The Rake Read Online Free

dowry upon Demi
than to have her niece swung about her neck for the remainder of
her life. Demi correctly interpreted modest to mean a sum
sufficient to attract a tradesman or perhaps a man with a
profession. Her aunt was beyond tight with a farthing. She had
suffered over launching Phoebe in style, but had explained that she
expected the expense to prove well worth it, for Phoebe was bound
to land a man of wealth and title.
    Instead of answering, she rose abruptly and
brushed the grass and dirt from her frock. As uncomfortable as the
conversation itself was, she shuddered to think what her aunt might
have to say about her speaking with Lord Wyndham. “Excuse me. I
should go in now. It is never wise to keep Aunt Alma waiting
overlong.”
    She cast a look behind her when she reached
the garden once more, wondering if it was possible that she might
have been observed from the house. To her dismay, she could see
Lord Wyndham quite clearly.
    She doubted her cousin would suffer any
anxiety over Lord Wyndham’s sudden, and completely
incomprehensible, interest in her, but her aunt would not take it
kindly at all and might well accuse her of throwing herself in his
way.
    Her aunt, she discovered when she inquired
of one of the maids, had ensconced herself in her late husband’s
study. A deep sense of foreboding settled over Demi as she made way
down the hall to the door of the study and tapped lightly. She was
given permission to enter and, taking a deep, sustaining breath,
went in.
    “ Did your maid not give you
my message?” Alma Moreland greeted her.
    Demi stared at her aunt. If she said no,
then the maid would either be dismissed or severely reprimanded. If
she said yes, she would have to endure the barrage herself. As
tempted as she was to deny responsibility, however, she was fond of
her maid and didn’t want to get her into trouble. “Yes, Aunt Alma …
but I had a headache and went out in the hopes that fresh air would
help.”
    Her aunt gave her a look that left her in no
doubt that she knew Lord Wyndham had joined her. “With whom?”
    Blushing beneath that unforgiving stare
despite all she could do, Demi furnished her aunt with a half
truth. She did not expect to get away with it, for her Aunt Alma
was very like a demi-god in that absolutely nothing transpired at
Moreland that she was unaware of. Demi strongly suspected that at
least half of the servants were her spies and reported to her
hourly. “I went to walk in the garden alone.”
    “ Where you encountered Lord
Wyndham? Did you make an assignation with him last eve when the two
of you danced?”
    Demi gaped at her aunt in shock. “No!”
    Alma Moreland studied her for several
moments and finally nodded. “You will do well to eschew his company
in future, my dear. He has a shocking reputation.”
    Resentment swelled in Demi’s breast. It was
an outright fabrication, and she knew it. He had sown his share of
wild oats … and what young man of the ton had not? But he was
certainly not a blackguard as her aunt seemed to be implying. “I
find that difficult to believe!” she exclaimed before she thought
better of it.
    “ Are you questioning my
word?” Alma Moreland asked coldly.
    Demi paled and looked down at her hands. She
had not been invited to sit and she shifted uncomfortably under her
aunt’s piercing stare. “Surely you would not allow him to court
Phoebe if he was beyond the pale?”
    “ Quit fidgeting!” Alma
Moreland snapped. “As to that, he would not think of giving my girl
a slip on the shoulder. You are another matter, my dear. Many an
impoverished young woman before you has found herself in dire
straits indeed by refusing to listen to the advice of their
betters. You will do well to remember that men like Lord Wyndham
have their family name to consider. They do not seriously court
impoverished young women, even those of good family. They have been
known to prey upon them, however, for their baser
needs.”
    Demi didn’t know whether