Four In Hand by Stephanie Laurens Page A

hues of their shining hair vying with the flowers, their husky laughter and the unconsciously seductive way their supple figures swayed this way and that causing him to groan inwardly. Up to the point when he had first sighted them, the three younger Twinnings had figured in his plans as largely irrelevant entities, easily swept into the background and of no possible consequence to his plans for their elder sister. One glimpse had been enough to scuttle that scenario. He was trapped—a guardian in very truth. And with what the Twinning girls had to offer he would have no choice but to play the role to the hilt. Every man in London with eyes would be after them!
    Lady Benborough eyed Max’s unyielding back with a frown. Then she turned to the woman beside her. She had already formed a high opinion of Miss Twinning. What was even more to the point, being considerably more than seven, Augusta had also perceived that her reprehensible nephew was far from indifferent to the luscious beauty. Meeting the grey-green eyes, her ladyship raised her brows. Caroline nodded and rose.
    Max turned as Caroline laid her hand on his arm. She was watching her sisters, not him. Her voice, when she spoke, was tactfully low. “If it would truly bother you to stand as our guardian, I’m sure we could make some other arrangement.” As she finished speaking, she raised her eyes to his.
    Accustomed to every feminine wile known to woman, Max nevertheless could see nothing in the lucent grey eyes to tell him whether the offer was a bluff or not. But it only took a moment to realise that if he won this particular argument, if he succeeded in withdrawing as guardian to the Twinning sisters, Caroline Twinning would be largely removed from his orbit. Which would certainly make his seduction of her more difficult, if not impossible. Faced with those large grey-green eyes, Max did what none of the habitues of Gentleman Jackson’s boxing salon had yet seen him do. He threw in the towel.
    Having resigned himself to the inevitable, Max departed, leaving the ladies to become better acquainted. As the street door closed behind him, Lady Benborough turned a speculative glance on Caroline. Her lips twitched. “Very well done, my dear. Clearly you need no lessons in how to manage a man.”
    Caroline’s smile widened. “I’ve had some experience, I’ll admit.”
    “Well, you’ll need it all if you’re going to tackle my nephew.” Augusta grinned in anticipation. From where she sat, her world looked rosy indeed. Not only did she have four rich beauties to fire off, and unlimited funds to do it with, but, glory of glories, for the first time since he had emerged from short coats her reprehensible nephew was behaving in a less than predictable fashion. She allowed herself a full minute to revel in the wildest of imaginings, before settling down to extract all the pertinent details of their backgrounds and personalities from the Twinning sisters. The younger girls returned when the tea-tray arrived. By the time it was removed, Lady Benborough had satisfied herself on all points of interest and the conversation moved on to their introduction to the ton.
    “I wonder whether news of your existence has leaked out yet,” mused her ladyship. “Someone may have seen you at Grillon’s.”
    “Lady Jersey saw me yesterday with Max in his curricle,” said Caroline.
    “Did she?” Augusta sat up straighter. “In that case, there’s no benefit in dragging our heels. If Silence already has the story, the sooner you make your appearance, the better. We’ll go for a drive in the Parktomorrow.” She ran a knowledgeable eye over the sisters’ dresses. “I must say, your dresses are very attractive. Are they all like that?”
    Reassured on their wardrobes, she nodded. “So there’s nothing to stop us wading into the fray immediately. Good!” She let her eye? wander over the four faces in front of her, all beautiful yet each with its own allure. Her gaze rested