Free Simply Scandalous by Tamara Lejeune Page B

Swale related
every detail of the interview with his father to his
friend Alexander Devize. When he had reached this
point in his narrative, he paused to allow the significance of the Duke's clue to sink in. "I leave you to imagine my reaction, Alex. It is the Wayborn he means, you
see! Hers is the nose he wants on his grandson's face!"
    Unlike his friend, Alex was neither stunned nor indignant. "Indeed," he said calmly. "I always said your
father was a sensible old bird. And the nose in question is quite remarkable."
    Swale was almost purple in the face with rage, and
he did not hear his friend. "Of all the creatures in
London, my father would have me throw myself away
on that transvestite freak! Something about her being
ruined and how no respectable man will marry her
now, as if that is my fault! Naturally, no decent man
will marry her. Frankly, the thought of the Wayborn
bearing the offspring of a Christian man chills me to
the bone! I should rather ... I should much rather
marry the Calverstock!"
    "My dear Swale, you cannot mean it!" said Alex,
laughing. "Serena is beautiful, but she is heartless
man, heartless. If she marries you, 'twill be for your
rank and your fortune. You deserve better than that."
    "At least she is female," said Swale, "which is more
than the Wayborn can say."
    Alex frowned. "They are saying worse things about
her in the clubs, you know."
    "She deserves to have worse said about her," said
Swale furiously. "Damned unnatural is what she is.
What does she mean by grinding to a halt like that?"
    "They are saying she gave birth on the road to
Southend and still had time to beat you."
    Swale stared at him. "They are saying what? No, don't repeat it. No gentleman would say such a thing.
It's too sick-making."

    "Quite," said Alex. "It is Lord Dulwich saying it, and
not a gentleman, as you say. Dulwich is such a notorious duelist that even Stacy Calverstock will not call
him out, though anyone can see he dearly wants to."
    "Calverstock," Swale scoffed, "is an ass. If he were
not the friend of Cary Wayborn, no one would regard
him at all."
    "Two younger sons," Devize said dismissively. "They
console one another."
    "Oh, the Wayborn has two brothers, does she?"
Swale said. "Why does Wayborn the Elder not put a
stop to this wild behavior?"
    "She has two brothers," Alex responded, "and between them, they now have two good arms. Sir Benedict's right arm was cut off, poor man."
    "Sir Benedict," Swale repeated, trying to place the
name. 'What was he knighted for?"
    "Why, nothing," said Alex, amused. "He's a baronet.
The Wayborns are Old County."
    "How is it you know so much about them?" Swale
asked suspiciously. "Mr. Cary Wayborn and his chestnuts are famous, of course, but I never heard of any
Sir Benedict."
    "My sister," Alex said apologetically. "Lady Cheviot
thinks I should marry sooner rather than later. It
will amuse you to know she had fastened her eye on
Miss Wayborn this Season."
    Swale barked with laughter. 'What is it about this
wretched female that so attracts a man's relatives yet
so repels the man himself?"
    "I did not say she repelled me," Alex said reproachfully. "As a gentleman, I should refrain from crit icizing a lady, but, if anything, I thought her rather
too mild for my taste."

    Swale stared at him. "Mild!" he said incredulously.
"That hell-born termagant!"
    "She seemed to me a quiet young lady with a wellordered mind," Alex said, laughing. "Very grave
and dignified. Bookish. I thought her well-suited to
marry a bishop."
    Swale glared at him. "That damned race has made
me the laughingstock of all London, and her cursed
accusations have made me ... anathema!"
    "My dear Geoffrey," said Alex, "you do realize that
the foolish girl has damaged herself more than she
could ever damage you? Your troubles will soon pass.
Hers never will."
    "That is her own doing," Swale said stubbornly.
    "Come, come!" said Alex, losing patience. "Not only
would such a