A Lady's Wish (14 page)
Authors: Katharine Ashe
“Can you?”
“Not in this lifetime, brother,” Alex grunted.
Aaron dropped his gaze to his hands lying upon his lap, palms up. “You imagine me foolish to speak of love.”
“Indeed I do. But I always have.” Alex smiled. He must smile, ever making light of the dreams his brother had left behind when they carried him off the battlefield a broken man.
“How will you respond to Lord Carlyle?”
“Does he expect me to pay a call?”
“No. They have gone to town for her come-out.”
Alex nodded. Here, fate was handing him a concrete reason to leave the country.
“What is the chit’s name?”
“Charity Lucas. She is Carlyle’s eldest stepdaughter.”
“Lucas? Sounds familiar.”
“Her brother is a baronet, young fellow, deep in the pockets. Perhaps you’ve seen him playing at the club. He and Carlyle are offering a mint for her dowry.”
“Ah, a bride rich in both beauty and gold. For what more could I wish?”
“What more, indeed?”
An end to the charade his life had become. A wife could provide sufficient justification. A lady whose father’s estate abutted his suited the purpose ideally. She would eschew town, wishing to be close to her family, and Alex would indulge her by keeping to the country more often than not. And if by chance this girl did not suit him, he might take this opportunity to find another. He knew few ladies of unblemished reputation amongst the
beau monde
, but his mother and sister would willingly oblige in that matter if he asked.
“Will you go to town immediately?”
“To make the fair maid’s acquaintance and determine if we shall suit? Why not? I’ll have to start scouting out our next prizes anyway.” He moved toward the door. “Consider it, Aaron. One final lark before we farthel the sails for retirement. Like old times.”
His brother regarded him steadily across the chamber, gentle resignation in his eyes. Alex turned about and left his twin behind.
This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
A LADY’S WISH
. Copyright © 2011 by Katharine Brophy Dubois. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
Excerpt from
Captured By a Rogue Lord
copyright© 2011 by Katharine Brophy Dubois.
EPub Edition March 2011 ISBN: 978-0-06-209178-9
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