The Seduction of an English Scoundrel by Jillian Hunter Page A

ignore them. The pair had to be dealt with if he was to be a frequent visitor to this house.
    â€œExcuse me,” he said, clearing his throat to affect a mockingly stern tone. “Do you always eavesdrop on your sister’s private conversations, or am I the focus of this prurient interest?”
    The mere way he phrased the question, his voice deep with devilish intentions, made the two of them blush to their eyebrows.
    Caroline responded first, swooping down to pick up the book she had dropped on the floor. “We, ah, we were chasing a spider—”
    â€œAn enormous brown one that ran all the way up the stairs,” Miranda added hastily.
    Caroline waved the book under his nose for emphasis. “It seemed to be heading straight into the gallery. We hoped to catch it . . . Jane is deathly afraid of spiders.”
    â€œAnd when you caught this creature, you planned to what”—he arrested the movement of the book with his hand before she could inadvertently swat his chin—“read it a bedtime story?”
    â€œWe are simply guarding Jane’s best interests,” Caroline said, dropping her facade.
    Grayson leaned down to look her in the eye. “Is there any particular reason why you think
I
am an obstacle in the path of your noble intentions?”
    â€œWell,” Miranda said under her breath, “you are a Boscastle.”
    Caroline nodded. “A Boscastle broke her heart.”
    â€œWhich is why,” he said, “it is a Boscastle who must restore your sister’s spirits.”
    â€œHow do you intend to do this?” Caroline demanded.
    â€œI don’t think that is any of your business,” he retorted. “I have the approval of your parents.”
    â€œOur parents know absolutely nothing about our best interests,” Miranda said in a burst of feeling. “They should have listened to Jane when she expressed her reservations about marrying Nigel.”
    Grayson hesitated, wondering if there was a weak spirit anywhere in the house. “It would appear that Nigel was the one with the reservations about matrimony.”
    â€œPerhaps that is also a Boscastle trait,” Caroline said before she could stop herself. “The men of your family are notorious bachelors.”
    The corners of his mouth curled into a daunting smile. “Perhaps you two lovely young ladies could turn your charms onto remedying that perplexing problem for me. Instead of eavesdropping.”
    Miranda blushed, contemplating this suggestion until Caroline gave her a poke in the side. “The
problem,
” Caroline said crisply, “is that Jane is extremely vulnerable. And you are . . .”
    He blinked innocently. “Yes?”
    â€œWell,” Miranda said, finally taking up the thread, “a little overpowering. For a woman in such a vulnerable state.”
    They were too precious, he thought in amusement. A pair of self-righteous kittens who had never ventured out into the cruel world. He might have to give them a well-meaning scare back to safety. “I’m not sure I know what you mean.”
    Caroline clasped her book to her chest. “How can one most delicately phrase this? You see, there is rather a dangerous force about you that attracts young women.”
    â€œA dangerous force?” he said with a gasp of modesty. “I never dreamed it possible.”
    â€œAnd our sister,” Miranda said uncomfortably, “in her vulnerable state, might not be quite able to resist this force of yours.”
    Grayson pretended to ponder this preposterous dilemma. Dangerous force? That was at least original. “I understand something of a woman’s emotional nature.”
    â€œSo we’ve heard,” Caroline murmured with an irrepressible trace of sarcasm.
    He allowed a look of horror to settle on his face. “Surely you do not think I would
seduce
your sister after the humiliation dealt her today?”
    â€œOf course