Page 10 of His Scandal
How could she say that while Sir Alexander had played the part of a gentleman, his eyes implied wickedness and his smile spoke of seduction? How it must have amused him to tease a spinster. What lengths would he go to amuse himself even further with her young, innocent sister?
Alex lay alone in bed, the fire crackling in the hearth, the noise of the tavern slowly dying as the night aged. Unable to sleep, he had considered asking Viv, the tavern maid, back to his chambers, but the idea had held no appeal—which baffled him. He had always enjoyed the companionship of women: to tease, to enjoy, to lose himself in. Women had been one of his few solaces when he’d posed as Spencer, when he’d begun to fear he didn’t know himself anymore. He’d soon realized that as the viscount, he could no longer converse with his own companions. And he hadn’t known Spencer’s friends well enough to feel at ease withthem, especially since his brother’s life could be forfeited if Alex was revealed as a fraud.
But there were always women, a bridge between his old identity and the one he’d been forced to don. It merely took awhile before he’d understood that their interest in him was not what it seemed.
Disjointed thoughts rolled around in his head, and he couldn’t understand what made this night different. Surely being attacked by the two strangers was the reason.
If they’d wanted his money, it would have been far easier for them to follow him down a street, hit him over the head and rob him. Instead they’d made a very public challenge, as if they wanted to be recognized for something.
And they’d put the lady Emmeline in danger.
“Hellfire.” Alex laughed at himself as he threw an arm over his eyes. Where did that thought come from? But once she invaded his mind, it wasn’t easy to forget her.
She was nothing like the women he preferred, confident women at ease with themselves. Oh, sheportrayedconfidence well, but he suspected it didn’t run deep. She was a spinster, with an uncertain place in this world, and the knowledge that she would always have to depend on others.
Yet Emmeline was interesting, and reacted so strongly to every subtle taunt he tossed at her. Itwould be amusing to coax her outrage as he teased her sister. Outwitting Emmeline might even turn out to be more fun than luring a kiss from her flirtatious sister, whose type he knew all too well.
