Christina opened her mouth, but her visitor stayed her caustic remark with a raised finger. “Pray, do not answer that last question.” He stood with a crooked smile that sent Christina’s heart into turmoil and her anxiety soaring.
“I think I should like to find the answer for myself.”
-181-
Shelley Bradley
Chapter Fifteen
Drex arrived at his father’s house that evening, filled with Christina. Her scent, her voice. She still looked too thin, but he would change that once they were wed. He envisioned her round with his child and his heart swelled with hope.
He no more than crossed the threshold when his father approached. “Good news. Come with me.”
They trod upstairs. At the top, Lord and Lady Allyn stood.
“Hello. Fine day, isn’t it?” the earl said to both.
“Indeed,” Lady Allyn answered with a tight smile.
Her husband shot a glare at Drex, then transferred the scowl to his brother.
“Come, Agnes. I need a brandy.”
“I’m afraid Milton isn’t adjusting well to the family changes,” his father said with a sigh and a shake of his head.
“Good for you his wife keeps him in tow.”
“Agnes is a godsend,” he said as they entered the library.
The earl shut the door behind him quickly. “I received a note today.” His father smiled. “I’ve found Ryan.”
Drex felt his stomach jump up to his throat. “Truly? How?”
“I renewed a few contacts from years past and found someone willing to share that many of the impressed Americans who resisted the Admiralty’s treatment were brought to Newgate on trumped-up charges. I decided to pay Newgate’s goaler a visit, just in case. For a,” he cleared his throat, “small fee, he was willing to let me have five minutes with Ryan.”
“Is he well? He looked terrible—”
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The Lady and the Dragon
“His condition should be much improved soon. I paid the goaler to upgrade your brother’s accommodations. I couldn’t buy his release. Manchester would hang him for that, but Ryan will have better care until we can think of something else.”
Drex stared at his father. Shock and confusion swarmed his system. The earl cared deeply about the well-being of a son he had never met?
Comprehension dawned. The man truly did want his sons.
He thrust a hand toward his father. “Thank you.”
The earl accepted the clasp, the new offer of a bond, with a smile so reminiscent of elated relief, Drex smiled back.
His father asked, “So how is Lady Christina today?”
“Withdrawn. Distrustful of all men, it seems. How can I persuade her to marry me?”
The earl shrugged. “Perhaps you cannot, at least not now. However, other rogues are hovering near. Lady Jersey is already gossiping about two fortune hunters who called before you.”
Anxiety tightened Drex’s gut. “I must act now. But how?”
“Ask Manchester for her hand, instead. You can bring her round to your way of thinking once the vows are spoken.”
Drex turned her father’s suggestion about in his head. The plan was good.
She could hardly say nay once her grandfather had chosen a man for her. She had nowhere else to run.
But she would be furious as hell with him.
“Manchester is tight with his money,” the earl offered. “He will see you more favorably if you refuse her enormous dowry.”
“And ask for the release of American sailors in Newgate instead?” Drex smiled.
His father clapped him on the shoulder. “We think alike.”
“For which I’m glad…Father.”
With a smile, Drex turned and left for Grovesnor Square.
* * *
-183-
Shelley Bradley
Christina shuddered at the feel of Lord Ralston’s arm about her. His breath was none too pleasant. The sweat on his palms dampened her dress. And he referenced plans to renovate his country estate, when everyone knew he hadn’t the funds.
Apparently, he’d assumed her desperation would cast him as a good candidate as her husband.
Christina grimaced, then said, “Lord Ralston, I am simply parched. Could you fetch me some punch?”
He didn’t quite hide his irritation with a tight smile. “Wait here.”
The moment the balding man disappeared into the swirl of the shimmering crowd, Christina darted for the balcony. The door had been thrown open to release some of the steam in the ballroom.
Outside, winter nipped at her nose as she walked to the rail. Wrapping her arms about herself, Christina decided she’d gladly freeze to hide here all night if it meant avoiding Lord Ralston.
Suddenly, she felt a large, warm garment blanket her shoulders. She turned to find Drexell Cain-Ashmont standing behind her, minus his coat.
His dark eyes glittered in the golden moonlight. “Better?”
The gesture, like his voice, struck her as intimate. Disturbed, she shrugged his coat off and handed it back to him. “Thank you, but I wasn’t cold.”
“I don’t recall your teeth chattering when we last met,” he teased. “I’m not usually so forgetful.”
“Gentlemen don’t notice such things,” she chastised.
“Which is why I’ve always thought gentlemen to be silly and tedious. Who enjoys the kind of man who paws his dance partner and talks of his hunting dogs more fondly than his children?”
Christina flashed him a sideways glance. A vivid image of Lord Ralston and his expensive, slobbering mutts materialized. She tried to repress the upward curving of her mouth.
He smiled and draped the dark coat over her shoulders again, cocooning her in inviting warmth.
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The Lady and the Dragon
Drat if the thing didn’t smell musky, just like him. Even the scent, something strong and male, brought back unwanted memories of her time with the Black Dragon, of the vulnerabilities of her heart. She pushed the recollections away.
“Why did you follow me out into the cold?” she asked.
His wide-eyed expression revealed mock horror. “I couldn’t run the risk of such a lovely damsel perishing in this chill.”
“So you and your coat came to my rescue?”
He nodded, expression wistful. “I only regret I could not find a white horse to complete my picture of knighthood.”
Christina found herself smiling as Lord Ralston returned.
“There you are,” he said, scowl upon his perspiring face. “I’ve come to see you to supper.”
Christina’s mind raced. Having no wish to consort for the next hour with this damp creature whose smell had become quite unpleasant, she grasped for a way to leave him behind.
“I’m afraid she’s already promised me that honor,” Lord Drakethorne answered, rescuing her again. He turned her to her with a proffered arm. “Shall we?”
Christina conveyed her appreciation with her smile.
“A stroll in the gardens later, perhaps?” Lord Ralston called desperately to her retreating figure.
“Lord Drakethorne has already given me the tour,” she lied.
Once inside, she laughed for the first time in months. It felt freeing, refreshing, like spring might soon bloom inside her. She yearned to cling to the feeling, to forget contemptible exploiters like the Black Dragon inhabited this earth.
“Ah, the fair Christina smiles. Where is da Vinci when life’s truly memorable moments occur?”
She laughed. “My smile is hardly memorable.”
“You must allow me to disagree. Were you to try, I believe your glow could light up the entire night sky.”
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Shelley Bradley
“You flatter me too much,” she chastised, but couldn’t quite erase the smile from her face.
“A difficult thing to avoid with someone so lovely.”
Lord Drakethorne made her feel beautiful and worthwhile again. Such dangerous feelings. Her heart wasn’t invincible. The Black Dragon had proven so. Yet even as she cautioned herself against a burgeoning warmth, she feared that tonight such admonitions were useless.