Free Betina Krahn by The Last Bachelor

first minutes under my roof you insist upon an introduction to the most infamous bachelor in London, and demand he make himself available to you. You simply must tell me all or I’ll expire of curiosity!”
    “It’s very simple, Constance,” she began, selecting her words carefully. “I have taken an interest in the marriage bill that is before Parliament now. Just yesterday I sat in the Commons gallery while the members debated and then tabled it, and afterward—”
    “
Afterward
, I caught her defaming me before a number of House members.” A silky baritone poured over their shoulders. They whirled to find Remington Carr standing behind them, adjusting his immaculate cuffs and wearing aknowing look that said he had been closer and heard more of their conversation than was strictly proper.
    Antonia stepped back and raised both her chin and her guard. “You seem to have an unsavory habit of eavesdropping, Lord Carr, and of barging into conversations that do not concern you.”
    “Forgive me, Lady Antonia.” He smiled that devilish, polished smile of his. “Damned cheeky of me to think a conversation about me is my concern. But then, I am known for my brass.” Then he turned to Lady Constance and proceeded to demonstrate some of it. “Lady Antonia was roundly denouncing both my flagrant hedonism and my views on women and marriage outside the Commons Lobby a day or so ago … when I heard my name being bandied about and paused to hear what was being said.”
    “Your views on marriage
should
be denounced, you rogue,” Lady Constance said, giving him a flirtatious rap on the wrist with her closed fan.
    “And my hedonism?” he teased, giving Antonia a stroking glance that sent a mild shock rippling through her senses. Alerted, she braced for what came next. “I’m a freelover, you know. A callous, unfeeling bore who abuses his women.” He nodded with mock gravity in response to his hostess’s shocked expression. “Indeed, I was a bit surprised to hear it myself. But Lady Antonia here is apparently something of an expert on my vices. I was intrigued to learn what other deplorable weaknesses I might possess and suggested we meet here.”
    Antonia’s face flamed. He had just employed the time-honored male strategy of bringing all disagreements with a woman down to an insultingly personal level, and she was not about to let him get away with it. Having uncovered his game and feeling more in control for it, she leveled a scorching glare on him. And she knew the minute she did that it was a mistake.
    He caught her fiery gaze in his, absorbing its heat, relishing its intensity, visibly savoring its determination … serving notice that he would take pleasure from whatever passion he roused in her, even her anger, indignation, and outrage.
    “Your vices—numerous as they undoubtedly are—are of no concern to me, sir,” she said as icily as possible. “It is your politics that I find offensive.”
    “His politics?” Lady Constance said a bit too loudly. Her laughter carried softly around the dining room, giving her other guests an excuse to investigate her mirth. They drew nearer with polite smiles that scarcely cloaked their raging curiosity. “My dear Antonia, politics are far too
dreary
ever to be truly offensive.”
    It was the perfect womanly retort, one which implied that the world of politics and government was both beyond a lady’s comprehension and beneath her proper interests. And Remington Carr’s responding smile—with its duality of approval and condescension toward his hostess’s view—raked Antonia’s nerves like cat’s claws. It was more evidence of his contempt for women and their rightful place in the world.
    “I would say, Constance, that ‘dreary’ does not quite capture the essence of Lord Carr’s political program.” Antonia seized the initiative with fierce pleasantry “‘Absurd’ is the term that first comes to mind. ‘Alarming’ and ‘destructive’ certainly apply