Free The Second Seduction of a Lady by Miranda Neville Page B

usual amiable tone.
    “Robert Townsend is no longer your ward.”
    “I still feel a responsibility.”
    “So you should. Caro told me she and Robert kept you informed of our plans so you could get close to me. You used a pair of foolish children, as you quite rightly called them.”
    “I wondered if that was the reason you left Somerset without even doing me the courtesy of responding to my proposal. Last time, at least, I was not abandoned without explanation.”
    She was on treacherous ground here, and she knew it, so she attacked. “As a result of your callous manipulation, my poor little cousin will be trapped into a terrible marriage and her reputation ruined. And it’s your fault.”
    “And I accept my share of responsibility. Had I paid more attention, I would have noticed things between them had progressed so far.” He regarded her steadily and she refused to meet his eye, staring forward at the fustian wall of the chaise. His attention had been on her. Hers had been equally absent from her cousin and she felt her failure deeply.
    “However,” he continued, “Robert offered for Miss Brotherton. He told me he would when I scolded him after the ball. I came to tell you the next morning but you were still abed. When the pair of us called the day after, you had left.”
    Squeezing her eyes shut, Eleanor absorbed the fact that she might have saved her cousin. “Oh Lord. And now she is ruined.”
    “If she’s ruined, her mother must share the blame. They are both young, it is true, but Robert is of good birth and has a healthy fortune, as I am in a position to know. Not only did she turn him down flat, she refused to let him see Caro again. Her intransigence precipitated the elopement.”
    “My cousin acted stupidly, I agree. She should have postponed the engagement but let them continue to see each other. Very likely the infatuation would have run its course.”
    “Exactly! We think alike. We can only hope for things to go well with them. It’s true I took advantage of the information Robert learned from Caro.” His voice dropped. “You can blame me for the deception, but I was a man in love.”
    “You ordered him to court her! Do you know how soiled it makes me feel that I was in any part responsible for their coming together? I thought I could forgive the sordidness of your wager. But this. It is too much.”
    “You misunderstand the matter. That had nothing to do with you. I suggested Robert cultivate Miss Brotherton’s company because I thought an innocent flirtation a more wholesome occupation for him than losing his fortune at cards.”
    “Oh!” she shrieked. “So he is a gamester! My poor Caro!”
    “No! Not a gamester. At least I hope not. And surely not irredeemable. Perhaps marriage will steady him.”
    Eleanor snorted. “If I have anything to say about it we’ll never find out. I intend to save her. I shall find her and take her home. We’ll tell everyone she was with me all the time.”
    “I’m afraid that won’t work. Her mother and brother have already disowned her.”
    “The devil they have!” It took a lot to make Eleanor utter a profanity.
    “I went to Mrs. Brotherton to discuss what should best be done. Good God, Eleanor! What a foolish and disagreeable woman she is. She fed me some nonsense about wishing her daughter to marry Kendal or a marquess, and told me that under no circumstances would she ever speak to her daughter again. I soon found she’d made not the least effort to hush the business up and the news was already spread around the neighborhood.”
    “If only I had been there! I could have reasoned with her.”
    “Why weren’t you?” he asked. “Why did you leave?”
    “I—” She paused. “You know why. I don’t wish to speak of it. We must decide what to do about the children.”
    Max’s ears strained to hear her words. She’d started to say something different and changed her mind. Something important. His bewildered anger at her fickleness had