Free His Perfect Lady by Jenn Langston Page B

him.
    Trudging home, he didn’t make it past the library and the brandy. Staring into the dying embers of the fire, he tried to figure out how to reclaim his life. Over the years, Catherine had faded to a distant memory, and he’d found contentment in his rakish lifestyle. Now everything had changed.
    When his brother didn’t require his presence at Society events, he could distance himself from Catherine. If he never saw her, her time in London would no longer impact him.
    Hearing loud female laughter made him groan. He’d hoped his brother would take his newest conquest upstairs and not bother him. As the sound increased, he realized he would not receive his wish.
    “Jonathan, I’m so glad you’re home,” Stanwick slurred. “I want to introduce you to these two ladies.”
    After standing and nodding to the women, Jonathan faced his brother. “Thank you, but I believe it is much too late for a conversation this evening. Perhaps we can try another day.”
    “Have you forgotten your manners? I brought Jamie here for you.”
    Irritated and slightly disgusted by the way Stanwick hung onto the women at his side, Jonathan crossed his arms over his chest. Although he’d led a dissolute life, he kept his dignity. Stanwick apparently didn’t know how to handle himself.
    “Please excuse us, ladies,” Jonathan said, clasping Stanwick on the shoulder and pushing him from the room.
    “What is wrong with you?” Stanwick demanded as he shrugged from Jonathan’s grasp. “You were rude to those ladies.”
    The stench of alcohol burned Jonathan’s nostrils. “First, they are not ladies, and second, you are the one whose behavior is in question. What are you doing? I thought you wanted to get married. And what happened to Rosetta?”
    “I released her. Keeping one woman is too hard. In the future, I’ll eventually marry but, as you said, there is no harm in me having a little fun first.”
    “Discretion is the key. And bringing two women of the night home with you is not acceptable by anyone’s standards.”
    Jonathan tried to keep his tone light and nonjudgmental, but he heard his father in his voice. Although he cringed at the realization, he knew their father would be the only one who could get through to his brother.
    Stanwick shook his head like a petulant child as he backed up. “What happened to you? You’ve changed.”
    As his brother disappeared back into the library, Jonathan turned and made his way to his bedchamber. His brother was right. He had changed. Could Catherine have been the one to encourage it, or had he been heading this direction on his own before she arrived? Regardless, the time he’d been avoiding had come. He needed to choose which direction to take his life.
    Thinking back over his past actions, he couldn’t say he was entirely pleased with all the choices he’d made. As he tried to come to grips with this new realization, he dropped his body into a chair. What was he to do now?
    With his altered opinion of himself, could he go back to how he had lived before and continue as the dissolute rake? He wasn’t sure. Perhaps instead, he could claim his position as respectable Lord Linwood. Becoming his father didn’t appeal to him any more than the previous choice.
    Even more confounding was the decision of what to do about Catherine. Did she have a place in his life? Would she want one?
    Catherine set her refreshment plate aside as she looked at the gathered women at Lady Minor’s townhouse. The lady had graciously offered her home and supplies for them to create blankets to sell. All the funds would go to support lords who’d lost their fortunes due to gambling.
    Having firsthand experience through Kenneth’s addiction, Catherine didn’t feel money would help them but didn’t voice her opinion. She imagined those lords would gratefully take their newly acquired funds back to the gaming tables.
    “Hello, Catherine,” Evelyn said, sitting beside her. “How are you doing