Compromising Miss Tisdale Read Online Free Page A

behavior befitting a young lady and she hadn’t any idea what had come over her.
    Well, she had a slight inclination. The Earl of Bristol had dared challenge her in ways she had never been before and something had sparked inside of her.
    It was as if before this evening, her life had merely been a wick and suddenly she found herself aflame.

 
    Chapter 4
    As Duncan made his way down the corridor to meet his uncle, he found his mind wandering back to those brief moments spent in the library. Most ladies reeked of rose water or something similarly sweet, but this one wore the subtle scent of mint. It was different from anything he had smelled before and lingered heavy in the air long after she had gone.
    He sighed. But that was all that had been different. If you got past those dark blue eyes and delectable fragrance, he was sure she was just like every other member of the Ton .
    And those people were of no interest to him.
    Richard was helping himself to the brandy when Duncan walked in. “Lady Montgomery has made you comfortable, I presume?” He poured himself another two fingers. “Would you care for any?” he asked, gesturing toward the crystal decanter.
    Duncan nodded. “Yes, she’s always been most generous with Jason and myself. I can see why she was always mother’s dearest.”
    Duncan took the contents of the glass in one swallow and held it out to be refilled, to which his uncle complied. “Why did you ask me to come?”
    His uncle found a seat in a deep, leather high-backed chair. “It is the start of the social Season. I thought the new Earl of Bristol should make an appearance.”
    “Liar.”
    Richard snickered. “Not entirely.”
    Duncan exhaled deeply. “Couldn’t you have met me up North at my home? Why did you feel the need to bring me back here , to London?”
    “Is anything in particular bothering you, or do you simply have an aversion to civilization?”
    Duncan snorted. “I would hardly call London civilized, at least not in the human sense. I was mistaken for a common laborer earlier by some chit with the oddest name.”
    Richard thought for a moment. “Ahhh, yes. That must have been one of the Tisdales. Lovely girls, take after their mother. I know of their family-excellent stock. I believe there are four Tisdale girls running about. The oldest is chairperson of some Virtuous Ladies’ Society or some such nonsense.”
    Duncan arched an eyebrow. “So, she’s not just a self-proclaimedvirtuous young lady, but rather an official virtuous young lady? Sounds thrilling.”
    Richard laughed. “Yes, those London girls have never been your cup of tea. You’ve always preferred a merry widow, an actress, or the bed of a more experienced married woman to the girls the mama’s try to sell at market.”
    “ Never a married woman.” Duncan was annoyed at his avoidance of the subject at hand. Richard grew quiet. The bloated silence in the room filled with the memory of Duncan’s parents’ infidelities. He quickly changed the subject. “Now why did you ask me to return?”
    “I’m dying.”
    So much for polite conversation .
    Duncan felt as if the rug had just been pulled out from under him. “Would you care to repeat that?”
    “I’m sick. Tired, actually. But the physicians tell me it’s one in the same. They say my heart is not quite strong enough and I won’t make it through summer.”
    Duncan’s head whirled. He had just lost his brother-Uncle Richard was the only family he had left.
    “I know you didn’t want to become Earl. You’ve never been invested like your brother in continuing the family legacy. It was his fate, not yours.” Richard took a moment to gather his strength, obviously becoming over-tired from all the emotion.
    “There was a time that I thought I would get married, but I kept putting it off till the years passed and I remained a bachelor.” He chuckled. “Ironically, despite all my past indiscretions, I’m left with not even a bastard to call my own. Now,