Free Francesca by Joan Smith Page B

ways of carrying on affairs. Members of the muslin company expected more in the way of cash. Ladies of quality, unless they were purse-pinched, were allowed the luxury of pretending indifference to money and taking their payment in jewelry. He expected Francesca would fall into the latter category. Her wishing to discuss his assets sounded like fishing to learn what she might get out of him. It displeased him, and when Devane was displeased, his eyebrows pulled into a frown over his eyes.
    “You don’t seem very pleased about being so wealthy,”she charged.
    “It does please me. I appreciate money as much as the next one. It allows one the finer things in life.”
    “This is a very fine carriage,”she said. “It hardly jostles at all.”
    “It is the team that make it seem smoother than it is. And of course the driver,”he added with a grin. “Do you drive, Lady Camden?”
    “Only the jig, back on Papa’s farm. I’ve never had my own phaeton. My late husband was not so very well off. His father has a good deal of money, I believe, but Lord Maundley is a shocking skint.”
    He drew off the side of the road, under a tall oak, and turned to her, his expression suddenly serious. Sunlight dappled her face through the moving branches, lending her a restless quality. “It must have been very difficult for you, losing your husband when you were practically newlyweds.”
    Any mention of David set Francesca’s hackles up. She disliked posing as a heartbroken widow, but of course she did not parade his perfidy in front of any but her dearest friends. Even her own family had no idea of it. “It was a trying time,”she said in a cool voice.
    Devane assumed she was still not totally recovered, and immediately rushed on to speak of other things. “The reason I stopped the carriage, I thought you might like to try the ribbons.”
    “No, thank you. When I make a fool of myself, I prefer to do it in private.”
    “I am here to help you.”
    “Your team is too lively for a beginner.”
    “I did not expect such reluctance to take a chance from the dashing Frankie Devlin,”he jeered.
    “I take a chance only when it is myself, or my possessions, that are at stake. The team is yours. If I crippled them, I would be in your debt. I have debts enough without incurring new ones,”she added, thinking of the necklace. I will expect you to make retribution. David had told her the diamonds were worth five thousand guineas.
    So the lady had tumbled into debt! Was that the cause of her straying? “Gambling?”he asked bluntly. His voice was harsh, and his dark eyes stared hard into hers.
    “No! I don’t gamble beyond a friendly game of whist.”
    “How did you fall into debt, then?”
    His tone, as much as his words, angered her. “Pray, do not concern yourself about my personal problems,”she said, holding her head high.
    “I hope to make your problems my problems, Lady Camden. I confess, I have an aversion to ladies’gambling beyond their means.”
    “Another vice reserved for gentlemen,’’she snipped, eyes flashing. To his considerable astonishment, she completely ignored his hint at shouldering her problems. “Well, are we going to continue this drive, or sit here all day arguing?”
    A reluctant smile moved his lips and glowed in the depths of his dark eyes. “A temper! Good. I’m inclined that way myself.”He flicked the whip, and the team resumed their smooth trot. Devane instituted some polite conversation on the countryside and social doings.
    “There is a quiet inn just along the road here,”he said later. “Shall we stop for a drink? Driving in the open air is a thirsty business.”
    “I would enjoy a drink,”she allowed.
    The inn, with an ancient brick façade and a thatched roof, looked like a country cottage. Chickens roaming free in the yard added to the impression, and there was no commercial sign at the door to draw in trade. “Are you sure this is an inn?”she asked.
    “It is, but it has only