Good Earl Hunting Read Online Free Page A

even realized it would matter.
    "You must tell me about Vashton Hall," the lady on his left was cooing, her lips forming a circle that was no doubt meant to remind him of kissing. His first thought was that she actually looked like a water spigot. Lucifer’s balls, he couldn’t even remember her name, so many women had been flung at him in the past months.
    "It's a house," he said, half his attention on the conversation that had resumed between Theodora and Francis Henning. He remembered her name, damn it all. "With windows, doors, and a roof."
    "But I've heard that you have a splendid pond with fish, and a garden with a magnificent temple to Athena at the edge of the water."
    "You seem to know more about it than I do," he returned, summoning a half smile. "No need, then, for me to describe it at all."
    The pretty brunette blushed. "But the -- what of the weather there? Is it pleasant? I find today to be a bit chill, don't you? And the clouds are moving quite swiftly."
    He reflected that in the battle he'd seemed to have begun with Theodora Meacham, neither one of them had yet seen the necessity of discussing the weather, or the speed of clouds. Inwardly sighing, he nodded again. After all, he'd been accused of being arrogant; if she overheard him being brusque with this chit, she would slam him over the head with it later. "The weather is a bit cooler overall here than it is in London, I believe, and there seems to be more rain. And yes, with the state of the clouds I've begun to wonder if we might be in for a wet evening."
    She smiled hugely. "Oh, yes, I agree."
    That seemed to satisfy her for long enough that he managed to finish his baked ham. Then, after a round of discussing how well he sat on a horse and the craftsmanship of his saddle, the luncheon began to break up and he made his escape. What seemed like half the female contingent present followed him into the house, chittering and hopping about like birds attempting to gain a mate by fluffing their feathers. Good God.
    The moment he could manage it, Geoffrey retreated to his borrowed bed chamber and summoned Grosvenor, his valet. "Find me something understated," he said, shedding the crimson fox hunting coat and dropping it onto the back of a chair.
    "Understated, my lord?" the valet repeated. "Do you mean dark, or plain?" His lip curled as he spoke the last word; Grosvenor didn't approve of simplicity.
    "Both," Geoffrey returned. "The jacket I wore to the museum dedication in Surrey will suffice."
    "The brown one? Then I suppose you'll wish the gray waistcoat and the buckskin trousers."
    "You suppose correctly. And be quick about it. I need to be somewhere at three o'clock."
    "Three... I'll never have the mud off your boots by then, my lord."
    "Then I'll wear the Wellingtons."
    "But--"
    "Tick tock, Grosvenor."
    Practically wringing his hands, the valet fetched the plain black boots and the plain, unornamented jacket and even tied Geoffrey's cravat in what he termed a "damnably simple" knot. It had to be done; he'd offended a lady, and the more overstuffed he appeared, the less likely she would be ever to forgive him. And the more plainly he dressed, the better chance he had of going unnoticed.
    Once he'd finished dressing, he angled his chin toward the door. "See who's lurking in the hallway, will you?"
    Grosvenor cracked open the door and leaned out, then retreated and shut it again. "Three young ladies, one mama, and one papa."
    Cursing, Geoffrey turned around and walked to the tall window that overlooked the garden. Unless he was mistaken it had the finest view of any room in the house, and luckily for him also featured a trellis of vines running up the wall directly beside it. Well, Theodora didn’t want anyone to know they were meeting. This would suffice. "Stay in here, Grosvenor," he ordered, pushing open the window and sitting to swing his legs over the sill, "and converse with yourself."
    "About what, my lord?"
    "I give you leave to disparage my choice