Page 35 of The Seduction of an English Scoundrel

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”

“She has no other female to emulate, you see. Not since our Emma went off to Scotland. I’m afraid I haven’t set a very good example where morals are concerned.”

“Hmm.” No argument there.

“I can’t simply let the family dynasty go to pot,” he continued, aware he was confiding in her again. “The problem is, I thought I had a few more years of misadventure myself before I settled down.”

“How cruel that your sinning must be cut short.”

He laughed, the dark tones of his voice sliding pleasantly over her skin. “Isn’t it though?”

The faint strains of the orchestra playing on the opposite slope drifted down toward them. A concealing row of willow trees overshadowed the walkway. A pair of white marble porpoises flanked the pavilion entrance, sending a spray of fine mist arching into the air. Grayson glanced around. No one at the party could see them now. Besides, the duke kept a parade of servants milling about outside to lend an air of propriety to the place.

“I’ve heard it was called the Pavilion of Pleasure,” Jane murmured. “I always wondered what it was like.”

“Well, wonder no more,” Grayson said, unceremoniously whisking her inside the shadowed interior. “There. I don’t believe we were seen.”

“Sedgecroft, I’m not sure—”

“Be careful where you walk,” he said, his voice absorbed in the disorienting shadows. “The floor is damp, and it’s as dark as Hades in here.”

Hades, she thought with a slight shiver, feeling a bit like Persephone as she followed her dark lord into the underworld. How had this happened? Yesterday she was contemplating her hard-earned freedom, and now, who could tell what twists the future held? How could she thwart his scheme without giving herself away?

“I notice that you’ve been here before,” she commented wryly.

“Only when the pavilion was just built and the duke gave us a tour.”

“Us?”

“My father and me.” He turned, his handsome face looming into her vision. “Gracious, Jane, I was all of three.”

“Truly?”

“Well.” He coughed. “Perhaps thirteen.”

“That’s what I thought. What could have possessed your sister to come here today?”

“I shall give you one guess,” he muttered, his brows knitting into a scowl.

“Perhaps she had a headache and needed a moment of peace.”

He gave a rather insulting grunt at the suggestion. “Only an idiot would believe such an excuse. Do be quiet, Jane. Someone’s coming.”

He nodded distractedly to the gentleman and lady who had just emerged from the narrow corridor, both looking breathless and guilty at being spotted.

“Simon!” Jane said in shock, coming to a stop.

“Jane,” he stammered, his eyes widening in recognition. “What are you doing in here?”

“I—”

“She has a headache and needs a moment of peace,” Grayson said in a grave voice.

“Oh, right,” Simon said, and completely missed his sister’s look of indignation. “The pavilion always helps my headaches, too. Try soaking your feet in the Pool of the Pleiades. I’ll meet you both back outside, shall I?”

“What a grand idea,” Grayson said, glancing at Jane from the corner of his eye. “Meet us at the end of the walkway.”

“Well, so much for my chaperone,” Jane said archly as her brother gave Sedgecroft a friendly pat on the arm before whisking the giggling Lady Damaris Hill in the opposite direction.