Page 105 of The Seduction of an English Scoundrel

Nigel hung his head, easily defeated by his cousin’s logic. “Well . . .”

“It wouldn’t have been quite so scandalous if you hadn’t interfered,” Esther said when it became obvious Nigel’s bravado was deflated. “Not surprising, though. Your branch of the Boscastle line always did take the initiative.”

“Why, thank you, Esther,” Heath said, grinning at his older brother. “I think that’s the first time you have ever complimented us.”

“I might not have,” she said in a strained voice, “except for the fact we are family now. I shall not tolerate anyone outside criticizing those who are mine.”

“What precisely are you doing here?” Grayson asked again, his arms folded in resignation across his chest.

Esther raised her chin, not in the least cowed by a man whose bottom she had spanked. “We have come to salvage what is left of Jane’s name.”

“Then lower your voice,” Grayson said mildly. “Her brother and uncle are asleep upstairs.”

Nigel glanced around. Jane, dressed in a muslin gown and at least seeming decent for a fallen woman, had just descended the stairs to join the fray. He felt guilty for his own happily married state in contrast to her disgrace, although—good gracious, what was that look that passed between her and Sedgecroft?

Electrifying. White hot, like an arc of lightning on a summer night. The very air sizzled with its sultry undertones, and here Nigel stood in the middle, a helpless bystander who suddenly wondered how he could possibly persuade a man like Sedgecroft to do the honorable thing.

Grayson cleared his throat, looking bigger, taller, stronger than Nigel had remembered. “Why don’t we gentlemen retire to the drawing room to discuss this?”

Nigel straightened his narrow shoulders. A discussion he could handle. “Stay here, Esther,” he said with authority, then added softly as he turned to follow Grayson, “Please.”

Chapter 25

“I should never have agreed to any of this had I known what a tangle it would become,” Esther confided in Jane as they stood abandoned in the vestibule.

“Nor would I,” Jane said. Which, on reflection, was totally untrue. She had enjoyed every minute with her Boscastle male as Esther had enjoyed hers. “No one could have foreseen any of this.” That part was at least true.

“I hope Nigel stands up for himself,” Esther said with a worried frown.

Jane could only respond with a halfhearted nod. Against Grayson and Heath, what chance did Nigel have?

“The talk of you two is all over town,” Esther said, the governess in her evident as she shook her head. “At least Nigel and I were discreet.”

“Because I covered for you,” Jane pointed out.

“Yes. Yes, you did. And don’t think we’re not grateful. Of course Nigel’s father will cut him off without tuppence now that our marriage is public knowledge. But it’s you who are the immediate concern. When Nigel and I rushed to London to rescue you, your ruination was all everyone could talk about. What on earth possessed you to do this, my dear?”

“The same thing that possessed you and Nigel, I imagine.”

“Nigel and I were shocked to the teeth when we found that your parents had washed their hands of you and retreated to the country.”

“Well—”

“Never fear. We shall not abandon you in your hour of shame and notoriety as your family has,” Esther said consolingly.

“That’s very kind of you,” Jane replied, not quite ready to be taken into custody yet. “But I’m bearing up well, and I do have Uncle Giles.”

“You are not bearing up well at all,” Esther insisted. “You are deluded by your passion for Sedgecroft.”

“How can you tell?”

“Because I have battled similar temptations in the course of my career as a governess.” Esther’s light brown eyes misted over with memories. “There was a duke once . . . oh, never mind. The problem is, what to do with you.”

“I am perfectly capable of managing my own affairs.”

“The fact that you are in this house contradicts that statement.” Esther released a sigh. “Perhaps we shall think up a solution on the way back to London.”

“London?”