A Baron for Becky Read Online Free Page B

complete stranger.”
    “Who were you
in bed with?” Rede asked dryly.
    Aldridge tipped
his glass to Rede to acknowledge the point.
    A servant
arrived in answer to the bell pull. Rede ordered a full breakfast
to be brought to the study. “If you’ve not eaten for two days,
you’ll be hungry,” he observed.
    “My stomach
thinks my throat’s been cut,” Aldridge agreed.
    He was still
thinking about the woman he’d been in bed with, and the others
who’d preceded her during the house party.
    On the one
hand, any husband whose wife warmed the bed of the Marquis of
Aldridge had only himself to blame. If they paid more attention to
their wives and less to games of chance, drinking, and pursuit of
other women at the party, their wives would have no reason to
stray.
    On the other
hand, husbands seldom accepted that point of view. At least six men
at the house party would consider themselves entitled to be upset
with Aldridge. Make that seven, since one betrothed gentleman also
had a neglected lady. Aldridge never made a show of his amorous
adventures, but ladies often used an affair with him to punish
their spouses, and any of them might have dropped hints designed to
do the most damage.
    Presumably, the
perpetrators did not intend to reward him with the delectable Rose,
so what was their purpose in stripping him and leaving him in
Perringworth’s garden? They couldn’t have known, surely, that
Smite’s boys were on their way?
    “Tell me about
Perringworth,” he said.
    Rede steepled
his hands and considered for a moment. “He’s a younger son.
Brother’s a baron just south of Bristol. They’ve had a falling out.
Perringworth had a legacy, and he’s blown it, by all accounts.
    “A loose fish,
that’s certain. And a big bruiser of a man. Has a reputation as
handy with his fists, but lousy with money. Can’t resist a game of
chance, and always thinks he’ll win the next one. Very jealous.
Rumour has it, he put the Rose out at Niddberrow to keep her away
from competitors. Likely, your friends thought it would be a fine
joke for him to find you naked in her garden.”
    Aldridge
nodded. “Not much temptation in Niddberrow, I would think. Not many
who would even acknowledge her, I expect.”
    “Poor girl. It
can’t have been much of a life for her.”
    “Better than
the one he was selling her into. Her and little Sarah.”
    Rede swore, low
and long, not repeating himself once in a several sentences.
Aldridge agreed, but Perringworth had his own problems. He was
unlikely to survive the encounter with Smite.
    “They’re well
out of it, and lucky your abductors chose to abandon you in that
garden. Do you think they drugged you?”
    “Possibly, but
perhaps not. I was fairly drunk for most of the party.”
    “Cousin, I
don’t believe you’ve been sober since June—I’ve never seen you
drink so much.”
    Aldridge shook
his head. He’d lost both of his brothers in June. One had fled
overseas, and the other had pursued the first. Rede knew that, but
didn’t need to know that Aldridge blamed himself.
    He put the full
glass down on the corner of the desk they’d been using as a
table.
    “No more,” he
said, decisively. “You’re right; it isn’t helping. Rede, I’ll have
to talk to Smite. He has a purchaser set up for the little girl.
They’ll not be safe unless I can buy him off. Can they stay here
till I have it sorted?”
    Rede nodded.
“If I have your promise not to swive Mrs Darling under my roof,” he
answered. Aldridge’s cousin always had been a tenacious sort.
     
     

     

Chapter Three
    Aldridge returned
triumphant from his trip to London.
    “Smite agreed,”
he told her, catching her alone in the garden, where two or three
late roses clung to the last remnants of their blooms. He sat down
beside her on the stone seat, taking up the centre, so she had to
lean against the curved arm to keep some distance between them.
“You and Sarah are free.”
    The relief made
her breathless. “I had