The Courteous Cad Read Online Free Page B

quest.”
    “Ah, I begin to suspect a Joan of Arc in our midst. Indeed, I feel flames burning about me even now. Or perhaps it is merely the blaze on your hearth, brother, that warms my . . .” He paused and winked at Prudence. “My undercarriage .”
    She looked away, determined not to smile. “Have you a copy of Fordyce’s Sermons, Lord Thorne? I believe the nourishment of Scripture may sustain me even more than the fine gooseberry pudding we just enjoyed.”
    “Certainly,” he said. “My forefathers amassed a grand collection of books of which we are exceedingly proud. William, will you be so good as to show Miss Watson to the library?”
    Before Prudence could protest, the younger man stepped to her side and offered his arm. Lest the others sense her loathing, she slipped her hand around it.
    Unfortunately for Prudence, William possessed a remarkable musculature. She tried not to notice how her fingers formed around his biceps. Had his many sojourns at sea hardened him in both body and soul? He was cynical, mocking, and contemptuous. But his dark eyes beckoned her.
    “Miss Watson,” he began as they strolled down a corridor lined with portraits of his ancestors and laid with thick carpets. “I must say how delighted I am to learn you plan to remain forever unwed. I, too, am bound for such a future. As fellow partakers in uncorrupted innocence, we shall be great friends forever. Chums, in fact.”
    “Chums . . .” She barely mouthed the word.
    “When we are together,” he continued, “we shall always be at ease. As comfortable as a pair of old shoes. Can you disagree?”
    “No,” Prudence said, hardly knowing whether to laugh at his preposterous remarks or to consider him quite as mad as poor King George.
    But he persisted. “I find I am perfectly content with my lot. The solitary life is unmatched for those of us who prefer piety to a household with a spouse and children.”
    “Piety?”
    “Of course. I do hope you mean to keep yourself chaste.”
    At his careless use of such a term, a wash of heat flooded Prudence’s cheeks. She prayed he would not notice.
    “Certainly,” she mumbled. Spotting the library a short distance away, she detached from her escort. “Excuse me, Mr. Sherbourne, but I am capable of walking the rest of the way alone.”
    She picked up her skirts and hurried toward the library, now a veritable haven into which she might escape this man who was at once both disarming and annoying.
    “I am glad of your resolve,” he said, easily keeping pace. “As King Solomon the wise asserted, a virtuous woman is more valuable than gold.”
    While still speaking, William reached around Prudence to open the door. Unaware, she took another step and glided into his arms. Catching her breath, she hung there for a moment, conscious that he too had paused in surprise.
    Whose fault? Which of them could be blamed for this accidental intimacy?
    Neither moved.
    “Rubies,” she whispered, looking up into warm treacle eyes, soft and luminous in the lamplit hallway.
    “Rubies?” he asked.
    “Proverbs 31.”
    At the touch of his hand on her shoulder, the air went out of her, and she sagged against him. His lips brushed her cheek, lit a fire on her mouth.
    “Forgive me, Miss Watson.” He spoke against her ear, his voice low. “I believe we have arrived at the library.”
    “Indeed we have,” she acknowledged, ducking under his arm.
    She stepped through the open door and made for the fireplace on a far wall. William Sherbourne had kissed her! She had allowed it! Worse, she had welcomed it. An instant in another man’s arms, and she had betrayed her greatest and only true love.
    And for whom? A naval officer so wicked that his own family could not speak of him without scorn. But was she any better?
    Prudence had not been faultless in her conduct with Mr. Walker. Her friend Anne had been compelled to reproach her more than once for secret tête-à-têtes and hushed avowals of passion. If her