Free Miss Wonderful by Loretta Chase Page A

not prepared for a welcoming committee. Even after Miss
Oldridge had told him how important he was in the locals' eyes, he'd
wanted to believe she'd exaggerated.
    He'd
expected difficulty and had come prepared to deal with it. He'd seen
himself winning over the landowners by dealing fairly with them,
listening with an open mind to their objections, and working with
them to devise acceptable solutions and compromises. His intentions
were good and his heart honest. He was cultivated, tactful, and his
manners were faultless—except toward Miss Oldridge. He'd
trusted these assets to see him through a difficult battle.
    He
was not prepared for the entire opposition to surrender the instant
he arrived.
    Sir
Roger had called about half an hour after Miss Oldridge left
Wilkerson's, and greeted Alistair like a long-lost son.
    The
baronet, a man near his father's age, was plump about the middle and
bald about the head. At the moment he was laying waste to the spread
he'd ordered to sustain him until dinner: mutton, potatoes, a loaf of
bread, about a pound each of cheese and butter, and a tankard of ale.
    Alistair
had a glass of wine. Even if he'd been hungry—unlikely at this
hour—he would have lost his appetite as soon as he realized
Miss Oldridge had not exaggerated. No one would wait for him to prove
his worth or the value of his project. He was Lord Hargate's son, the
papers had made a hero of him, and that was enough.
    "It
is most kind of Lady Tolbert to think of me," Alistair said.
"However, as you may have heard, I am here on business."
    "Important,
daresay."
    "Yes,
rather." After a pause, while the baronet chewed his mutton,
Alistair added, "Lord Gordmor's canal."
    Sir
Roger's eyebrows went up, but he finished chewing and swallowing
calmly enough. "Indeed."
    "In
fact, I should like to talk to you about it. At a mutually convenient
time, that is."
    Sir
Roger nodded. "Business. Pleasure. Keep separate. Understand."
    "Or
I could talk to your bailiff, if you prefer," Alistair said.
    "Bailiff?
Certainly not." The man went on eating.
    "But
you see, Sir Roger, I should consider it the greatest favor if you—if
everyone—would regard me simply as Lord Gordmor's
representative. As one in his employ."
    The
baronet mulled this over while he speared the last of the potatoes
onto his plate. "See your point," he said. "Scruples.
Do you credit."
    "I
must make it clear that my father is in no way involved with this
project."
    "Understand,"
said Sir Roger. "But my lady won't. All she understands is, your
father's Lord Hargate, and you're the famous Waterloo hero. Told her
you weren't the lion in the menagerie. Not here to entertain her and
the other females." He scowled. "Tears. Buckets of 'em.
Women."
    Alistair
need only recall Judith Gilford's teary temper tantrums to understand
how miserable an unhappy woman could make a man. Alistair at least
had not been shackled to her and hadn't had to endure it the livelong
day and night. A married man must live with it or let himself be
driven from his own home.
    Making
Sir Roger's wife unhappy was not the way to win his respect.
    "I
had rather be stabbed, slashed, shot at, and trampled by the entire
Polish cavalry," Alistair said, "than cause your lady a
moment's distress. Please be so good as to tell Lady Tolbert that I
shall be honored to wait upon her on Friday."
     
    Friday
20 February
     
    THE
dinner party was essentially what Miss Oldridge had predicted.
    You'll
be… invited to admire pets, livestock, and children,
especially their daughters.
    Sir
Roger had talked about Alistair being a lion in the menagerie. As it
turned out, it was not Lord Hargate's hero son who was on display but
a bevy of maidens, all eager to entertain and entice him.
    This
was a new experience.
    When
Alistair had first entered Society, he hadn't worried about anyone's
setting marriage traps. He was a younger son, dependent on a father
who, while well-to-do, was far from the wealthiest member of the
peerage. Lord