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splotches.”
    â€œYou buy them? Oh no, Grandpapa would be heart-broken if he knew. He is so proud that he can still support all of us.”
    Sir Gaspar merely smiled. “He doesn’t have to find out.”
    Now it was West’s turn to claim that was extortion of the worst kind.
    Penny was not willing to concede. “I have funds of my own. I can pay Grandpapa’s bills.”
    â€œOf course you have money. It’s invested with my own bank, ain’t it? I know to a farthing how much you have and how long you could support your grandfather, his, ah, butler, and the rest of the household. Not very long, I figure—not without my help. That brandy doesn’t come cheap, nor do his fancy paints.”
    â€œHow could you be so cruel?” Penny cried, sitting back down, as if she felt comfort in West’s nearness.
    â€œCruel? How cruel is it to want my only offspring settled and secure? That’s what every father wants, ain’t it? Just think, girl, what will happen to you when the old man passes on? Not even Littleton can live forever. You cannot want to come home to London, not as some old maid who’s been jilted.”
    â€œI can find a cottage somewhere and live an independent life.”
    â€œA dried-up old stick with no family of your own? Is that what you want? You’d be prey to every charlatan and fortune hunter, and plagued by scandal besides, a woman living alone. I know the way of the world, even if you do not. What kind of father would I be if I did not protect you from withering away like that?”
    Penny looked stricken, and West wished he could comfort her, but he half agreed with her father. A woman like Miss Goldwaite should have a lovely home, fine gowns, servants at her beck and call, tousle-haired children at her feet. She should not take in stray cats in a shack.
    â€œWhy now, Father?” she asked. “Why are you doing this now?”
    For the first time, Sir Gaspar looked embarrassed. “None of us is getting any younger. I want to see my grandchildren. And I want the best for you, no matter what you think.”
    â€œBut now? Why did you not settle this years ago, or when Westfield came into the title?”
    â€œI didn’t want any son-in-law I had to support, coming to me for loans to repair that old pile of his.”
    She looked up at West as if to say “I told you so.”
    Her father was going on. “He’s solvent now and can support a wife in decent style, especially with the wedding gift I intend to give. In fact, I’ll sweeten the deal and pay to refurbish his London town house for you. The place looks too shabby for a viscountess.”
    West might have argued that point, but he knew the older man was right. He had not spent money on Westmoreland House, not when the estates needed so many repairs. He and his brother lived spartanly in one wing of the mansion.
    Penny did not care about the state of Westfield’s house, which she hoped never to see. “And if Lord Westfield were not able to keep me in jewels and furs, would you leave me here?”
    â€œWell, he is, so that’s not to the point. I didn’t like sending you off, you know. But with a new wife, I did not have much choice. Couldn’t have two women in the household, now, could I?” he asked, turning toward West.
    When West did not answer, he added, “Besides, there was Nigel.”
    â€œWho the deuce is Nigel?” West wanted to know.
    â€œM’wife’s son, Nigel Entwhistle.”
    â€œThe ivory turner?”
    Penny looked at both of them. “An ivory turner?”
    â€œA cheat, a Captain Sharp,” West explained, while her father claimed nothing had ever been proved.
    â€œBut neither is Entwhistle welcome in the more discriminating gentlemen’s clubs. He is your stepson?”
    â€œTo my regret. I sent him off to India to make his fortune. He lost a parcel of mine, instead. He came back