Read One Whisper Away for Free Online Page B

season. All I wanted to say was that in light of my indiscretion, I feel it would be best if you didn’t go beyond the pale in any way.”
    Considering her obvious dismay over his new role in her life, it certainly must have cost her to put it so plainly. Jonathan regarded her with ironic humor. “In short, I should keep my good intentions to myself and stay clear of champagne-soaked young ladies, is that it?”
    She nodded. “People are watching you because you are . . .”
    He waited, brows lifted.
    “. . . different,” she finished, but had the grace to flush even though she’d managed to stay pale and resolute during her damning confession.
    “Ah, yes, Earl Savage.”
    The color in her cheeks deepened. “I would never have said that.”
    His shrug was genuine. Even in his native country his mixed heritage was not without its drawbacks. Here in England, he was even more of an anomaly—only half the exalted earl and the other half a mix of the hated French and his mother’s tribe. It was no wonder, he thought with philosophical contemplation, that he was viewed with dubious interest. “It doesn’t concern me.”
    “But we should be concerned for Betsy and Carole.”
    He drank some brandy, but his casual pose was a bit deceptive. He wanted to return to America as soon as possible. The only way to do that was to marry his sisters off.
    All three of them. As they were pretty and from a prestigious family and had good dowries, it had hardly seemed a difficult task before now, but even though Lily was probably the prettiest of the three, it seemed there was an obstacle he hadn’t foreseen.
    Damn Viscount Sebring. Damn one very enchanting duke’s daughter who had gotten him into trouble, and most of all damn the paradigm of the aristocracy that condemned a young woman to social ruin should she find herself compromised in the company of a male—who, since he was held to different standards, could just walk away.
    This needed sorting out, and the sooner the better.
    Lily’s expression was stiff, but she managed to say evenly, “You have a child of your own. What of her?”
    Jonathan inclined his head. “Yes, I have a daughter. She is very excited to meet her aunts.”
    “You must want to protect her from all the whispers.”
    “I am fairly sure she is young enough that she will not understand, and besides, I think she is going to have to become accustomed to whispers anyway.” A truth that disturbed him, but it was what it was. “The circumstances of her birth aside, she looks very much like me.”
    “Yes.” Lily’s spoke slowly. “I suppose she will have much to overcome. Maybe you should have left her in America.”
    “That was something I considered but decided against.” He said it coolly, because it was the perfect truth. “I’m her only parent and she needs me.”
    Just as I am your guardian and you need me also, whether you like the situation or not .
    “I think,” he said evenly, “you should tell me exactly what happened between you and Lord Sebring.”
    Lily stood and set aside her wine with a decisive click on the closest table. “Never,” she said without equivocation.
    And she meant it.
    Interesting.
    “Papa!”
    The door opening without ceremony wasn’t that much of a surprise, as since their arrival Adela had been given free rein of the house. His daughter came dashing in, her dark hair in disarray, the ribbon that had neatly tied it back earlier long gone. In his admittedly biased opinion she was a beautiful child, with huge dark eyes and what was at times an almost exhausting vitality.
    “You forgot to knock, Addie,” he said mildly.
    She stopped, momentarily arrested. “Oh, yes . . . sorry. Truly.”
    He smiled. Maybe it was a failing, but he rarely scolded her. He’d never looked upon it as being indulgent as much as that her infractions were usually the product of her ebullient personality and not actual misbehavior. “Before you tell me what is so important that you had