The Lady Mercy Danforthe Flirts With Scandal by Jayne Fresina Page A

village unguarded? Eligible bachelors were scarce in the area, so Molly had told her. Young girls who’d waited for their chance at handsome Rafe Hartley would surely take advantage of the fact that his bride-to-be had run off. Especially if he played for sympathy with those terribly blue eyes—the way Mercy knew he could.
    Surely, as Molly’s best friend, and in her absence, it was up to Mercy to stop Rafe from doing anything foolish. It was not on her own behalf that she worried. No, it was all for Molly. After that shameful kiss, she felt even more determined. It was guilt, she supposed. A guilty conscience was a terrible thing indeed.
    So she turned the curricle around and steered the horses back into the village. She would visit Rafe’s aunt and uncle, the Kanes, at their farm nearby. Indeed, it would have been impolite not to visit them while she was there. Later, when she drove back to Morecroft, she could ride by the tavern on the common and make certain Rafe was not drinking too much or gambling. If he was there, she would give him a ride back to the farm. And a piece of her mind.
    A piece of one’s mind could safely be given from arm’s length. She ought to know, since she was a frequent giver of such pieces.
    Clearly surprised to see her, his aunt and uncle nevertheless welcomed Mercy into their busy home, where she was instantly surrounded by the noise of three young boys and two little girls. It was somewhat overwhelming to be leapt upon from all angles, and her head soon ached as if it had been struck with a mallet repeatedly, but Mercy kept her composure under the lively assault.
    “I do hope Molly returns before it’s too late,” said Rafe’s aunt Sophie while wrestling a carving knife from the youngest daughter. “She could be a stable influence in his life, and I fear her sudden desertion does not bode well. I wouldn’t want that boy to involve himself with the wrong sort of woman, and there are plenty here eager for their chance. He’s always had a slightly unpredictable quality. And many admirers.”
    “Yes, so I hear.” It was a good thing she was there, she thought again, to keep him on the right path. Men should not be left untended for too long. Especially men like Rafe. Look what happened the last time he made a spur-of-the-moment decision about his love life—he ran off to Gretna Green with the first girl willing. “Don’t worry. I’m quite sure Molly will come back.”
    Rafe’s uncle looked up from his newspaper. “That girl doesn’t deserve my nephew. She’s broken his heart. If he takes her back, he’s a fool.”
    “I have put off paying him a visit,” Sophie exclaimed, finally falling into a chair, looking exhausted. “I know how he is when in a temper, and at such a time, he is best left to his own devices.”
    Mercy decided to say nothing of her visit to the jilted groom, for they would only ask her what had happened, what sort of state he was in. Neither question could be answered without causing her to blush.
    “Will you stay long in Morecroft, Lady Mercy?”
    “I’m afraid not. My fiancé returns from Italy in a month.” She faltered. “But I can stay a day or two. I hate to leave with everything so…undone. I am determined to put everything in order again before I leave.”
    “It is good of you to help,” his aunt whispered. “But that girl made up her own mind. The best we can hope for now is that she changes it back again. For Rafe’s sake.”
    “Well, I hope she stays away,” his uncle snapped as he shook out his newspaper with an angry rustle. “Humiliating that boy before the whole village. He ought to find a good woman, a steady woman with her feet on the ground. Someone content with what he has to give, not a girl always looking for something better. Tomorrow I’ll visit the lad, talk sense into him. There’s many a young woman in these parts that would jump at the chance to wed our Rafe, and he needs a wife now, a companion to help him with