Pleasures of a Notorious Gentleman Read Online Free

and confess everything before he had a chance to denounce her for the fraud that she was. She should be trying to determine how best to save face, but all she could do was wonder about him. What had transpired during the months since she’d last seen him? Had he even noticed that she’d left Scutari? If he’d had occasion to visit the hospital, had he asked after her? He had been so terribly important to her, but he’d never made any declarations of affection. It wasn’t his way, she’d been told, but the knowledge had not stopped her from dreaming that he saw in her something special, something he saw in no other woman.
    “Stephen,” Ainsley began, a gentleness, a caution in his voice, a tone that one might use when confronting a wild and unpredictable beast, “surely you remember Miss Mercy Dawson. She was a nurse at a military hospital in Scutari, tending to the soldiers who fought in the Crimea.”
    She wondered why he’d felt the need to categorize her, to label her as though so many Mercy Dawsons filled his brother’s life that he would be unable to identify which one she was, precisely. She knew of his reputation with the ladies, knew that he sought pleasure with wild abandon, but surely, he was gentleman enough to recall every woman with whom he’d experienced carnal knowledge.
    Tension rippled through the room, as if they were all connected by the wires on a pianoforte, each of them waiting for a chord to be plucked.
    Major Lyons studied her for a heartbeat, and then another, but she saw no recognition in his deep blue eyes. None at all. She was but one of many nurses who had garnered his attention. The mortification of this moment, of being relegated to nothingness, to being completely unmemorable in spite of all they’d shared . . . it was almost more than she could bear. She didn’t know how she would survive it, but for John’s sake she would.
    A dilemma reared its ugly head. Should she fight for John’s right to be here, to convince them that Major Lyons was his father, or should she take her son and be done with them, find a way to survive as best she could? She knew her father would not return her to his residence. He was done with her. He was here now only because he thought to gain from the situation, if not a pocketful of coins then a powerful son-in-law. She wondered what his impressions were, but she dared not look back at him. It took little to earn his wrath these days.
    “Of course, I remember her.”
    She blinked in surprise. Relief and dread beat within her breast. Conflicting desires, conflicting troubles. Everything had seemed much simpler when she thought he was dead. Now the truth picked at the lock, and she didn’t know if its release would serve her good or ill.
    Major Lyons bowed slightly. “Miss Dawson.”
    “Major. I’m so grateful you’re not dead.” In spite of the troubles his resurrection might cause her, the words were heartfelt. Grief had nearly done her in when she’d seen his name on the list of casualties. She owed him more than she could ever express, more than she could ever repay.
    “No more so than I am, I assure you.”
    The rough timbre of his voice sent a quiver of longing through her. What a silly chit you are, Mercy. He speaks that way to every lady. You are not so special after all. But there had been times when she’d thought, hoped, dared to dream that he gave her attention because he considered her distinctive, because he could distinguish her from the other nurses. After only one telling, he remembered her name. She learned later that she’d given too much significance to that small triumph. He knew every nurse by name. He could even differentiate the twin nuns—Mary and Margaret—from each other when no one else could.
    “And her father, Mr. Daws—”
    “You ruined my girl,” her father bellowed, interrupting Ainsley before the introductions were properly finished.
    Mortification swamped her. Oh, what a tangled web we