The Bluestocking and the Rake (The Regency Gentlemen Series) Read Online Free Page B

when you were sent to the Peninsular. She said it saved you from yourself.”
    “Getting shot at is hardly the method I would choose,” said the earl caustically, glancing down at his leg. “Trust me, when you have a lump of shrapnel in your thigh that won’t let you walk or stand or even sleep, the very last thing you are thinking about is being intimate with a female.”
    “Does it still pain you, Rob?”
    His lordship shrugged and absently rubbed his thigh. “Like any woman, she bothers me now and again.”
    “Well, ten to one she’s a harpy,” said Sir Julius.
    “Who? The shrapnel, my mother or Miss Blakelow?”
    Sir Julius rolled his eyes. “ Miss Blakelow , of course.”
    The earl looked doubtfully at him, picked up a freshly baked bread roll and pulled it apart. “A harpy who’s the epitome of moral perfection? Hardly. She sounds terribly straight-laced to me.”
    Sir Julius rubbed his nose thoughtfully. “Then it’s not likely you were intimate…so why does she have it in for you?”
    “Heaven only knows.”
    “What do you plan to do?”
    His lordship reapplied himself to his breakfast. “Do? Why nothing, of course,” he said, lavishly slathering butter on his roll.
    “ Nothing? ” repeated Sir Julius, aghast. “You have to do something .”
    “What would you have me do, Ju?”
    Sir Julius put up his eyeglass and examined his friend through it as though he were an extremely rare specimen. “Pay Miss Blakelow a visit at the very least.”
    “And do what?”
    “I don’t know…threaten her, pay her off…or something.”
    “And would not that provide more material for her next publication? And what’s more, confirm that her information is accurate?”
    “Well…yes, but you cannot let her get away with bad mouthing you. No, no, March, it simply will not do.”
    “She hasn’t bad mouthed me. You said yourself that she has not mentioned me by name. How do I know that she is referring to me?”
    “Because there are too many circumstances that are familiar. And people who know you and who are intimate with your past cannot fail to make the comparison. And those that don’t will speculate that it’s you anyway. You can’t just let it go .”
    “Certainly I can,” replied his lordship coolly. “I will not give the woman the satisfaction.”
    “What you need is revenge.”
    “No, what I need is to finish my breakfast in peace.”
    Sir Julius ignored him. He set his rather limited intellect to the task and tapped one extremely long finger against his nose, thinking.
    The earl smiled. “I can smell burning,” he murmured.
    “What would be the ultimate mortification to a spinster woman of high moral principle?” demanded Sir Julius suddenly.
    His lordship snorted in amusement and replied off hand as he reached for his coffee, “To be ruined by a rake.”
    Sir Julius Fawcett’s face split into a wide smile. “That’s it! Damn me if it ain’t. Seduce the girl.”
    Lord Marcham did a double take. “Ju, I was funning . I am not in the habit of seducing moralising spinster bores. Besides, she may not be a girl at all. She could be ninety for all we know.”
    His friend’s smile grew. “Her father was Sir William Blakelow and he was five and sixty when he died, so she has to be younger than forty.”
    “You relieve me,” murmured the earl.
    “There’s no telling what she looks like though. Those sorts of women are usually spinsters for a reason…but that won’t matter to you will it?”
    His lordship pulled a face. “I have standards, Ju.”
    “You don’t have to actually like the girl, just pretend that you do. Miss Blakelow is going to fall in love with you.”
    “Oh, Lord.”
    “You need to stand up to her, March. Or who will be next? It could be anyone…” and he ran a finger between his neck and his cravat as if the garment choked him.
    “Even you?” asked the earl softly.
    Sir Julius shuddered. “I do not want to even think about it.”
    “You have enough