantel. “Please, leave me alone.”
    “Are you crying?” He was certain he’d heard a sniffle mingled with her words.
    “You needn’t concern yourself. You aren’t responsible for these tears.” She tensed as he stepped in and closed the door. “Just go away. I don’t need your condescension to complete my perfect evening.”
    He started toward her. “I suppose I deserved that. Tell me what happened. What did Lord Hornby do to you?”
    “Lumley?”
    He nodded.
    “Oh, him. Nothing really.”
    He came to her side, his heart slamming against his chest. Nothing really? What the hell did that mean? “Look at me, Daisy.”
    “No,” she said and turned away.
    He placed his hands on her slender shoulders and gently turned her once again to face him. She offered little resistance. “What did he do?” he asked in softest voice, straining to subdue his anger. Of course, it wasn’t directed at her but at everyone who should have been protecting her and wasn’t, particularly her parents, who seemed more concerned with accommodating their never-ending stream of guests than guarding their precious daughter. Leaving this beautiful girl untended in such surroundings was like dropping a lamb into a pack of hungry wolves.
    “Truly, Lord Dayne. He did nothing at all.”
    “The name’s Gabriel. If not Lumley Hornby, then—”
    “No one bothered me.”
    Confused, he released her and ran a hand through his hair. “Then why are you crying?”
    She hesitated a moment, obviously struggling to compose herself, and obviously about to lose the struggle. Her lips began to quiver. Her hands began to shake. Finally, she buried her face in her hands and burst into sobs. “I tried so hard... so hard to prove I was responsible. Now, I’ll be forever branded the foggy-headed Farthingale, just as you accused.”
    Had he called her that?
    “You were right about me and I was so wrong to resent you for it!”
    He drew her close and wrapped his arms about her, surprised by the depth of her sorrow and alarmed by his sudden, overwhelming need to protect her. “Daisy, please tell me what happened.”
    “I lost the family heirloom pearls. I shouldn’t have worn the necklace this evening because the clasp was broken, but Mother insisted it had been repaired. Rather than fight about it, I put on the necklace just as every Farthingale debutante has done for the last hundred years. I ought to have known better and should have said something, but didn’t. Now it’s lost and I’ve destroyed the proud family tradition!”
    He held her in his embrace, knowing there was nothing he could say to cheer her spirits. Only finding the family heirloom would do. Perhaps this was his chance to make amends. He’d been too proud, too haughty to appreciate