Free A Scandalous Past (Regency Romance, Book 4) by Ava Stone

a friend of my
family for years, though he doesn’t visit enough for anyone to know
it. The best sort of man there is. I wish my son was a bit more
like him.”
    Across the room, her son, the Marquess of
Astwick, silently toasted her with his glass of champagne,
completely unaffected by her cruel words. Cordie’s eyes flashed to
Clayworth’s, realizing that the dowager could be heard in every
corner of the room. His twilight eyes danced as if he was truly
entertained by this highly improper conversation. Not that anyone
would ever rebuke the dowager marchioness, but Cordie was mortified
just the same.
    At that moment, the dinner chime rang and
she’d never been more relieved to be granted a reprieve.
    “Brendan Reese!” the dowager bellowed
loudly. “Come and escort my delightful Miss Avery into dinner.”
    He was at her side in the blink of an eye,
an arm outstretched, and a playful grin on his lips. “Miss
Avery.”
    A spark of awareness jolted through Cordie
as she accepted his arm, and she almost pulled back her hand. She
looked up into his handsome face and the fluttering in her stomach
began anew. “You have quite the champion,” she whispered, trying to
bring her heart rate down to an acceptable level.
    “Me?” His smile grew. “I’ve never heard her
call anyone delightful before,” Clayworth whispered to her. “What
could you have possibly have done to garner such praise?”
    Cordie shook her head. “I don’t know. I’ve
always been terrified of the woman.”
    Clayworth chuckled and placed his free hand
over hers, sending a fresh wave of tingles racing up her arm. “So
you do have
some
sense.”
    She didn’t find that remotely humorous and
stiffened her back in response.
    “Oh, now,” he began soothingly, “my dear,
don’t be so serious.”
    That he would say those words to her
was suddenly quite funny, and Cordie had to stifle a giggle.
“Coming from you that does mean something.”
    “I had no idea that anything I said
meant something to you.”
    She grinned at him. “True, I generally
choose to ignore you.”
    “You have a saucy tongue, Miss Avery.”
    “It’s one of my better qualities.”
    “Not from where I stand.” The crooked smile
returned to his lips.
    She didn’t know what he meant by that.
Before she could find out, Cordie was surprised to discover the
dowager had assigned her to be seated between Lord Astwick and Lord
Clayworth at the table. As the youngest daughter of a mere baron,
she was generally at the other end of the room when it came to
gatherings such as this.  But the dowager had raised her
ancient brow and said in a crystal clear voice that
sh
e
could do whatever she wanted in her own home.
    Once seated, Lord Astwick chuckled and
inclined his head towards Cordie as everyone else started in on
their turtle soup. “Don’t look so frightened, Miss Avery. I know
it’s difficult to tell, but I’ve never seen mother take to anyone
so quickly before.”
    She nearly choked. “She likes me?”
    The marquess’ smile widened. “You don’t know
how rare that is.”
    Actually, she had a fairly good idea. The
widowed Lady Astwick, one of the pillars of society, could make or
break someone if she was of a mind. It was a pity the dowager
hadn’t taken to Livvie. No one would dare disparage the scandalous
Duchess of Kelfield if Lady Astwick were her champion. She wished
she knew what she’d done to capture the dowager’s attention so she
could pass the information to her friend.
    Cordie felt Clayworth’s eyes on her and she
tilted her head to one side to see him better. The intensity of his
stare startled her. His twilight eyes deepened even more and the
flutters in her stomach increased when he quirked her the smallest
of smiles.
    “Miss Avery,” Lord Astwick began in a voice
that was much too loud for normal dinner conversations. “I
understand Clayworth drove you ‘round in that flashy phaeton of his
today.”
    “Chet!” Clayworth growled on her