Lord Devere's Ward Read Online Free Page A

a Scoville.” She lifted her chin. “Despite Uncle Herbert, I am proud of who I am. And a false name seems so…so unnecessary. I’m just a girl. Why would anyone go to so much trouble over me?”
    “You may not have a clear idea of the extent of your fortune,” said the Earl. “I do. You have a house in London and an estate in Somerset. You own tin mines in Cornwall and dairy cattle in Devon. In short, sweet Kate, aside from your own, um, personal attributes, you are a very tempting prize. Men have killed for far less than what you have, and it is my task to take care of you and your estate until you’re married, or until you attain the age of majority, whichever happens first.”
    She stared at him, stunned.
    He softened his tone. “So we must have a care, little Kate, and put our heads together and decide who you’re to be for the next few months.” A silence fell, broken only by the crackling of the logs in the fireplace.

    “If we are to choose a new name,” Kate finally said, “it should be similar to my own, so that I’ll become accustomed to it quickly.”
    Quinn smiled at her. “Clever Kate! I knew you’d understand.”
    Anna spoke up. “But what will happen when we go to London for the Season? You know Louisa is to be presented.”
    “Lady Kate will go with you and participate in such minor social gatherings as young girls do in the year before their come-out,” Quinn said, sounding confident. “She’ll hide in plain sight, as I’ve said, and as you’ve said, Nan, she won’t meet up with Herbert and, um, Osric because no one invites them anywhere.”
    “But what of those I already know?” asked Kate.
    “I’ve met many of my grandfather’s friends, and I have schoolmates who will be making their debuts, as well.”
    Anna said, “We’ll have to trust your friends, Lady Katherine. And as for the old Earl’s companions, I’m afraid many of them are too elderly and frail to move about in society any more. We’re losing the past generation, day by day.”
    Kate nodded, calmed by Lady Penrose’s logic as well as by the confidence of both brother and sister.
    She was also buoyed by her successes over the past few days. She’d been dreadfully miserable and frightened, but she had now attained a place of safety with people who appeared as anxious about her welfare as any parent could be.

    She raised her eyes to her guardian. Quinn stood by the fireplace, leaning on the mantel. He raked her yet again with his hooded dark gaze. Despite his decorous conduct and proper expressions of concern, she’d never seen a father look at any daughter with quite the expression the Earl wore, which more closely resembled that of a hawk eyeing a titmouse.
    She tugged self-consciously at the neck of her gown.
    She had a feeling that no dress was cut high enough to prevent the Earl from divining what lay beneath.
    Anna had apparently moved on with her
    thoughts while Quinn and Kate silently communed.
    “What about Kendra…Caroline…Caitlin… Come on, Pen, help me out with this!”
    Pen frowned. “I’d keep it simple. It’s an unusual name, but what about Kay? If we choose a second name which begins with a “T,” no one will give it another thought, even if we slip and call her Kate or K.T.”
    “Excellent notion!” Quinn waved a forefinger in the air for attention. “We’ll call her Tyndale, and she’ll be one of our cousins, Nan. There are lots of those. How about if she’s one of the old Nabob’s younger daughters? No one’s heard of any of them since he went off to India thirty years ago.”
    “That’s perfect, Quinn!” Anna exclaimed.
    “What?” asked Kate, completely bewildered.
    “Righty-o, here it is.” Quinn sat down next to her.
    She ignored his beguiling scent, the same spicy fragrance she had enjoyed on his coat. “You are Kay Tyndale, the, er, fifth daughter of Colin Tyndale.

    Colin was my father’s youngest brother. Having no prospects in England, he settled in Calicut