A Duchess by Midnight Read Online Free

the empty glass aside with a hard click , he straightened ever-so-slightly and cast his brother a look of pure venom.
    “I did not ask you to come here. If the squalor is not pleasing to you then you are free to leave. In fact, I insist upon it.”
    “Would if I could,” Adam said cheerfully as he continued around the study, pulling back the drapes and opening a few windows to allow in some much needed fresh air before reclining on the armrest of the sofa. “But we both know Mother would have my head and as I’m rather fond of it – as are the ladies – I will not be leaving until I am assured you have returned to the world of the living.”
    Adam had always been an annoying little bastard, Thorncroft thought sourly as he studied his brother beneath half-closed lids, and unlike fine wine he had done little to improve with age. Although they were only three years apart and were strikingly similar in physical appearance – both had strong features, thick black hair, and piercing gray eyes – their personalities could not have been more different.
    Thorncroft had always been the more subdued of the two while Adam had quickly earned a reputation as a notorious rake whose gambling and whoring knew little bounds. Before he died their father had often remarked that if Adam had been born first the family fortune would not have been long for this world and after watching firsthand the way his brother ran through money Thorncroft was forced to agree.
    Aside from a few surprisingly intuitive investments Adam had succumbed to a life of waste and leisure that ensnared many a second son. Blessed with the fortune of the Thorncroft name and none of the responsibility, he was a well-known fixture amidst London’s haut ton and had established himself as the sort of man that mothers kept their innocent daughters away from.
    Yet despite all of his vices – which were often too many to count – Adam was wickedly charming.
    Not to mention bloody persistent.
    “Go away,” Thorncroft growled a second time. Closing his eyes against the onslaught of light pouring in through the windows he turned his head to the side and pressed his unshaven jaw against the chair. “Report to Mother that I am still alive and kindly bugger off .”
    “I am afraid I cannot do that, mate. You see my London townhouse is currently undergoing some rather serious renovations and as I’ve no intention of living out of a hotel for the better part of a month I will be staying here. My belongings are being carried into the east wing as we speak.”
    Thorncroft opened his eyes to Adam’s grin. A grin that was offset by pity stirring in the depths of his silver gaze. Instantly Thorncroft’s spine stiffened and he lifted his head from the chair. An unexpected visit he could tolerate, but pity was not to be borne.
    “Get out,” he said in a dangerously soft voice. While some men’s anger came with shouts and blustering, Thorncroft’s rage was quietly seething up until the very moment he erupted like a ball of lead being shot from a cannon.
    His gaze turning wary, Adam slowly stood up. “Now see here,” he began, “there is no need to shoot the messenger. I have come to help you, you stubborn sod. I know the loss of Katherine and Robert has come as a great shock–”
    “ Do not speak their names .” With surprising quickness for a man so deep in his cups Thorncroft sprang to his feet and crossed the study in three mighty strides. Grabbing his brother by his fluffy white cravat he hauled him up on his toes, a rather difficult feat given they were nearly the same height. Spit flew from the corners of his mouth as he snarled, “No one is to ever speak their names again. Do you understand me?”
    “Quite – quite clearly,” Adam choked out.
    Releasing his brother, Thorncroft stalked to the other side of the room and stared blindly out the window at a field already tilled and seeded in preparation for the impending season.
    Three years ago the field and