Free Scandal's Child by Sherrill Bodine

began, her fingers tightly gripped together before her. “Kat foolishly pursued him to the Blue Boar Inn to try to keep him from some mischief. She has always seen it as her duty to keep him out of trouble because she is the elder.”
    With a gentle smile, Dominic urged her on. “We understand. But how did my brother become a part of this?”
    “She was waiting for Jacko in his room at the inn … and … and somehow … the comte mistook his room … and … and they were sharing a bed … when we arrived,” Mariah finished quickly, her cheeks two bright red spots.
    “Obviously it was a mistake. If it was just family why could it not be kept quiet?” Dominic asked, a slight edge in his voice now.
    “Because that dreadful rattle Sir Percy was with Jacko at the Blue Boar Inn. He saw all!” declared Gwynneth.
    “Oh, my God, not that insufferable twit!” scoffed Sybilla. “Then they must wed at once! No, no, Dominic, there is no choice.” Sybilla patted his hands that now tightly gripped her shoulders. “Where are they now?”
    “On their way to Château Saville with Lord Thistlewait and my companion, Miss Hannah Hamilton, to chaperon them. But I know when they arrive Kat plans to cry off from the engagement!”
    Gwynneth’s admiration for Dominic was in jeopardy when she spied his relieved look. “However, we cannot allow that. Kat has already cried off from one engagement. Another would be doom for her expectations. I have a plan. But I’ll need your support, Sybilla. We must confer.”
    “Grandmother, no!” Dominic protested as the duchess leaned forward, interested. “Jules deserves more than an arranged marriage. He deserves what I share with Juliana. After all the years … I have just found him—”
    The duchess quieted him with a raised finger and a loving smile. “My dear boy, do you think I do not know what is owed your brother? I have an idea of my own that will insure we do not lose him again.”
    “Kathryn, are you feeling unwell?” Hannah leaned forward in the coach seat to take Kat’s hand. “Good. You don’t feel overly warm, but you are uncharacteristically pale.”
    Kat forced a smile. “No, I am fine, truly. Just a trifle fatigued from the journey.”
    Hannah sighed and reclined against the pillows. With a small yawn, she nodded. “I certainly understand, dear.” Then she promptly closed her eyes.
    Caroline was already napping, one cheek resting against the coach curtains. Kat couldn’t sleep. All she could think about was this latest development. She hadn’t slept a wink after her conversation with Jacko and Saville. Her worst fears had been confirmed: Sir Edmund Trigge was capable of anything. What could Kat do to protect them all from his wrath? She had come up with no solution during the long, sleepless night.
    This morning she had tried to cover the bruising shadows under her eyes with a perky manner, but she must have failed for Jules had given her a most penetrating gaze when he handed her into the coach, and now Hannah had noticed. She would have to be very careful not to give herself away again. Her twin, usually attuned to her every mood, would cajole until he wrested the truth from her, and then the fat would be in the fire. She sensed a restlessness in him, a sudden yearning, that might easily be turned into a hollow, chivalrous gesture. She had no doubt how a duel between her brother and Edmund Trigge would turn out.
    She turned to the young, sleeping girl beside her. Caroline’s cheeks were lightly flushed just below where her lashes fanned. She looked very young and very helpless. Kat could not have done differently; she could not have stood by and allowed someone like Trigge to ruin this innocent’s life. Now she must deal with the consequences.
    Jules’s reaction she was not quite so sure of … nor, the fate of any duel he might undertake. In a mere two days she had come to know him as a man of strength and honor and compassion. She owed him her good name,