Free How to Wed an Earl by Ivory Lei

married his niece, after all.”
    “Well, this news comes as no surprise. I daresay Polly’s father was a coward for trying to weasel out of the betrothal contract. Then again, he lived his life trying to weasel out of a lot of things, don’t you know, including being a husband and father.”
    Lucas inclined his head in a respectful gesture. “From what I have learned since coming here, I owe you a great debt of gratitude, Dr. Walker. You have raised Penelope and treated her as your own.”
    Dr. Walker grinned. “With all due respect, Ravenstone, I believe your debt of gratitude is a mite premature. Polly hasn’t agreed to marry you yet.”
    “She will,” he promised.

Chapter Five
    Penelope sat in the library, watching Ravenstone eat the last of the scones Gertie had brought in along with the tea.
    She’d eaten a fair bit of the scones herself, but with the plate empty, she lost her only excuse to delay giving Lucas the invitation Papa had ordered her to extend before her stepfather left this morning on his rounds. Whatever Lucas and her stepfather talked about in this room last night, it had obviously swayed Papa to the earl’s side.
    There was nothing for it but to forge ahead. It would be better to get it over with, before they left for their walk in the village green. Yet Penelope found herself delaying once more. “Were the scones to your liking, my lord?”
    Ravenstone leaned back on the settee, his eyes as dark as dueling pistols, glinting in the light from the window as he watched her with what looked like amusement. “They were very fine, nymph.”
    “
Nymph?
”
    “Mmmm,” he said thoughtfully. “You remind me of a forest nymph, my dear. I thought it the first time I met you. Even more so today, actually. Your ice blue gown calls to mind a clear sky on a winter morning in the woods.”
    It irritated her that he called her “nymph” and “my dear,” as if he assumed their relationship had developed to a level where he could casually use affectionate nicknames. The thrill she got from the way he called her those endearments irritated her even more.
    She clasped her hands in her lap and studied him, noting his elegant coffee-brown coat and trousers that hugged his powerful build as he lounged on her settee. He looked exactly as she had imagined he would all those years ago. Tall and proud, with features as fierce as his warrior ancestors. Everything about him screamed strength, power and control. She couldn’t see how people ever thought of him as “Raving Ravenstone.”
    Surely, the epithet had more to do with his mother than Lucas himself. Penelope could only imagine what it had been like for him, raised by a mother famous for her extreme mood swings. How had it felt when she locked herself in her room for days, attacked by her frequent bouts of melancholia?
    What had it been like to have a heartbroken widower of a father suddenly taken from him in a hunting accident, leaving a boy in charge of a dwindling estate and a two-year-old girl?
    No wonder Ravenstone held onto his control with ruthless discipline. Many of the things that happened in his life had been beyond his control, including their betrothal.
    Her smile was sad when she replied to his comment. “I am no nymph, my lord. I’m merely an ordinary woman trying to make the best of things that have been handed to me.” She took a deep breath and slowly released it. “Which brings me to the reason I invited you here before we go for our walk in the village green.”
    Penelope raised her head to meet his midnight eyes. “I am to tell you that Papa would be delighted if you were to stay with us here in Highfield Manor for the duration of your visit. We are, after all, engaged. I am sure you will find your accommodations here much more comfortable than The Mucky Duck.”
    The look of smug satisfaction on his face made her add her own conditions. “You are, however, to keep in mind that we have a set budget for things such as food,