Captured by a Gentleman (Regency Unlaced 6) Read Online Free Page B

assure you, it exists.” She gave a decisive nod. “Indeed, the relationship between the two of us is as strong as that which exists between Lord Sugdon and myself. Which means you are equally as qualified to become my guardian.”
    Ranulf continued to pace, and the more he thought of the situation, the more he realized, whether he wished it or not, within the eyes of Society, at least, that would indeed be the case. He knew of guardianships which existed with far less tenuous family ties than the one Darcy Ambridge was now claiming to have with him.
    Damn it to hell, was he never to be free of the Sugdon family? Never to be allowed to put that disastrous marriage behind him and allowed to live his life in peace?
    Darcy is not a Sugdon .
    No, she was not. And through no fault of her own—except her unquestionable beauty—it seemed she had been given no choice but to flee her uncle’s home or fall prey to Sugdon’s lust-filled advances.
    Damn the man.
    Damn Cecil Sugdon to the hell he belonged.
    Ranulf released a heavy sigh. He may have become hardened, cynical, these past eight months, but his ingrained principles of right and wrong gave him no choice but to become involved in this situation after all. “In the morning, I will accompany you back to London. Once there, I will talk to Sugdon myself—”
    “When my uncle will deny all knowledge of your accusations,” she scoffed.
    “I said I will talk to him, not make accusations.” Ranulf eyed her impatiently. “One cannot simply enter another man’s home and accuse him of…of…”
    “His intention to rape me on a nightly basis?” Darcy finished challengingly. “Because that is what it would be. I will not go back there for any reason.” She stood, her expression one of stubborn determination as she faced Ranulf. “He would punish me and then bed me as soon as you were out the door.”
    He stilled. “He beats you?”
    She shook her head. “Not yet. But he will most certainly find some way in which to punish me for having run away from him,” she stated with certainty. “And for having now involved you.”
    Ranulf had no doubt she was right. As far as Society was concerned, Sugdon was a respectable and respected member of the government. As such, the other man could not have wayward nieces-by-marriage roaming about the countryside, making accusations he intended to rape her. The fact Darcy had made those accusations to Ranulf, a man Sugdon knew had every reason to despise him, would place Darcy in a very precarious position if Ranulf returned her to the Sugdon household.
    He frowned. “He will have realized you are missing by now. Probably has people out looking for you.”
    “I would rather throw myself under the wheels of your carriage in the hope of killing myself than ever return to that man’s home.”
    Ranulf raised his eyes heavenward, as if seeking guidance from above at this further melodrama. But all that was revealed to him was the stained ceiling of the inn’s rustic parlor. “I believe I requested that you desist acting out your penchant for melodrama in my presence,” he snapped.
    “It cannot be called melodrama if it is the truth.”
    He gave a pained frown as he recognized, from the calm dignity of Darcy’s expression, that she meant every word she said. She would rather kill herself than risk being subjected to Sugdon’s unwanted nightly passions.
    “ Fuck! ” The expletive left Ranulf’s lips before he had a chance to stop it.
    Darcy smiled ruefully. “I believe that was the word Lord Sugdon used to describe what he wished to do to me.”
    Oh good Lord…
    Ranulf resumed his agitated pacing. “Qualified to be your guardian or not, I cannot carry you off without informing Sugdon of what I am doing!”
    “I do not see why not. Unless you do not believe me?” She sighed heavily. “If you do not believe me, when you obviously do not like my uncle, how can I expect anyone else to do so?”
    Ranulf was aware his thoughts were