Free An Improper Proposal (The Distinguished Rogues Book 6) by Heather Boyd Page B

husband.
    To his considerable shock, Whitney turned and waved wildly at Mr. Talbot, giving the man no choice but to acknowledge her. When his coachmen slowed to a stop, Talbot left his companions and strolled in their direction.
    Martin held his breath as the man noticed Iris for the first time. The man’s eyes glowed with happiness. Eagerness. He stopped beside the carriage and whispered her first name… Iris .
    “Mr. Talbot.” A slow blush crept over her cheeks. “It is a pleasure to see you, sir.”
    “And it is a pleasure to see you.” The man glanced at him and Talbot’s smile dimmed a little. “And with Lord Louth no less. What an unexpected surprise this is.”
    “Talbot,” he acknowledged, but he was keen to see the back of the man. Iris, for all her warm greeting, appeared unimpressed with the man.
    Iris sighed and gestured to Whitney. “Are you acquainted with my friend, Miss Whitney Crewe?”
    Whitney held out her hand, bare of her glove and sparkling with gold at the wrist. Talbot took her fingers in a light grip and grinned. “Not as yet. A pleasure.”
    “Sir. It is such a pleasure to make your acquaintance, too.”
    His attention returned to Iris immediately. “Any news of your father?”
    Iris winced. “No.”
    Talbot nodded, and then squared his shoulders. “One does hope he remains in good health.”
    Martin’s eyes narrowed when Iris paled. It pained him that she was so hesitant to speak of her father to acquaintances. She kept her gaze averted. “I hope so too.”
    Talbot smiled and was about to speak again when Martin tipped his head to the group the man had recently left. “I believe your party is moving on without you.”
    Distaste, quickly masked, flickered over Talbot’s face but he smiled and took his leave in a rush, with a promise to see Iris again soon.
    Whitney frowned after his retreating form. “Well, I must say he has a distinct presence but rather abrupt in his manner of leaving.”
    Iris grimaced. “I’m sure he has many demands on his time.”
    The frown and the words combined did not give Martin the impression she’d meant to compliment the man. “Do you know him well?”
    “Not really. He was an acquaintance of my father’s some years ago and always speaks of him when our paths cross.”
    Whitney patted Iris’s hand soothingly. “Then I shall overlook his haste just to make you happy.”
    What the devil was Whitney blathering about? By her own account, Talbot hardly knew Iris Hedley. What did it matter if he was not liked?
    “I’ve no care for him either way but it would be rude to ignore him.” Iris met his gaze and the corner of her mouth lifted into a tentative smile. Despite Whitney’s odd behavior, a tremor of anticipation, of shared purpose, filled him. He shifted his position on the bench seat as her smile widened. She leaned close to Whitney. “You cannot say no one of interest comes to the park, Miss Crewe. Lord Acton is headed this way, and he is very handsome.”
    Astonishment and then a keen sense of loss filled Martin at the sound of Iris’s earnest praise for another man. He turned. Seated atop a dappled gray gelding, Lord Acton presented a fine figure and quite likely inspired passion in many women. To hear Iris speak so well of another cut him to the quick.
    Acton trotted up to the carriage and greeted them warmly. “Good afternoon, Louth, and ladies. ’Tis a fine day for it.”
    Whitney’s mouth turned down in a frown. “Have you been prowling Rotten Row long, my lord, in search of a victim for your amusement?”
    “Not particularly.” The earl patted his horse’s neck as the beast pranced. “I was just leaving the park and thought to pay my respects when I saw you waiting here.”
    Whitney smirked. “Are you on your way to call on your sister then? She came to Town last week. How long has it been since you’ve spoken to her?”
    Martin froze. The earl’s recent estrangement from his sister wasn’t a subject to discuss