Free His Reluctant Lady by Ruth Ann Nordin

Tittletattle would be a service to
Miss Giles. She needed to know what Lords Davenport and Pennella
were up to. Then she could send both earls off in disgust and find
one who wouldn’t treat her no better than an object.
    “ So, my lady,” Mister
Robinson began, bringing her attention back to him, “have I proved
myself to you?”
    “ As loathe as I am to admit
it, I suppose you’re not as boring as most gentlemen I’ve come
across,” she replied.
    His eyes twinkling, he said, “Finally,
the lady pays me a compliment.”
    Though his comment amused her, she
shrugged.
    Lord Clement and Sophie pulled back
their reins and Agatha and Mister Robinson stopped beside them.
“Well, this is where we started,” Lord Clement said. “It’s been a
most enjoyable afternoon.”
    “ It certainly has,” Mister
Robinson replied, his gaze sending an unexpected thrill straight
through Agatha, which she quickly suppressed.
    “ I’ll be hosting a dinner
party in a week,” Lord Clement added. “Lord and Lady Roderick will
be there.”
    “ And Lord and Lady Edon?”
his ward requested.
    “ Since they’re friends of
yours, I don’t see the harm in inviting them.”
    “ It’s no secret Ladies
Roderick and Edon are friends. They’ll have a more pleasant time if
they can talk.”
    “ Yes, I suppose that’s
true.” Lord Clement turned his attention to Agatha and her sister.
“Will you be joining us?”
    Even if it meant Agatha would have to
spend time with Mister Robinson, she wasn’t about to waste this
opportunity for her sister. Lord Clement was definitely interested
in Sophie, and her sister couldn’t do much better than him. With a
nod, she said, “We’d be honored to attend, my lord.”
    Lord Clement’s smile widened in relief.
“Good. We look forward to it.”
    After Agatha and Sophie rode away from
Hyde Park, Agatha studied her sister’s face. “Things are going
remarkably well for you and Lord Clement.”
    “ I suppose…”
    “ But what? He’s not Lord
Dabney?”
    “ I’m no longer pining over
Lord Dabney.”
    “ That’s good.” And a relief,
but she realized her sister was discontent for a different reason.
“What’s troubling you?”
    “ He’ll never be able to go
dancing.”
    “ So?”
    “ I like dancing.”
    “ You can still dance.
Married ladies dance with other gentlemen.” Though she nodded,
Agatha sensed it wasn’t enough. “Is something else troubling
you?”
    “ No.”
    She opened her mouth to ask her sister
to share her misgivings but decided her sister didn’t want to talk
about it. Finally, she said, “If there’s anything you have
questions about, regarding marriage or anything, I’ll do what I can
to answer them.”
    Sophie nodded and the two continued on
in silence.

 
     
     
    Chapter Eight
     
    Five days later as Christopher entered
White’s, he found a group of men roaring with laughter in the
center of a room.
    “ You’re in trouble now,” a
gentleman told Lords Davenport and Pennella. “This is going to be
all over the Ton by this evening.”
    Curious, Christopher made his way to
Ethan who was sipping some brandy. “What’s going on? Did Miss Giles
find out about the wager?”
    Ethan shook his head. “Not yet, but she
will before the day is up.”
    “ But why? Is someone going
to tell her?”
    “ They don’t need to. It’s in
the Tittletattle .”
    “ The Tittletattle ? But how did it get in
there?”
    Lowering his voice, Ethan
said, “Someone from this establishment had to have told someone at
the Tittletattle .”
    Christopher considered the
ramifications of what he’d just learned. “Who would have told
someone from the Tittletattle such a thing?”
    “ Your guess is as good as
mine,” he replied with a shrug. “Whoever it was, let’s just hope
Davenport and Pennella don’t find out…especially Pennella. You know
he doesn’t take kindly to betrayals. Fortunately, neither of us
have to worry about it.” He gestured to Lord Roderick who