Read Online The Dangerous Lord by Sabrina Jeffries - Free Book Online Page A

“Was there a prior attachment between Katherine and your steward, sir?”
    â€œYes,” Sir Richard said at the same time his wife cried, “No!”
    â€œWhich is it?” he asked in a frigid tone.
    Sir Richard scowled at his wife. “Why don’t you tell him, my dear? I don’t think you’d like what I have to say on the subject.”
    She glared at him, then faced Ian with a rustle of muslin skirts. “You see, Lord St. Clair, my daughter began fancying herself in love with Mr. Gerard years ago.” She cast her husband an arch glance. “I warned my husband that he should dismiss the man, but he thought nothing would come of it. ‘It’s a girlish infatuation,’ he used to say. ‘She’ll ne’er act upon it. And I shan’t lose a good steward for such an idiotic reason.’”
    Under other circumstances, Ian might have been amused by Lady Hastings’ uncanny ability to mimic her husband. Just now, he wasn’t. “Go on.”
    â€œRichard thought she’d grow out of it. She didn’t. Then last year, the man had the audacity to ask for her hand. He was declined, of course. Clearly, he lacked the necessary prerequisites of birth and fortune.”
    â€œNecessary to you ,” her husband added.
    She sniffed. “Don’t quibble with me, Richard. You know I was right to insist on that. And you should have dismissed the man as soon as he made his feelings known.”
    Her husband leaned back against the sideboard. “I thought him an honorable man. Besides, I feared that dismissing him would merely tempt him to run off with the silly girl, and if I kept him on he wouldn’t risk his position. They both seemed to accept the situation.” He glanced apologetically at Ian. “When you came along and she acquiesced to your attentions I thought she’d forgotten her girlish fancy.” His attention turned briefly to his wife. “I didn’t know she wasn’t pleased with your courtship.”
    Ian didn’t have to ask what the man meant. Apparently, he’d underestimated her fear of him.
    His wife waved her hand as if to erase her husband’s words. “My husband doesn’t know what he’s talking about. Katherine was perfectly pleased with you until…”
    She paused, and Ian felt a stab of unease. He could see where this was leading.
    â€œUntil that wretched article was printed in the newspaper,” she continued, two spots of color darkening her powdered cheeks. “I know young men must have their fun, but really, Lord St. Clair, couldn’t you be more discreet? The moment Mr. Gerard read that column, he rushed in here, protesting that we were marrying ‘his angel’ off to a profligate bounder who couldn’t appreciate her.”
    Ian groaned. He’d known that article would bring him nothing but trouble. Damn that scribbling witch, Miss Taylor!
    Lady Hastings sighed. “Of course, I told him to mind his place, and Richard—much too late, in my opinion—gave him his notice. But it was futile. My sweet, dutiful girl was impressed by his gallantry. She ran off with him the next day.”
    Ian stared at her agape. “That long ago? And you didn’t tell me? Didn’t even have the courtesy to notify me? The briefest note—‘Dear Lord St. Clair, our daughter has run off with the steward, so sorry for all your trouble’—would have sufficed!”
    Lady Hastings bristled and opened her mouth as if to give him a proper setdown.
    Her husband hastened to intervene. “You’ve every right to be angry, St. Clair. I wanted to tell you at once, but Agnes hoped my man of affairs might recover Katherine before the runaways reached Scotland. I’ve no hope now. My man sent word that he lost them. I fear my daughter and Mr. Gerard will be married before we see them again.”
    A chilly silence ensued, punctuated only by the