Read His Wicked Heart for Free Online

another dutiful end—selecting a
wife.
    Aunt Louisa, perched upon a settee newly
covered with rich olive-green damask, grinned at him. “Sit with
me.”
    Gratefully, he took the empty space beside
her. Aunt Louisa’s presence might keep the marriage-hunting debs at
bay—Jasper preferred to conduct his wife hunt on his own terms—as
well as his mother, who coldly tolerated Louisa’s presence because
one simply didn’t ignore one’s sister-in-law.
    She stared at his face. “However did you get
that nasty bruise and that cut on your cheek?”
    He’d expected the question given last
evening’s spontaneous activities. “Promise you won’t laugh?”
    “When have I ever laughed at you, dear
boy?”
    “I tripped into the doorframe of my
office.”
    She set her teacup on the table and
chuckled.
    “You promised you wouldn’t laugh.”
    Her robin’s egg blue eyes crackled with
mirth. “Sorry, dear. You mustn’t tell anyone else that story.
Though it will go against your image, say you got into a
fight.”
    Jasper smiled in spite of himself. “If you
say so.”
    “I do. I suppose that explains why you
weren’t at de Longley’s rout last night, but it was unkind of you
to make me go alone.”
    After the devastating loss of her husband
three years ago, Jasper had taken special care of her and almost
always escorted her to events when he was in Town. “My apologies,
Aunt. I confess I needed a respite from Holborn.”
    She gave him a knowing look. Of anyone, she
knew her brother’s cruelties best. “Still harassing you about
marriage, I suppose.”
    “Among other things.” The duke never suffered
a dearth of complaints where Jasper was concerned.
    “Have you any say in your future
countess?”
    Holborn preferred to dictate his choice of
bride—had in fact prevented Jasper from marrying once—but Jasper
would be damned if he’d allow such interference again. It was
precisely that interference that had prevented Jasper from seeking
a wife during the past decade. However, now he had to marry
or suffer his father’s meddling. He’d made a deal nearly one year
ago to wed, a deal that had allowed his sister to choose her
spouse. At least one of them would be happy.
    The duke had demanded Jasper marry a woman
bearing his approval within one year. And the year was almost up.
Jasper needed to declare his intentions soon, before the duke
organized a marital situation on his own. He wouldn’t put it past
his father to concoct some sort of compromise to ensure Jasper
married someone ‘appropriate.’
    “The choice is mine.” For now .
    She pursed her lips while her eyes found the
broad shoulders of the duke across the room. His back to them, he
stood before the windows facing Grosvenor Square talking with the
prime minister and the Earl of Witton.
    “I hope he isn’t being difficult.” Her gaze
flashed toward Jasper’s cheek for the barest moment, but he caught
it—and the unspoken question.
    His father hadn’t lifted a hand to him in
years. Not since Jasper had fought back. “No, not that. I’m quite
capable, Aunt.”
    She patted his knee. “Of course you are,
dear. Now then, let me help you.” She perused the room. “Berwick’s
daughter?”
    “Fuzzy blonde hair and a sing-song voice?
No.”
    “Miss Donnel? She’s lovely at the
pianoforte.”
    Jasper had no intention of selecting a wife
based on musical skill. This talk was making him claustrophobic.
“She’s clearly interested in Foley.”
    “Ah yes, you might be right. Very astute, my
dear. You pay more attention than you let on.” She continued her
search. “Miss Stone?”
    “God, no. The duke keeps suggesting her.”
    Louisa wrinkled her nose. “Never her, then.”
She tapped her finger against her knee. “You need someone with
above average intelligence. Not too young or silly-mannered. I
suppose you’d prefer a beauty.”
    Surprisingly, he thought of Miss West. She
certainly looked the part, but was of course utterly lacking