Vance wouldn’t kill her avenging brother. She simply had to protect him.
“I shall try,” he muttered finally.
With a final squeeze, Kira released her brother, then stepped away. “Thank you.”
“I only said I would try.” Defiance tightened every line of his face.
She smiled, feeling more like a mother than a sister. “Try your best. I’ll not ask
more of you than that.”
“Kira, it’s simply that— Damn it, you deserve so much better than to have your name
bandied about on the tongue of every randy buck in London.”
“I understand how you feel, but you must have faith. My every wish may yet come true.
We’ll simply have to wait and see.”
* * * *
Not long after the noon hour, Gavin answered the knock on his study door.
“Enter,” he called, fully expecting to see Aunt Caroline standing in the doorway.
He was not disappointed.
“So you’ve returned.” She shut the door behind her. Her grim expression clashed with
the gray and flaxen curls bobbing about her face. Anxiety glowed in her blue eyes.
“What have you learned?”
“I heard all about Miss Melbourne’s exploits with Lord Vance. They are every bit as
shocking as you claimed.”
Unfortunately, they were also arousing. Seeing Kira upon his return this morning—even
fully clothed , walking upon the lawn with her brother—was all his unruly mind needed to spin fantasies
of the half-Persian beauty, naked and wanton.
Since then, he’d chosen to bury his thoughts in a mountain of estate work instead.
He wished to God it had helped to take his mind off James’s fiancée.
“And I have no reason to believe she improves upon closer acquaintance.” Aunt Caroline
seated herself on the sofa across from Gavin’s desk. “She pretends such innocence.”
“Indeed.” Gavin saw no reason to tell his aunt he had verified Vance’s claim, for
she already thought Kira Melbourne guilty. “I also spoke with James. It’s as you said;
he is unwilling to discard the chit. Stubborn, naïve fool.”
“Quite!” Caroline agreed. “And I have more bad news, I fear. Gossip may already be
spreading here in Bramley Village. Only yesterday, that nosy Mrs. Baycliffe asked
if Miss Melbourne and her brother were here visiting. I can only imagine Mrs. Baycliffe
learned of their presence through the servants.” She sniffed. “I would hardly introduce
them to the neighbors.”
Gavin frowned. E ven local gossip may well start rumors of James’s engagement, which could be damaging indeed. Such
whispers could easily reach London. “How did you reply?”
Aunt Caroline sputtered, “I—I could think of nothing to say except that James and
Mr. Melbourne are acquainted and that he and his sister are merely passing a short
visit here. I do not think Mrs. Baycliffe believed me. What are we to do, Gavin?”
She wrung her hands. “Only in recent years have I felt the shadow of your father’s
scandals fade, and now to be confronted with this…”
Pinching the bridge of his nose, Gavin tried to ward off an encroaching headache.
What would they do if another scandal darkened their door? Aunt Caroline had been
just a young bride when her brother had so publicly shocked the ton and humiliated the family. She neared forty now and would likely find the strain
much more taxing. Pain bit into his gut when he remembered that hideous morning all
of London had discovered the depraved truth.
For himself, Gavin hated the whispers and stares. And he wasn’t naïve enough to believe
that all his years of wholesome living , of leashing the lust inside him , would preserve his status with society. Without question, he, and worse, his sisters,
would be judged by James’s actions and found wanting.
“And that is not the half of my concern.” Caroline regarded him with beseeching eyes.
“I fear for James. How he will suffer! Miss Melbourne does not care for him as a wife
should.”
Gavin, patting his aunt’s
“I shall try,” he muttered finally.
With a final squeeze, Kira released her brother, then stepped away. “Thank you.”
“I only said I would try.” Defiance tightened every line of his face.
She smiled, feeling more like a mother than a sister. “Try your best. I’ll not ask
more of you than that.”
“Kira, it’s simply that— Damn it, you deserve so much better than to have your name
bandied about on the tongue of every randy buck in London.”
“I understand how you feel, but you must have faith. My every wish may yet come true.
We’ll simply have to wait and see.”
* * * *
Not long after the noon hour, Gavin answered the knock on his study door.
“Enter,” he called, fully expecting to see Aunt Caroline standing in the doorway.
He was not disappointed.
“So you’ve returned.” She shut the door behind her. Her grim expression clashed with
the gray and flaxen curls bobbing about her face. Anxiety glowed in her blue eyes.
“What have you learned?”
“I heard all about Miss Melbourne’s exploits with Lord Vance. They are every bit as
shocking as you claimed.”
Unfortunately, they were also arousing. Seeing Kira upon his return this morning—even
fully clothed , walking upon the lawn with her brother—was all his unruly mind needed to spin fantasies
of the half-Persian beauty, naked and wanton.
Since then, he’d chosen to bury his thoughts in a mountain of estate work instead.
He wished to God it had helped to take his mind off James’s fiancée.
“And I have no reason to believe she improves upon closer acquaintance.” Aunt Caroline
seated herself on the sofa across from Gavin’s desk. “She pretends such innocence.”
“Indeed.” Gavin saw no reason to tell his aunt he had verified Vance’s claim, for
she already thought Kira Melbourne guilty. “I also spoke with James. It’s as you said;
he is unwilling to discard the chit. Stubborn, naïve fool.”
“Quite!” Caroline agreed. “And I have more bad news, I fear. Gossip may already be
spreading here in Bramley Village. Only yesterday, that nosy Mrs. Baycliffe asked
if Miss Melbourne and her brother were here visiting. I can only imagine Mrs. Baycliffe
learned of their presence through the servants.” She sniffed. “I would hardly introduce
them to the neighbors.”
Gavin frowned. E ven local gossip may well start rumors of James’s engagement, which could be damaging indeed. Such
whispers could easily reach London. “How did you reply?”
Aunt Caroline sputtered, “I—I could think of nothing to say except that James and
Mr. Melbourne are acquainted and that he and his sister are merely passing a short
visit here. I do not think Mrs. Baycliffe believed me. What are we to do, Gavin?”
She wrung her hands. “Only in recent years have I felt the shadow of your father’s
scandals fade, and now to be confronted with this…”
Pinching the bridge of his nose, Gavin tried to ward off an encroaching headache.
What would they do if another scandal darkened their door? Aunt Caroline had been
just a young bride when her brother had so publicly shocked the ton and humiliated the family. She neared forty now and would likely find the strain
much more taxing. Pain bit into his gut when he remembered that hideous morning all
of London had discovered the depraved truth.
For himself, Gavin hated the whispers and stares. And he wasn’t naïve enough to believe
that all his years of wholesome living , of leashing the lust inside him , would preserve his status with society. Without question, he, and worse, his sisters,
would be judged by James’s actions and found wanting.
“And that is not the half of my concern.” Caroline regarded him with beseeching eyes.
“I fear for James. How he will suffer! Miss Melbourne does not care for him as a wife
should.”
Gavin, patting his aunt’s
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