Then Came You by Lisa Kleypas Page B

nod. “I suppose you are still excited from the hunt. I have heard that men are very affected by the primitive atmosphere of such events.”
    He smiled sardonically. “That’s probably it.”
    “May I be excused now?”
    Wordlessly he waved her out of the room.
    Penelope paused at the door, looking back over her shoulder. “My lord, please don’t think badly of Lily. She is an unusual woman, very brave and headstrong. When I was a child, she used to protect me from everyone and everything that frightened me.”
    Alex was surprised by Penelope’s little speech. It was rare that he heard Penelope put more than two sentences together. “Was she ever close to either of your parents?”
    “Only to our Aunt Sally. Sally was an eccentric in the same way my sister is, always seeking adventure and doing unconventional things. When she passed away a few years ago, she left her entire fortune to Lily.”
    So that was how Lily had obtained her means to live. The information hardly improved Alex’s opinion of her. Probably she had deliberately courted the old woman’s favor, and then danced upon the deathbed at the thought of the money she had inherited.
    “Why hasn’t she ever married?”
    “Lily has always said that marriage is a dreadful institution devised for the benefit of men, not women.” Penelope cleared her throat delicately. “Actually, she hasn’t a very high opinion of men. Although she does seem to enjoy their company…going hunting and shooting and gaming and so forth.”
    “And so forth,” Alex repeated sardonically. “Does your sister have any ‘special’ friends?”
    The question seemed to perplex Penelope. Although she didn’t quite understand his meaning, she answered readily. “Special? Well…er…Lily keeps company quite often with a man named Derek Craven. She has mentioned him in her letters to me.”
    “Craven?” Now the entire sordid picture was clear. Alex’s lip curled with disgust. He himself was a member of Craven’s club. He’d met the proprietor on two occasions. It only made sense that Lily Lawson would choose to associate with such a man, a cockney who was disdainfully known in polite circles as “flash-gentry.” No doubt Lily had the morals of a prostitute, for a “friendship” with Craven could mean nothing else. How could a woman who had been born into a decent family, provided with education and all her material wants, sink into such degradation? Lily had willingly chosen it, every step of the way.
    “Lily is merely too high-spirited for the kind of life she was born to,” Penelope said, guessing at his thoughts. “Everything might have been different for her, had she not been jilted all those years ago. The betrayal and humiliation, being abandoned like that…I believe it led her to do many reckless things. At least that is what Mama says.”
    “Why hasn’t she ” Alex broke off, looking toward the window. He had been alerted by a sound outside, the grating of carriage wheels upon the graveled drive. “Is your mother expecting callers today?”
    Penelope shook her head. “No, my lord. It could be the dressmaker’s assistant, come to do some fittings for my trousseau. But I thought that was tomorrow.”
    Alex couldn’t explain why, but he had a feeling…a very bad feeling. His nerves sparked with a sensation of warning. “Let’s see who it is.” He sent the library door swinging open. Striding to the gray-and white-marbled entrance hall with Penelope at his heels, he brushed past the elderly butler, Silvern. ‘Til take care of it,” he said to Silvern, and went to the front door.
    Silvern sniffed in disapproval at his lordship’s unorthodox behavior, but did not voice a protest.
    A magnificent black and gold carriage with no identifiable crest had come to a stop at the end of the long graveled drive. Penelope came to stand by Alex, shivering in her light gown as the breeze touched her. It was a misty springtime day, cool and fresh, with billowing