The Dangerous Lord

The Dangerous Lord by Sabrina Jeffries

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Authors: Sabrina Jeffries
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of her in those terms again. What dangerous idiocy. Witness the way he’d missed half his shots after luncheon today, caught up in thoughts of nonsensical things like the sudden sunrise of her smile when Sara praised her father’s designs. Or the impish gleam in her eye when she’d pretended not to have read the gossip she’d written about him.
    Damn the bloody woman for being so adept at invading his thoughts. And why must he feel this cursed attraction to her? It made no sense. She was a plague upon society and all good sense, a woman who traded on her father’s reputation to plunder the lives of anyone so foolish as to speak to her. Even now, she conversed with Lady Brumley, sometimes dubbed the Galleon of Gossip because of her large frame and equally large mouth, not to mention her tendency to wear outrageous hats with a nautical motif. He could imagine the dirty byways their discussion wandered in.
    â€œSo you met Miss Taylor at her home, did you?” a female voice asked at his side. Without looking, he recognized the lavender scent of Jordan’s wife, Emily.
    Her question demonstrated why sexual attraction was dangerous. If his mind had been clear this afternoon, he wouldn’t have underestimated Miss Taylor’s audacity. In trying to force her into a lie, he’d instead tempted her to tell the truth, and that had caused him no small inconvenience in twisting her answer to cover up his sins.
    Dragging his gaze from Miss Taylor was more difficult than he would’ve liked. “I see you’ve been talking to Sara. Yes, I met Miss Taylor at her home. I respected her father a great deal.”
    â€œDid you really? Come now, Ian, I doubt you ever even met Algernon Taylor.”
    Ian shrugged. “I needn’t have met the man to admire him and his work.”
    â€œYou must have admired him enormously to pay his daughter a condolence call. You never call on anyone without a purpose.”
    She knew him too well. “Be careful, my nosy friend,” he said lightly. “You’re dabbling in matters beyond your purview.”
    Emily arched one blond eyebrow, then glanced across the ballroom at Miss Taylor. “She’s very pretty, isn’t she?”
    Pretty didn’t begin to describe her. The girls who tittered and flirted with him were pretty. She was energy itself, vital, alive, like a scarlet rose among pastel lilies.
    But roses had thorns, and Miss Taylor’s thorns were tipped with poison.
    â€œShe doesn’t interest me, I assure you.” Amazing that he could speak the blatant lie with a straight face. And more amazing still that it was a lie.
    â€œWhat a shame. You seem to interest her .”
    That startled him. “What do you mean?”
    â€œAccording to Sara, she was full of questions about you, especially when she heard that you are once again an eligible bachelor.”
    He groaned. “I should’ve known Jordan couldn’t keep a confidence from you—”
    â€œDon’t blame him for it. The news was circulating before I even left London this morning. Did you really think a family could keep an elopement quiet for long?”
    â€œI suppose not.” So Miss Taylor knew the entire affair now. The bloody witch probably congratulated herself over her success. So why hadn’t that quelled her obsession with ruining his life? If she’d been asking about him, it clearly hadn’t.
    Damn. He must find a new strategy for dealing with her.
    â€œMiss Taylor had read that beastly article about you,” Emily went on, “but Sara set her straight on that matter, too.”
    Ian frowned. “Set her straight?”
    â€œSara thought you might appreciate it if an unattached female like Miss Taylor knew the truth. After you explained to us this morning about your soldier friend and his sister, we were both eager to have the truth known. You’re being modest about the situation and your role, but we

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