Free The Earl's Secret Bargain by Ruth Ann Nordin Page A

one, she wouldn’t hesitate to say what was really on her mind.
    “It was a pleasure, Miss Giles,” he said and squeezed her hand. “I’ll dance with you in a bit. It looks like my friend needs to talk to me.”
    She followed his gaze and saw a gentleman waving at him from across the room.
    “That’s Lord Reddington,” he said. “You’ll get better acquainted with him in the future.”
    Pleased since it implied there could very well be a proposal, she said, “I look forward to it.”
    “I’ll miss you until the next dance.”
    The way he looked at her, as if he thought she was the most important lady in the room, made her face warm with pleasure. “I will miss you, too, my lord.”
    “Toby,” he whispered.
    His name! He’d given her his name. Yes, he was thinking along the lines of a proposal. She just knew it!
    She watched as Toby and Lord Reddington headed down one of the hallways, her smile growing wider. When she danced with him again, she’d ask him if he could talk to her father about marrying her. If he did it before Lord Pennella, then her mother would have a harder time convincing her father to ac cept Lord Pennella’s offer.
    She heade d back to her mother but didn’t find her right away. After searching a little more, she found that her mother was talking to Lord Pennella. She edged her way along several groups of people so her mother and Lord Pennella wouldn’t see her. Opening her fan, she covered her face and came up behind them, hoping her mother wouldn’t look over her shoulder.
    At the moment, her mother was laughing at whatever ridiculous thing he was saying.
    “I do so delight in your sto ries, my lord,” her mother gushed.
    “ Well, I delight in telling them,” he quipped.
    She laughed again and waved her hand at him. “You are much too amusing. I shall swoon from so much laughter.”
    “If you do, I’ll catch you.”
    This set her into another round of giggles, and Regina had to bite back the urge to tell her mother to stop it. She was making a fool of herself by falling all over Lord Pennella. The gentleman truly wasn’t worth it.
    “I hav e a confession to make,” her mother told him in a lower voice.
    “A confession? Sounds like a juicy tidbit. Do you know how Lady Edon tamed her husband?”
    “No. That is something I don’t think any of us will ever figure out. What I wish to say is that I’d like for you to be my son-in-law.”
    “In that case, I’ll share a confidence with you. I’d like nothing more than to be your son-in-law.”
    “Excellent. Then we are of the same mind.”
    He nodded.
    “Regina’s father will have the final say in who she marries. Regina thinks she does, but the truth is, he is the one who will make the decision.”
    Regina had been under no such delusion that if two gentlemen were vying for her hand that she’d get to decide which one she’d marry. She just hadn’t believed she’d have two to choose from.
    “You have a sug gestion on how I might secure a betrothal?” Lord Pennella asked her mother, his voice hinting that he hoped she would tell him the secret.
    “I do,” she replied. “My husband is a businessman. And a shrewd one at that. What he most appreciates is making new acquaintances that can lead to profitable ventures. Do you happen to know anyone who might meet that requirement?”
    Regina gritted her teeth. She didn’t like the way this was going. If her father benefited from knowing Lord Pennella in such a way, there was no chance Toby could talk her father into letting him marry her.
    “My dear,” her mother said, startled, “I didn’t see you standing there.”
    Regina looked over at her mother and lowered her fan. “Oh, I didn’t want to interrupt your conversation,” she quickly fibbed and waved the fan. She didn’t think it was possible, but she was even hotter than before.
    “What a thoughtful child,” her mother replied. “Sh e learned very well when we taught her to wait until she is talked to