The Conqueror's Dilemma Read Online Free

held her tongue on a heated retort and instead urged her onward with a
ruthless hand.
    ‘Do hurry,
ma’am. I don’t wish to be discovered here by that woman.’
    ‘You must not
refine upon it,’ said the other, consenting to proceed. ‘Nothing untoward
occurred, after all, and we ain’t finished yet, not by a long chalk.’
    Tiffany withheld
a strongly worded rebuttal, for what was the use? Left to herself, she would
have shunned the fashionable world and all its mortifying rules. But Uncle Matt
had been deaf to all her arguments in his determination to carry out what he
insisted were her deceased father’s wishes. She knew he would not look with
sympathy upon a request to curtail her Season when it had hardly begun. Yet she
dreaded being dragged to events such as this, especially when she was convinced
neither she nor her chaperon had any right to be here. She shuddered at the
remembrance of Lady Yelverton’s avenging features, and vowed never to allow
herself to be forced into a similar situation.
     
    William steered
his seething quarry through knots of her guests, refusing to release her until
they had reached the other side of the saloon. She turned on him then, albeit
speaking in a lowered tone.
    ‘What in the
world did you do that for, Will?’
    ‘To stop you
subjecting the chit to the embarrassment of a public ejection from the
premises,’ he responded frankly.
    Juliana blinked
at him. ‘What chit?’
    ‘The one I was
telling you about when you went off at half-cock and very nearly caused a
lamentable scene before your legitimate guests.’
    She looked
mulish. ‘If I had done so, the wretched woman asked for it. She deserved
nothing less.’
    ‘But the girl
with her did not deserve as much.’
    William came
under a searching scrutiny that was peculiarly disconcerting. He said nothing,
well aware Juliana needed no encouragement to pursue whatever was exercising
her mind. A telltale suspicion of the trend of her thoughts made him maintain
his blandest expression.
    ‘What is this,
Will? Have you not realised the significance of that creature having a young
female in tow?’ She leaned confidentially towards him. ‘I am certain Lady
Drumbeg is being paid to bring the girl out. Which is enough to tell you what
sort of background she must have.’
    A flare of
annoyance swept through William, but he gave no sign. ‘Are you referring to the
dragon or her protégée?’
    ‘Don’t be
obtuse, you know very well what I mean,’ said Juliana irritably. ‘The girl is
impossible.’
    Undeniably. A sliver of feeling went
through William. Disappointment? However appealing, the female he had
encountered was destined to remain a stranger. The social strata were strictly
kept, and he trod a fine line to remain on this side. She might as well be on
another planet.
    Juliana was eyeing him again. Was
it concern in her eyes? ‘Will, you can’t mean to pursue her acquaintance? She
is certain to be beneath the notice of anyone of real ton .’
    William drummed up a smile, but
it went awry. ‘Was not I so once?’
    ‘That’s different,’ said Lady
Yelverton quickly.
    ‘Why? Because I am male?’
    A twinkle drove away the last of
her ill temper. ‘Engagingly so, sweet William, but it’s not that.’
    He could not withstand a
responsive smile, but he took her up nevertheless. ‘What, then? My wit, my
charm, my je ne sais quoi ?’
    The ironic note was ignored. ‘Oh,
she might have all those qualities too, though I doubt it.’
    So did William,
having met her. He hardly knew what it was about the child that drew him, but
it was unlikely to give her the entrée to his set. But he was alive to
Juliana’s meaning.
    ‘Birth, is that it?’
    Lady Yelverton shrugged. ‘It is
the way of the world, Will. Your background, however obscure, has no faintest
trace of the shop.’
    His brows snapped together. ‘Is
that what’s wrong with the Drumbeg?’
    A nod confirmed it. ‘She’s a cit,
and she was married to a cit.