Read To Tame a Highland Earl for Free Online

navy, if I recall.
You navy chaps have a wench in every port. Perhaps there is someone
you failed to mention?”
    “ There is not,” Erroll said
with emphasis. “And there is not anyone now. I am simply
intrigued.”
    “ Intrigued?” Paisley
laughed heartily. “Poor fellow. That is exactly how it starts. You
have my sympathy, and my agreement. I will make the rounds with you
tonight. That should prove more interesting than hearing third hand
accounts of your antics.”
    “ There will be nothing of
consequence to hear,” Erroll replied.
    But that didn’t mean he might not redirect
Miss Grace Crenshaw’s attention onto the Earl of Paisley. If her
attentions could be diverted to another man, and the elder Miss
Crenshaw remained steadfast in her refusal to marry him, he might
escape the ladies’ father with his bollocks intact.
     
    Erroll was torn between jumping onto the
first ship leaving port and the lust that had persisted on his walk
back to the hotel. Paisley was right. Being intrigued by a woman
could only lead to trouble. Erroll climbed the final flight of
stairs to his hotel room. His wound ached just enough to remind him
of his folly, and he entered, his mind on the sherry he knew waited
on the small table near the parlor window. Erroll stopped short at
sight of his father sitting before the hearth, the sherry decanter
on the table beside his chair. He supposed he should be glad the
intruder was his father and not another disgruntled paramour.
Though he might prefer an angry woman to the marquess.
    Erroll closed the door. “I did not expect
you, sir.”
    His father finished the last of the sherry in
his glass, then set it on the table. “Then you are a fool.”
    Careful not to favor his leg, Erroll crossed
to the table where the glasses sat and picked one up. “Only an hour
ago I told Tolland that I was not a fool.” Erroll went to the
decanter, refilled his father’s glass, then poured his, and seated
himself on the settee to the marquess’ left. “To what do I owe the
honor of your visit?”
    “ I am here to oversee your
marriage settlement.”
    So much for a getaway. Erroll considered
telling his father about the marriage contract in his jacket pocket
but, instead, finished his sherry in one swig. He would need a
second and a third before this conversation concluded. “You are
being a little premature. The lady is not cooperating.”
    “ Which one?”
    “ You heard about last
night’s events, I take it?”
    “ All of England has heard.
Your mother will be none too pleased.”
    “ You were not so cruel as
to inform her?” Erroll blurted.
    “ I did.”
    Of course he did. What better punishment
could he have meted out? “I doubt even her energetic persuasion can
induce Miss Crenshaw to marry me,” Erroll said.
    His father hmphed. “Which Miss Crenshaw?”
    “ The elder.”
    “ Then marry the
younger.”
    “ Tolland is quite adamant
that I marry the elder daughter. It seems I tarnished her
reputation even more than I did the younger’s—though, I must point
out, as I told you in Coventry, I did not sully that lady’s
reputation. I never met her until last night at the inn where I,
er, caught up with her party.”
    “ She lied?” his father
asked.
    “ Exactly.”
    The marquess shrugged. “You’ve pled innocence
too many times in the past to be believed.”
    Erroll poured himself another drink, then
lifted the glass in salute. “Quite right.” He took a deep sip.
    His father watched him with a critical eye.
“If you insist on being a complete dissolute, the least you could
do is dally with Scottish women.”
    And risk falling in love with one as you
did? Erroll wondered. He lifted one shoulder in a shrug.
“Scotland is rather a long way to ride for a beautiful woman. As
the family properties in England will not run themselves, I must
satisfy myself with the willing ladies of London society.”
    “ And you think England is
too far away for me to set you straight?”
    Erroll held