Read Online Simply Scandalous by Tamara Lejeune - Free Book Online

darkly handsome. They should not resemble stableboys with nettlerash. "I expect," she said doubtfully,
"his friends call him Carrots."

    A scaly monster like Swale has no friends, "Juliet declared, conveniently forgetting Mr. Alexander Devize.
"He has henchmen, that is all. I daresay, when his back
is turned, they must call him Ginger, for not only
does he have the most appalling red hair, but he must
also have the most beastly temper that can be imagined. Cynthia, when he found he had lost the race to
me, he could do nothing more than accuse me of
cheating and threaten to horsewhip me!"
    Cynthia gasped. "H-horsewhip you!" she cried in
terror. "But Juliet-!"
    "He thought I was Cary, you see." She paused and
frowned suddenly. "Though how he should have
thought I was Cary I shall never know!"
    Cynthia was puzzled. "You said you wore his coat
and his hat and his spectacles."
    "I mean," said Juliet patiently, "his mercenaries must
have reported their success in eliminating my brother
from the competition. Swale ought to have been quite
surprised to see me! Instead, he was grinning at me.
He even wished me luck. Never mind," she said quickly,
burying the tiny seed of doubt in righteous indignation.
"I expect he covered his amazement with that idiotic
grin. Have you found Auckland yet?"
    Cynthia handed her the book silently, too overwhelmed by the imposing list of titles, patents, and lands
to speak.
    "Why, his name is nothing more than Geoffrey
Ambler!" cried Juliet indignantly. "Look! One son, Ge offrey, Marquess of Swale, and one d. Maria. The
slimy snake has a sister. Since I did not hear of her this
Season, we can assume her ladyship has married
since this printing."

    "Why, that sounds almost human," Cynthia remarked. "There is something stalwart about a Geoffrey, don't you think, Julie? And a Geoffrey with a sister
can not be all bad, surely. She probably calls him
Geoff or Geoffie."
    "It is the name of a soulless swine," Juliet declared.
"I expect Geoffrey Ambler, swine, has fled to Auckland. I expect London is no longer pleasant for him.
I expect I shall never see him again."
    "But Juliet!" Cynthia cried. "You do not wish to,
surely. "
    "No, indeed," said Juliet. "No one who has ever
seen him ever wishes to see him again. But if I ever
do, I shan't call him Geoffie, I promise you. I shall
call him Ginger. "

     

Geoffrey, Lord Swale, was not greatly surprised to
find a summons to Auckland House awaiting him at
his rooms in Pall Mall when he returned to them after
the race. The Wayborn Excrescence had done her
damage with amazing speed. She had sown her miserable lies, broadcast them, like so much demon
seed, and all of London was convinced of his guilt.
Doubtless, his concerned parent wanted to console
his beloved son. The following day he found Everard
Ambler, the sixth Duke of Auckland, in his book
room at the back of the London mansion that stood
in Berkeley Square.
    "Geoffrey, you mutt!" The Duke greeted him without any trace of paternal affection. The resemblance
between father and son was not very pronounced. His
Grace was one of the pale, slender aristocrats flawlessly
turned out by his valet in wig and maquillage, while
his son's burly physique, pugnacious face, and ruddy
complexion were such that no valet or tailor could
render them elegant. His clothes always looked rumpled; his hair was wild. His square chin regularly bore cuts from a clumsy razor, and his boots always
looked as though they'd been left out in the rain.

    "I take it, sir, you have dismissed your valet at last?"
    Swale scowled, further distinguishing himself from
the family portraits in the picture gallery at Auckland
House. Stern looks, yes, but never that menacing
glare a barman gives the bosky at last call. "Why
should I dismiss my valet, sir?" he said belligerently.
"Bowditch is as good as any other."
    "Ha!" said his parent. "I don't say I want a dandy for
a son, but you might at least be