Free When the Rogue Returns by Sabrina Jeffries

jealous.
    A moment’s fear seized her. Victor could easily destroy poor Rupert; the young man was very unsure of himself. For that matter, Victor could easily destroy her. If he started talking to Mr. Gordon and her friends, making them question her and her past, who knew what might happen?
    Her business partner believed that her husband was dead. Desperate to escape Paris and her family, she’d thought he might be more sympathetic to a soldier’s widow. Though the lie weighed on her conscience more and more through the years, it would be awkward now to explain. It might raise questions about her past that she could ill afford.
    After all of Mr. Gordon’s kindness to her, it would kill her to have him suspect her of thievery. Curse Victor. Why couldn’t he have stayed away?
    “I think I left the book in the parlor,” she said to Rupert, eager to have him gone so she could figure out what to do about Victor.
    As she headed into the room, the young man followed her. “Why don’t you want Mr. Cale to know about Amalie?”
    “Because it’s none of his concern,” she said, hoping that would be enough of an answer.
    “Don’t you like my cousin?” Rupert prodded. “He seemed nice enough.”
    “For a vulture circling overhe—” She caught Rupert staring and forced a smile. “I’m sorry. I merely worry that he is here to take advantage of you and your mother, now that your father has passed on.”
    Rupert’s eyes got very round. “I hadn’t thought of that.”
    “Sometimes poor relations swoop in to see what they can get, once the family is vulnerable.”
    A frown creased Rupert’s pale brow. “I don’t think he’s poor. He drives a very costly phaeton. And while I don’t know fashion, I can tell that his clothes are quite fine.”
    How could she possibly explain the tactics of a sharper to someone as oblivious of the world as Rupert? Gerhart had dressed finely in Paris, too. And all the while, he’d been plotting another theft. If she hadn’t left when she had—
    Good Lord, was that why Victor had thought she deserted him? Had he gone to Paris after she’d left? It would have been just like Jacoba and Gerhart to tell him some mean thing about how she didn’t want him anymore.
    She raised her chin. Well, she’d waited for him in Paris as long as she could. With the child growing inher belly, she’d had to act, and she would just point that out to him. If indeed he had gone there looking for her. She didn’t trust a word he said. Not after his part in the theft.
    “Are you even sure that he’s really your cousin?” she ventured.
    “Mother says he is, so he must be.” Rupert cocked his head. “Besides, I know I’ve seen his name somewhere. Probably in the family tree. Or Debrett’s. I never forget names, and Victor is an unusual one for an Englishman.”
    “Pay me no mind,” she said. “I’m probably wrong about him.” She found the book he wanted and handed it to him.
    “I hope you are. Mother wouldn’t like being taken advantage of.”
    “I imagine not.” Though Isa suspected Lady Lochlaw could hold her own against fortune hunters, sharpers, and schemers of any kind.
    Rupert stared down at the book for a long moment. “I want her to like you,” he said suddenly.
    Now, what had brought that on? “It doesn’t matter,” Isa said. “We can be friends whether or not she likes me.”
    “Friends,” he mumbled, two spots of color appearing high on his cheeks. “Of course.”
    When he continued to stare at the book, she asked, “That is the one you wanted, isn’t it?”
    He looked up, his eyes oddly filmy. “Yes. Are you sure you can spare it?”
    She laughed. “I can’t make heads or tails of it, to be honest. My English is good enough for novels, but understanding a scientific book is beyond me.”
    “Then why did you buy it?”
    “Because I thought I could glean some knowledge on using chemicals to alter the colors of imitation gems. But he never speaks of that. The