Read Online The Abduction of Julia by Karen Hawkins - Free Book Online

the funds would stand for that.”
    “They must,” Alec said. He refused to think of the outcome if they did not.
    The duke regarded the glowing end of his cigarillo. “You know, my friend, this may very well have been an act of providence. I can’t help but wonder if Julia is not the better choice of the two.”
    “The Frant Dragon, better than the Incomparable?” exclaimed Edmund. He caught Lucien’s minatory glare and added quickly, “So, ah, Alec, what are your plans now?”
    Alec set down his glass. “I have an appointment to see the solicitor. I was headed to Lucien’s this morning to ask what he thought I should tell the damned man. Pratt is a prosy old fool and I didn’t want to shock him with the details.”
    Edmund grimaced. “He’s right, Luce. I went with Alec to that fellow’s office last month. Never saw a more Friday-faced individual in my life. When we returned, I was so blue deviled, I couldn’t even look at the yellow sauce my new chef had cooked for my eggs, and I am usually fond of sauces.”
    “Alec, tell the man the truth,” Lucien said.
    “Even about Therese?”
    “Especially about Therese. Perhaps if you can show her true nature to the executors, they will acknowledge that she is not the wife for you. Then, even if they fail to recognize your marriage to Julia, they might be willing to strike Therese’s name from that damned will.”
    Alec leaned his head against the back of his chair and regarded the ornate plaster ceiling. He would never know how his grandfather had located such a parsimonious collection of drudges to serve as executors. Twice he had met with them, and both times he had left feeling as if he had been on trial for high treason. He sighed. “We can only hope.”
    Lucien raised his brows. “And if the will stands? What will you do then?”
    “I will…” Alec trailed off, suddenly aware he hadn’t really thought what his life would be like once the marriage had taken place. What
would
he do?
    It was, he decided sourly, the culmination of a horrendous nightmare. His inheritance had instantly changed him from a carefree pariah to the most sought-after bachelor in London. People clamored for his presence. Earls, dukes, ladies, and lords, now eagerly sought him out, as though they had not previously treated him with ill-concealed contempt, mocking his lowly Scottish title and sneering behind their fans. As the richest man in England, he was suddenly worthy of instant approbation.
    In the months that followed this disquieting change, Alec had become even more outrageous: bringing a retinue of soiled doves to the theatre, arriving drunk at every event, and even inviting a common prizefighter to dinner at Carlton House. It should have been amusing, but strangely, Alec found it flat. With such a fortune at his disposal, he could do no wrong. If he desired, he could probably walk naked down Pall Mall and no one would offer a single comment.
    But that was not the worst of his problems. Thanks to the codicil on Grandfather’s will, he was soon to join the ranks of perfumed pretenders he so despised, nodding and smiling with the best of them.
    It was a lowering thought. He scowled into his glass. By God, he would not be the only one discomforted— for every pang and pain he suffered, so would Julia.
    He raised his drink to the silent vow and caught Lucien’s curious gaze. Alec managed a grin. “There is nothing simpler. Julia and I will set up house and live a life of social boredom for one year, beginning from today.”
    “But she’s the Frant Dra—” Edmund caught himself, a vivid red reaching to his sandy brows. “It won’t be easy.”
    Alec shrugged. “Julia knows her way about. She was a chaperone.”
    “No, Edmund is right,” Lucien said. “Julia knows how to keep amorous young men from pursuing her cousin. She knows nothing about comportment, conversation, and gentle etiquette. What was acceptable for a slightly eccentric chaperone will not do for the