Free Innocence Lost by Tiffany Green

for his revenge."
    "Julian, that is absurd. His Grace had no idea I was your sister when we first met,” she said without thought.
    He tensed. “How is that possible when you indicated that his mother had sent you to him?"
    She cursed her blunder. Knowing she had no alternative, she confessed to the accidental encounter with Nicholas at the stream and his belief that she was a commoner. She didn't dare elaborate, but made the entire affair seem brief and trivial.
    Julian chuckled humorlessly. “I daresay, dear sister, he knew who you were."
    "How could he have known? I was but a child when he last saw me,” she pointed out.
    "How many young ladies with dark hair and violet eyes are there on our estate? Or in all of Europe, for that matter?"
    She closed her eyes and allowed her head to fall back against the sofa. Could Julian be right? Had Nicholas only pretended not to know who she was? Oh, dear Christ! If he had known and still taken her virginity...
    "Are you all right, Moppet?” Julian asked softly.
    Her stomach began to churn with denial. She bit her lip, refusing to believe Nicholas would use her in that way.
    "But he couldn't have known I would arrive in London,” she added, desperately wishing to believe that Nicholas hadn't acted out of some sort of sick retribution.
    "Your arrival in London, I am certain, was pure coincidence. He would have returned to the country had you not fallen into his lap."
    She winced at her brother's words.
    "Oh, dearest, I apologize. Pray, forgive me,” he begged, placing an arm around her shoulders. “The time at sea must have addled my brain, as well as impeded my manners."
    An hour after his sister had pleaded fatigue, Julian undressed in his room when he recalled a conversation he'd had with his parents last fall. His mother insisted Megan was too lonely and decided that she would debut this spring, much to his father's consternation. He grimaced. He now had the great pleasure of seeing her launched.
    Bloody hell! He hadn't the stomach for endless fetes and galas, balls, soirees and those devious little chits out to sink their meat hooks into him. But he must endure it. His parents would expect it of him.
    Sleep eluded him, but by morning, he'd arrived at two decisions. First, he would see that Claremont had no further contact with his sister. Second, he would chaperone Megan to the various balls and parties that he deemed necessary. Once she was exposed to the many gentlemen anxious to be near her, she'd forget Claremont's very existence.
    He was certain that Megan's inexperience drew her to the first handsome man to profess a few honeyed words. Within a couple of weeks of her coming-out, his sister would be wise enough to realize her naivete. In fact, he'd wager a goodly sum she'd be betrothed to another by mid-season.
    The question of his parents’ whereabouts also besieged his mind during the night. He reasoned that they were not being held for ransom since there was no demand for payment. He couldn't imagine why they'd left in such haste, since they had already planned Megan's debut. And where the deuce had the driver, Sims, vanished to?
    The next morning, Megan stifled a yawn as she came down to breakfast. She'd thought of pleading a stomachache, but Julian would probably send for the doctor and she would no doubt have to spend a week abed. She shuddered at the very idea.
    When she entered the breakfast room, Julian watched her closely, his silver-grey eyes narrowed above the paper he held out before him. She filled her plate and sat, hoping he would go back to his reading.
    No such luck.
    "You look tired this morning."
    Megan picked up her fork. “I'm fine, Julian."
    The silence stretched out for several minutes. Megan moved the scrambled eggs around her plate, trying to think of something, anything other than Nicholas.
    "I am quite certain it's dead. Feel free to eat it."
    "I'm really not hungry."
    "Well, I know something that will cheer you."
    She looked up sharply.