Free False Angel by Edith Layton Page A
Authors: Edith Layton
never involved his beloved Regina in any of his wicked innuendo. Then he added, more seriously, “Come, Joss, you ought to know that you can always talk with me and that I will keep your secrets close as my next breath. I’m old enough to be your father, dear boy, and since that estimable gentleman is rusticating nicely in the West country, I should be happy to stand in his stead.”
“It’s not my secret precisely,” the marquess said slowly, and then smiled widely and added, “And you must have been a prodigiously precocious child, Jason, to have taken on fatherhood so young.”
“So I was, but I shan’t make you jealous by documenting it,” the fair-haired gentleman remarked airily before he said softly, “But I might be able to help if only because discussing a problem makes it simpler. You cannot always be the lone wolf our foes term you, you know. And believe me, I respect and admire Talwin fully as much as you do. Why, no one else would have been able to lure me from my countrified fastness but he, although my lady is grateful to him, since she’s spent all of our visit buying out every shop in Town. I do believe she has secret plans to erect a complete replica of London on the grounds of Grace Hall so she can charge one pence a peek at it, judging from the amount of objects she’s sending home from here. Why do you think the girl should hold you in such dislike, Joss?” he asked, becoming serious all at once.
“The only thing I can possibly imagine,” the marquess said quietly, although his table was as he always specified, far from any human ear, “is that she resents my having been witness to a foolish moment she had in her youth. Although I can scarcely credit that, for she’s no paragon to be so top-lofty. I interfered with her plans once, years ago when she was first out, for her father’s sake as well as her own. I intercepted her at Mother Carey’s place of business, you see, and detached her from her escort and took her home before any in the admittedly castaway company had time to recognize her face.”
The duke’s china-blue eyes widened and he gave a low whistle. “Salvation indeed, Joss. Tell me, do you think she knew the time of day?”
The marquess laughed and shook his head. “No, Jason, I do not. Most definitely not. Because she turned the colors of an autumn leaf before she commenced shaking like one as I led her to my carriage. She’d just come in, and all the company was occupied elsewhere, grouped around a couple in the center of the room. She only got one peek at what they were ogling before I intervened. Before she could think to swoon I braced her with some hard words and hurried her away. Still, she had a glimpse of some of the carry-on, and for all I know that may be why such a stunner is still unwed. Mother had one of her famous exhibitions on display that night,” he explained as his companion winced.
“Young James Rowers, Wardley’s heir, took her there, and you know what he came to in the end,” the marquess added.
“Indeed. I had an evil reputation once upon a time, but that fellow’s was foul. There is a difference,” the duke mused thoughtfully.
“Well I know it,” his friend agreed. “But Jason, the girl’s attitude troubles me. I work with Talwin because I want to and feel I ought to, and I shouldn’t like to have his daughter at daggers drawn with me. I’ve avoided her because I believed her to be just as wild as she was when she was sent home years ago. I thought her interest in me was caused only by her more lurid fantasies. Well, you can’t blame me for not wanting to be the instrument by which she’s ordered home again.” As his friend began to protest, the marquess raised one thin, well-cared-for hand and said, “No, Jason, hear me out, it would be no strange thing if my presence in a lady’s parlor enraged a dutiful papa. I am a divorced man and I’m not welcomed in the best circles.”
“Thank you,” said the duke sweetly. As
“It’s not my secret precisely,” the marquess said slowly, and then smiled widely and added, “And you must have been a prodigiously precocious child, Jason, to have taken on fatherhood so young.”
“So I was, but I shan’t make you jealous by documenting it,” the fair-haired gentleman remarked airily before he said softly, “But I might be able to help if only because discussing a problem makes it simpler. You cannot always be the lone wolf our foes term you, you know. And believe me, I respect and admire Talwin fully as much as you do. Why, no one else would have been able to lure me from my countrified fastness but he, although my lady is grateful to him, since she’s spent all of our visit buying out every shop in Town. I do believe she has secret plans to erect a complete replica of London on the grounds of Grace Hall so she can charge one pence a peek at it, judging from the amount of objects she’s sending home from here. Why do you think the girl should hold you in such dislike, Joss?” he asked, becoming serious all at once.
“The only thing I can possibly imagine,” the marquess said quietly, although his table was as he always specified, far from any human ear, “is that she resents my having been witness to a foolish moment she had in her youth. Although I can scarcely credit that, for she’s no paragon to be so top-lofty. I interfered with her plans once, years ago when she was first out, for her father’s sake as well as her own. I intercepted her at Mother Carey’s place of business, you see, and detached her from her escort and took her home before any in the admittedly castaway company had time to recognize her face.”
The duke’s china-blue eyes widened and he gave a low whistle. “Salvation indeed, Joss. Tell me, do you think she knew the time of day?”
The marquess laughed and shook his head. “No, Jason, I do not. Most definitely not. Because she turned the colors of an autumn leaf before she commenced shaking like one as I led her to my carriage. She’d just come in, and all the company was occupied elsewhere, grouped around a couple in the center of the room. She only got one peek at what they were ogling before I intervened. Before she could think to swoon I braced her with some hard words and hurried her away. Still, she had a glimpse of some of the carry-on, and for all I know that may be why such a stunner is still unwed. Mother had one of her famous exhibitions on display that night,” he explained as his companion winced.
“Young James Rowers, Wardley’s heir, took her there, and you know what he came to in the end,” the marquess added.
“Indeed. I had an evil reputation once upon a time, but that fellow’s was foul. There is a difference,” the duke mused thoughtfully.
“Well I know it,” his friend agreed. “But Jason, the girl’s attitude troubles me. I work with Talwin because I want to and feel I ought to, and I shouldn’t like to have his daughter at daggers drawn with me. I’ve avoided her because I believed her to be just as wild as she was when she was sent home years ago. I thought her interest in me was caused only by her more lurid fantasies. Well, you can’t blame me for not wanting to be the instrument by which she’s ordered home again.” As his friend began to protest, the marquess raised one thin, well-cared-for hand and said, “No, Jason, hear me out, it would be no strange thing if my presence in a lady’s parlor enraged a dutiful papa. I am a divorced man and I’m not welcomed in the best circles.”
“Thank you,” said the duke sweetly. As