Nicole Jordan by Lord of Seduction

to him in a confidential undervoice:
    “Diana is considered something of a scarlet lady. It is because of the scandal that she cannot sponsor me. And why she is acting so vengeful now. She was once jilted by a fortune-hunter, so she considers all men to be fortune-hunters.”
    “Amy,”
Diana said in a quelling tone, “you will give Thorne a disgust of your manners.”
    Thorne eyed his ward lazily. “Indeed, brat. You’ve made me realize the grave injustice I did you by not beating you more often during your youth.”
    His low drawl made Amy laugh. “You never beat me.”
    “But I might start if you don’t stubble your gossiping tongue and apologize to your cousin.”
    Her smile fading, she eyed him as if wondering whether to take his threat seriously. But then she mumbled a grudging apology. “Pray forgive me, Diana. I didn’t mean to be so beastly.”
    “You’re forgiven,” Diana replied, amazed that the girl had capitulated so swiftly.
    “Why don’t you take yourself off, minx,” Thorne suggested, “while I speak further with your cousin?”
    “Oh, very well…if you permit me to ride one of your horses.”
    “That I can agree to. Go apply to my head groom for a mount. I trust you with my horseflesh, if not the reins of my curricle. On horseback you aren’t likely to wind up in a ditch as you did when I attempted to teach you to drive.”
    “Oh, Thorne, it was not entirely my fault that your fractious team shied at that farm dray. And I have become a much better driver since then—”
    “I’m not about to risk my fine steeds to find out. You will have to satisfy yourself with riding. But I purchased several Arab mares recently that will be ideal for you, and they could certainly use the exercise.”
    “Arabians? Famous!” With a brilliant smile, Amy bounded out of her seat and kissed Thorne soundly on the cheek again before he waved her off. She was humming as she skipped away.
    It warmed Diana’s heart to see her cousin so carefree. When she caught Thorne watching her, she voiced the thought. “I haven’t seen her this lighthearted since Nathaniel died. Bringing her here may be just the thing to divert her from her thwarted romance.”
    Thorne’s mouth pursed in a sour expression. “I see your dilemma. Her beauty combined with her significant fortune would make her prime prey for a fortune-hunter. Her personality, however, isn’t quite as sweet as I remember.”
    “She is merely frustrated.”
    His gaze skimmed her face. “I hope you will expound on her comment about you, my dear dragon. I knew there was some difficulty in your past, but not the particulars.”
    Diana made a careless attempt at a smile. She was under no obligation to explain herself to Thorne, yet she found she wanted him to understand.
    “Part of Amy’s claim is true,” she said, keeping her tone light. “I was jilted because I wasn’t an heiress. He overestimated the size of my fortune and underestimated my uncle’s protectiveness.”
    “And now you’re concerned Amy is making the same mistake you made, falling in love with a fortune-hunter.” It was not a question, and Diana knew he didn’t expect an answer. “I take it your scandal happened a number of years ago?” Thorne added.
    “Yes. During my London Season. I was eighteen, a year younger than Amy is now.” Diana glanced down at her clasped hands, remembering. She couldn’t look back on that painful time without feeling the devastation of her broken heart. She couldn’t deny, either, that Amy’s similar love affair had reopened old wounds and made her relive her own past hurts.
    “I fell madly in love with a gentleman,” she confessed. “An artist like myself. The match would not have been inappropriate, since he was titled, but his pockets were not very deep, so my Uncle Basil refused to consider his suit. That was when I agreed to an elopement.”
    She laughed softly. “I am ashamed to admit it, but I was totally fooled. He had the soul of an