An Unlikely Father Read Online Free

years.”
    “Has it been so long?” Oliver frowned. Had something happened to James and his wife? A sharp pain pierced the earl’s chest at the thought that his brother might be dead. He prayed it wasn’t true.
    “It has, so you must honor your promise to your grandfather. James and his son might have been eaten by tigers or trampled by elephants for all we know.”
    The earl smiled in spite of the dire possibilities. “I never knew you to have such a lurid imagination, Grandmother.”
    “Unlike you, I always read Anna’s letters. India is a dangerous place. Will you keep your pledge?” The lady watched her grandson with slate-grey eyes.
    Oliver suddenly found himself at a standstill. He didn’t want a wife. He had females aplenty to amuse him, and when he tired of the whims and demands of one, there was always another to take her place. Females were all alike, after all, more interested in a man’s money and rank than in the man himself.
    But what did it matter? Didn’t most married people of the ton go their separate ways? His life would change very little with a marriage of convenience, should he take a proper wife. If something had happened to his brother, it was Oliver’s responsibility to produce an heir.
    “Very well, Grandmother. I shall honor my promise.”
    The dowager cocked her head slightly. “Don’t think that I will accept one of Hawksworth’s Harem as a future granddaughter-in-law. She must be a proper lady without the least taint to her reputation.”
    Oliver made no comment about his grandparent’s use of Society’s taunt in referring to all the women who’d been under his protection over the years. Instead he wrapped her arm through his, leading her back to where Miss Millet sat. He was aware that the kind of lady he should marry was one of the very innocent females who bored him to death, but there was nothing for it.
    As he settled his grandmother again in her chair, a thought occurred which made him smile. “The difficulty is that I am rarely invited to occasions where delicately bred females are in attendance. I shall have a difficult time finding such a lady.”
    The dowager’s words quickly wiped the smile from Oliver’s face. “I have thought of that. Knowing you would do what is proper in honoring your promise to your grandfather, I have approached the Marquess of Halcomb on your behalf. Lady Cora Lane is all that you would want in a wife—beautiful, titled and wealthy, her reputation unimpeachable. The marquess is agreeable to such an arrangement. All you need do is make a morning call to announce your intentions to pay your addresses to the lady and the matter can be quickly settled.”
    Oliver didn’t think he’d had such a black moment since the night he’d discovered Lady Rose’s perfidy. Marriage suddenly loomed ominously close. In a moment of desperation, he fabricated a plan and announced, “I shall have to delay my call for the present. I have engaged a party of friends to go down to Hawks’s Lair for several weeks.”
    “During the height of the Season?” The retiring Miss Millet spoke for the first time since he’d entered the room. Her tone appeared skeptical.
    The earl’s mind was racing. He would have to invite a party of gentlemen to his home on a moment’s notice. Whom could he find to take and how would he entertain them without the possibility of hunting or fishing during the bitterly cold spring? He realized his grandmother was looking at him, her expression as doubtful as her companion’s.
    “Ladies, my particular friends take little note of the introduction of a bevy of marriage-minded females into Society. I shall call on the marquess when I return next month.”
    The dowager was quiet for a moment; then she said, “I want you to be content with your wife, Oliver. I think Lady Cora will suit you very well. She won’t be one of those foolish creatures who babbles of love and demands her husband dance attendance upon her. She knows what is