Page 18 of To Woo a Wicked Widow

Elizabeth’s blush began to recede. “Which brother, Georgie?”

“The eldest, Jemmy . . . um, Lord Brack.” Georgie’s charming one-sided grin brightened her face. “He is so much fun. You will like him, Elizabeth. Even if he is the heir, and six years older than I, he’s always looked out for me. He didn’t approve of Father disowning me or taking away Mr. Kirkpatrick’s living for marrying me and his son, but in the end Jemmy could do nothing to dissuade him.” She looked at Charlotte hopefully. “If you invite him, I will finally be able to see him. It has been three years since I last spoke with him, but you mustn’t tell anyone I will be there or Father may forbid him to come.”

Charlotte wrote the name with a flourish. “There, he is on the list. And if he is as wonderful as he sounds, Elizabeth will be well entertained.” She laid the pen down and fanned the paper. “Ladies, I believe we have our first guest list.”

A smile tugged at Jane’s lips and she said in a teasing voice, “We appear to be one guest short. Who will you invite, Charlotte? You must choose as well.”

Drat. After last night, they certainly must expect her to invite Alan Garrett despite her protests. Charlotte closed her eyes, and the darkly handsome figure of Lord Wrotham sprang to mind instead—black hair, intense blue eyes, and full, sensual lips. She remembered well the feel of his hard chest and the strong arms that had saved her and sighed softly.

“If you are squeamish about writing his name, I am not.” Jane’s words brought her back to the present to find her cousin had plucked the list out of her hands and was busily writing.

“Jane!” Charlotte dove for the paper, but her cousin held it out of reach. “Whose name are you writing?”

“Alan Garrett’s of course.” Jane laughed, fanning the paper before her face.

“What about Alan Garrett?”

A shiver of dread coursed through Charlotte at the sound of that loathsome male voice. Steeling herself, she turned toward the doorway.

Sir Edgar Cavendish stood stripping off his riding gloves, a snarl on his thin lips.

Chapter 5

“Edgar.” The shock of seeing him took Charlotte’s breath away. What was he doing here in June? Automatically, she rose. “I didn’t expect you back until August.”

“Really? Thought you’d be able to live off my charity for another couple of months, eh?”

The Continent had changed her stepson not one iota. Charlotte’s arsenal of defenses against Edgar’s bullying clicked back into place. After five years of taunts and disrespect, conveniently overlooked by his father, she had devised her own methods to cope with him. First, she’d get him away from her friends. No one save his relations should have to be subjected to Edgar’s tirades.

“Come, let us remove to your father’s office to discuss this privately.” She moved toward him and he put a hand out to stop her.

“We might as well speak before your friends. I am sure they will be affected by your lack of means as well.” He brushed past her to sit in the chair she had just vacated.

She narrowed her eyes at her loathsome prig of a stepson. “I have perfectly acceptable means, Edgar, as you very well know from the reading of your father’s will. I have my jointure and I have the settlement from my dowry.”

“Then I suggest you use them and find another abode.” His gaze fell to the list Jane had dropped at his entrance. “What is this?”

Charlotte bit back a curse. Disaster loomed if she could not come up with a plausible reason for that list.

He picked it up, his eyes flicking down the list of names. They stopped at the last one. An evil smile curved his mouth. “Why have you written a list that contains Alan Garrett’s name? He’s one of the worst rakes in the ton.”

Charlotte glanced at her friends and swallowed hard.

“We were making a list, Sir Edgar.” Georgina spoke quietly, not looking at him. She resembled a child confessing to breaking china.

“Obviously.” Edgar rolled his eyes. “But what kind of list?”

“Of ineligible men, Sir Edgar,” Elizabeth answered with absolute conviction.

He shot a wary glance at Charlotte. “I was given to believe that women usually made lists of the eligible parties rather than the opposite.”

“Yes, but you see, Sir Edgar,” Jane leaned forward, arching her neck and thrusting out her chest toward him, “last evening Charlotte and I attended the anniversary ball at Almack’s. On our first foray back into Society, we were accosted by so many undesirables, we compiled a list of the gentlemen we felt were simply not to be tolerated. Our friends are now back out in society as well and we wanted to warn them in case they should meet them.”

He glanced down at the list again. “George Abernathy? He is undesirable because . . . ?”

“He is quite the rake, my lord.” Jane smiled knowingly. “I have it on the best authority. He’s not as blatant about it as some, but I’ve heard he’s done some of the most outrageous things with women.”

Edgar frowned and consulted the list. “The Earl of Lathbury?”