The Toplofty Lord Thorpe by Kasey Michaels

that Lord Thorpe decided that adopting Bartholomew might be just the thing to add a little bit of cachet to his small house party.
    â€œOh, thank you, Julian!” Lucy cried when he gave voice to his opinion. “He won’t be any trouble; no trouble at all. I’ll keep him with me at all times, and he can entertain us with his little tricks, can’t he, Mr. Romano?”
    Mr. Romano, already biting down on one of the gold pieces Julian had produced from his purse, vigorously nodded his head in agreement, not bothering to mention that, besides tipping his hat politely at a given signal, Bartholomew’s major talent had been taught to him by his last owner, a petty thief who was just now a guest in Newgate prison.
    Dexter wasn’t the only one to express displeasure over the addition of Bartholomew to their little group. Rachel limited herself to a quiet “tsk, tsk,” which Deirdre commented was a mild-enough censure, considering the elder Miss Gladwin wasn’t the one who would most probably be assigned the chore of cleaning up after what were bound to be Bartholomew’s primitive toilet habits.
    â€œOh,” Dexter drawled artlessly, always happy to stick a needle where it was most likely to prick a sore spot, “I would have thought such duties would fall to his lordship’s secretary. Parker, my good fellow, you’re so good at tidying up after things. Surely you will volunteer your expertise?”
    The secretary’s pale eyes narrowed for a moment, then reassumed their blank expression. “I serve the earl as he requires, Dexter. But the monkey is not his, not that I haven’t been sweeping up after one of his lordship’s more trying hangers-on for years,” he ended, taking no little satisfaction at the sight of his young cousin’s suddenly mottled complexion.
    â€œThat will be enough,” Lord Thorpe put in dangerously as Dexter’s mouth opened to retort to Parker’s clear insult. “Miss Gladwin, your arm if youplease?” he prodded, turning to Rachel, instinctively seeking out the only person he felt he could rely upon to understand that he wished all of them shed of the place immediately.
    As Lucy watched Julian and Rachel making their way back to the coaches, laughing and talking most companionably, she felt a niggling stab of jealousy. Rachel was at least fifteen years Julian’s senior. Surely he couldn’t be looking at her in a romantic way. Could he?
    Poking out her tongue at Dexter, she allowed Parker to escort her to her aunt’s coach, leaving Deirdre to fend off Dexter’s ridiculous spate of flattery as best she could.
    Lord Thorpe’s coachman, watching the entire scene with the interest of a longtime servant of the family, could only wonder what else could happen. A bloomin’ monkey at Hillcrest? Wait till the old lady hears about this one—there’ll be the devil to pay, and no mistake!

CHAPTER SEVEN
    Dearest Jennie and Kit,
    As you can see, Lord Thorpe has franked this letter for me at Hillcrest, not more than twenty miles from Bourne Manor! Before Kit drags out his dueling pistols and sets off to save my reputation, I will explain that Aunt Rachel is here with me, as are Julian’s cousins Dexter and Parker.
    As I told you in my first, hasty letter, Julian (yes, pets, I call him Julian now—see how we progress!) is neck-deep in scandal, but I won’t waste paper on the exact circumstances, because unless you two are still so besotted with each other that you are deaf with love, you cannot help but know How Low He Has Sunk.
    Of course it is all a hum—Julian couldn’t hurt a fly—but beneath the scandal lies, I am quite sure, a Dastardly Plot to rob Julian of his title by having him Hanged for Murder.
    We have been in Derbyshire only a scant twenty-four hours, but I can tell you, the air in Hillcrest is Most Oppressive. The servants tippy-toe around, forever looking over