How to Marry a Rogue Read Online Free Page B

slightly. “Indifference is the opposite of caring. That is what Jonathan told me. So, I am indifferent to him.”
    “Bravo.”
    “It is very kind of you to accompany us, Jack,” she said when it seemed he might take another nap.
    “I am pleased to renew our acquaintance again. When did you grow up?”
    The faintest breath of heat rose up her throat to fill her cheeks. A mild stirring of something curious and alarming formed in her chest. She’d always seen Jack as her brother’s friend, if not a brother of sorts himself. But the distance of a few years had changed things. He was no longer the teasing boy, the rescuer. He was a man, with a life separate from what she’d known of the rambunctious lad who’d spent his holidays at Fairwood Hall.
    “Naturally, I am grown up. Did you expect me to stay a child forever?”
    “No, but I am certain your brother wishes it.” He cleared his throat. “Have you given marriage a thought, Georgiana? Your brother hopes…”
    She crinkled her nose. “Did Jonathan ask you to speak to me about marriage? Please, Jack, do not begin preaching the merits of marriage to me. You should have been married long ago, yet you scorn the very thought. I have never heard you discuss marriage without a sneer or joke.”
    He opened his mouth to protest, but she noted his guilty look. “It’s not that I scorn it, Georgiana. Marriage is perfectly suitable for some people. I just do not understand the draw. Really—one mate for the rest of your life?” He shook his head, his eyebrows raised in mock astonishment. “Ridiculous.”
    “The Reverend Franklin would shake his fist if he heard you,” she admonished, but was disturbed she almost agreed with him.
    “Is the Reverend Franklin a happily married man?”
    She chewed her lip. “He is a bachelor, I believe.”
    “There you have it. Who is he to command others to marry?”
    “I see your point, skewed though it may be.” She played with the beaded fringe on her reticule. “I hope you will not be too busy in Bordeaux. I will have no other company but Aunt Adele and her sister, Lady Priscilla.”
    “Rest assured I will have plenty of leisure time on my hands.” He studied her for a moment. “Perhaps I will fetch you occasionally and show you the countryside. There are some picturesque villages and towns you might like to see.”
    She pursed her lips. “I do not think I should accompany you without a chaperone.”
    “Put your worries aside. I trust you will not compromise me.”
    She laughed. “You are terribly wicked, Jack. You know what I mean.”
    “Yes, I do know. But why should it matter if you are sans chaperone with me? I’m as close a brother to you as Lockewood.”
    Her smile remained, but she wanted to protest his statement. Since seeing him that morning when he’d come to her brother’s house to join her and Aunt Adele, she’d had to reconcile her memories of the playful older friend with the image of the grown man he’d become. Who’d have thought skinny Jack would broaden in the chest and shoulders the way he had? That the round face would melt into curving cheekbones merging into a chiseled jaw?
    In seconds, the image of the boy she remembered was replaced with a man who was almost a stranger. She didn’t feel quite herself, and was conscious of what she said or if she laughed too loudly or too often, as if she must impress him. She had to keep reminding herself not to arrange her pelisse over her knees or glance down to see if the ruffled trim on her bodice was drooping. Annoyed suddenly, she leaned against the side of the carriage.
    “I suppose it will be all right for you to chaperone me.” She was still a little girl in his eyes. How much had Jonathan told him about the incident ? Worse, why was he taking on Jonathan’s cause and pushing her toward marriage? “Besides, we shall probably not meet any of our acquaintance in Bordeaux. Aunt Adele said it is rather unfashionable at the moment.”
    “I promise