Read Online To Lure a Proper Lady by Ashlyn Macnamara - Free Book Online Page B

between Dysart and Snowley. They’d put on quite a show, and somehow Lizzie had come out of it feeling like a bone between two starving dogs.
    She led Dysart along the passage to an unused sitting room, cool and dark in the heat of the day with its unlit hearth and drawn curtains.
    “Who were you and Cousin Snowley talking to just now?” Dysart asked.
    Lizzie supposed that was part of his job, as well, asking questions, discovering who everyone was. “Papa’s agent, Mr. Barrows. It’s nothing but domestic trouble.”
    Dysart nodded, one firm jerk of his head that told her he’d filed the information away in his mind. “How well do you know Marcus Pendleton?”
    The abrupt change of subject made her take a step back. “I beg your pardon?”
    “Pendleton.” He stalked closer. She’d thought him a dog, earlier—a big one, a mastiff. But now she realized her error. Dogs rushed in. No, he was a cat, prowling quietly, waiting for his moment to pounce. “He’s one of your guests.” Closer. “One you forgot to tell me about.”
    Something in Dysart’s tone—no, in his entire manner—set her on edge. “An oversight, I’m sure.” In fact, she hadn’t known he was attending until this morning. “He’ll be one of Caro’s set. Why?”
    “I wouldn’t think he’s the sort to come to one of these gatherings.”
    “You wouldn’t think…” she echoed. Heavens, how did a Bow Street Runner become acquainted with someone like Marcus Pendleton, enough to know whether or not he’d attend a house party? “He’ll have come for the horse races. Caro always organizes some sort of cross-country event. She’ll ride in it, too, if she can get away with it. One of her life’s ambitions is to secure an invitation to ride to hounds with Sir Graham and company.”
    “They don’t allow women.”
    Lizzie raised her brows. And how would Dysart know
that
? “Are you familiar with the hunt? I wouldn’t imagine you ride.”
    “I don’t. Leastways, I don’t enjoy setting a pack of hounds after some animal and breaking my neck trying to give chase. But we’re running far afield. Stay away from Pendleton. Don’t find yourself alone with him.” His voice rasped with urgency. “And warn your sisters, too.”
    “Good heavens, what are you implying?” She’d never heard Pendleton was a rake. Once more, she asked herself how Dysart could know anything about one of their set, but a possible answer came to her and settled in the pit of her belly like a chunk of ice. Dysart made a living enforcing the law. Had Pendleton somehow run afoul of the magistrate’s court? But if that were the case, gossip would certainly have circulated. “The man is received in society. If he were prone to ruining young ladies, he’d be barred from every guest list in Mayfair.”
    “He ought to be,” Dysart growled. He leaned in, and his fingers curled about her forearm, tightening almost to the point of pain. “Please trust me on this.”
    Lizzie had to swallow before replying. “What do you know?
How
do you know?”
    “Alert every young lady here,” he went on as if she hadn’t said anything. “Alert your staff, especially the maids. Can you do that for me?”
    The sheer depth of his seriousness set her heart to pounding. “He ran afoul of the law, didn’t he? What did he do?”
    “He forced himself on a maid, but that’s the way of the world, isn’t it? His sort gets away with all manner of sins, while those of lesser station pay the price. I was unable to help the girl. Do you know what that kind of powerlessness feels like?” His fingers dug into her arm, and she let out a squeak. “Your pardon.” He dropped his hand.
    “Has he…has he done it again since?”
    “I don’t know, but in my experience men who do that don’t stop at once. At any rate, do you want to take that chance?”
    —
    Dysart had lied to Lady Elizabeth. Not an outright lie, granted. It was more an omission of pertinent facts. She’d been the one to