of the haut ton , but quite frankly, I also don’t see how you can abandon your responsibilities anytime soon.”
“I have no intention of abandoning anything. I just want to see it all settled quickly. I want to return myself and my daughter to our lives. To facilitate that process, I need make sure Lily is settled. What of Sebring? What happened to him?”
His cousin shrugged. “He married another. She’s not half the beauty Lily is, but her father has powerful ties in Parliament and Sebring is unabashedly ambitious. It is common knowledge that it was a practical match based on gain on both their sides. His wife wanted a title.”
The brandy in his glass was fragrant as he idly swirled the beverage. Though he didn’t know Lily well, Jonathan found he was incensed on his sister’s behalf. “The bastard destroyed her life and broke her heart?”
“You would have to ask her about the latter,” James replied. “But, yes, the whole affair left her reputation in tatters.”
“Or better yet,” Jonathan said in a lethal voice, “I could ask him.”
“With half of London proper circulating stories of your supposed bloodthirsty background, I think you should avoid both the innocent daughters of dukes and blackguard viscounts, Jon.” James rubbed his forehead. “It will only resurrect what happened if you confront Sebring. Your father chose to leave it alone four years ago. Maybe you should follow his lead.”
That was curious of itself. From what Jon knew of his father he would never have let one of his children be humiliated and the injury go unaddressed.
“Maybe,” he said neutrally, but he wasn’t sure he agreed.
There was more to the story.
Chapter 5
“W hen are you going to tell me?”
Cecily knew her sister wasn’t going to just let it go, and she sighed, tying the sash of her dressing gown. Eleanor sat on the bed, her nightdress buttoned to her throat, her hands folded primly in her lap, her gaze inquiring.
Sharply inquiring.
That was Eleanor. Always straight to the point. But it wasn’t as though Cecily was absolutely certain just what question was being asked. “About?” she asked cautiously, padding across the room to take a chair by the fireplace. The hope of a cozy read before bed seemed about to be dashed.
“Augustine.”
Relief washed over her in a wave. Cecily was so happy they weren’t discussing Lord Drury that she didn’t even mind the intrusion ruining her nightly ritual. Usually she read at least a chapter each evening, and if it was a rainy day and she could indulge her passion in the library for hours, that was better yet. She knew she was a bit of a bluestocking, but so be it. She also liked to study the stars and her father’s astrological maps, and as unfeminine as it might be, Eleanor had persuaded him to allow their brother’s tutor to teach them both Latin and Greek.
A shrug lifted her shoulders. “There’s nothing to tell.”
“Tonight he attempted to apologize to you.” Her sister seemed disinclined to accept the dismissal. “Up until then, I thought you were telling the truth. That he’d simply blundered with protocol like any colonial ignorant of proper behavior, but truthfully, he doesn’t seem unintelligent and neither would I think him a man to bestir himself if there wasn’t a need for it. Whatever he said to you at the ball was very outré , wasn’t it? Otherwise I can’t see him offering any kind of apology.”
As usual, her sister was disconcertingly perceptive.
Evasively, Cecily murmured, “He seems to at least regret the resulting gossip.”
“Which he did not help this evening. If anything, he made it all worse.”
No, Cecily acknowledged with an inner sigh, Lord Augustine hadn’t helped matters in the least. When he’d sat next to her, she could feel his power, the heat from his body . . . and it was different. Intriguingly so. She wasn’t used to having such a reaction to a man merely taking the adjoining chair, and his being
“I have no intention of abandoning anything. I just want to see it all settled quickly. I want to return myself and my daughter to our lives. To facilitate that process, I need make sure Lily is settled. What of Sebring? What happened to him?”
His cousin shrugged. “He married another. She’s not half the beauty Lily is, but her father has powerful ties in Parliament and Sebring is unabashedly ambitious. It is common knowledge that it was a practical match based on gain on both their sides. His wife wanted a title.”
The brandy in his glass was fragrant as he idly swirled the beverage. Though he didn’t know Lily well, Jonathan found he was incensed on his sister’s behalf. “The bastard destroyed her life and broke her heart?”
“You would have to ask her about the latter,” James replied. “But, yes, the whole affair left her reputation in tatters.”
“Or better yet,” Jonathan said in a lethal voice, “I could ask him.”
“With half of London proper circulating stories of your supposed bloodthirsty background, I think you should avoid both the innocent daughters of dukes and blackguard viscounts, Jon.” James rubbed his forehead. “It will only resurrect what happened if you confront Sebring. Your father chose to leave it alone four years ago. Maybe you should follow his lead.”
That was curious of itself. From what Jon knew of his father he would never have let one of his children be humiliated and the injury go unaddressed.
“Maybe,” he said neutrally, but he wasn’t sure he agreed.
There was more to the story.
Chapter 5
“W hen are you going to tell me?”
Cecily knew her sister wasn’t going to just let it go, and she sighed, tying the sash of her dressing gown. Eleanor sat on the bed, her nightdress buttoned to her throat, her hands folded primly in her lap, her gaze inquiring.
Sharply inquiring.
That was Eleanor. Always straight to the point. But it wasn’t as though Cecily was absolutely certain just what question was being asked. “About?” she asked cautiously, padding across the room to take a chair by the fireplace. The hope of a cozy read before bed seemed about to be dashed.
“Augustine.”
Relief washed over her in a wave. Cecily was so happy they weren’t discussing Lord Drury that she didn’t even mind the intrusion ruining her nightly ritual. Usually she read at least a chapter each evening, and if it was a rainy day and she could indulge her passion in the library for hours, that was better yet. She knew she was a bit of a bluestocking, but so be it. She also liked to study the stars and her father’s astrological maps, and as unfeminine as it might be, Eleanor had persuaded him to allow their brother’s tutor to teach them both Latin and Greek.
A shrug lifted her shoulders. “There’s nothing to tell.”
“Tonight he attempted to apologize to you.” Her sister seemed disinclined to accept the dismissal. “Up until then, I thought you were telling the truth. That he’d simply blundered with protocol like any colonial ignorant of proper behavior, but truthfully, he doesn’t seem unintelligent and neither would I think him a man to bestir himself if there wasn’t a need for it. Whatever he said to you at the ball was very outré , wasn’t it? Otherwise I can’t see him offering any kind of apology.”
As usual, her sister was disconcertingly perceptive.
Evasively, Cecily murmured, “He seems to at least regret the resulting gossip.”
“Which he did not help this evening. If anything, he made it all worse.”
No, Cecily acknowledged with an inner sigh, Lord Augustine hadn’t helped matters in the least. When he’d sat next to her, she could feel his power, the heat from his body . . . and it was different. Intriguingly so. She wasn’t used to having such a reaction to a man merely taking the adjoining chair, and his being
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