Still holding her hand to the side of her face as if it were a blinder and averting her gaze, Pamela added, “Virtue, compose yourself, if you please, and then I’ll take you to your room. Ridgely and I need to have a discussion.”
“We do?” Ridgely asked, sounding wry.
For him, Pamela had no compassion. She’d been concerned about the man named Beast roaming the halls, but now she had far greater troubles than another potential housebreaker facing her. And she wasn’t in the mood to find mirth in any of it.
“Yes,” she said. “We do.”
The rustling of fabric told her Virtue had risen from the Grecian couch and was approaching her at last. Pamela fixed the girl with a pointed look of disapproval. “Come with me, my lady.” With a glare in her brother’s direction, she said, “I’ll return for a word with you.”
In grim silence, she led Lady Virtue from the library. They didn’t speak until they were in the sanctity of Virtue’s chamber, where no one could overhear them. Pamela simply couldn’t afford to allow the winds of scandal to blow in her charge’s direction. Were any hint of Ridgely’s conduct today to become known to others, she shuddered to think about the consequences for them all.
“Would you care to explain what happened in the library?” she asked softly, knowing she must not allow her fury for Ridgely, who knew better, to taint her voice.
“I…” Virtue bit her lip, her lovely countenance a combination of uncertainty and embarrassment.
Her dark hair looked as if it had been pulled free of her chignon by experienced hands. Thank heavens they hadn’t passed anyone in the halls, for she looked thoroughly ruined. Anyone would have taken a look at her and known what had occurred when she had been alone with Ridgely in the library.
“You needn’t say anything,” Pamela added with a heavy sigh. “I can see for myself what happened. Ridgely is a rake, my dear. You must never again find yourself alone with him. If you do, the consequences may be far greater than you can possibly imagine.”
Oh yes, when she had her brother alone, she was most definitely going to box his ears.
Lady Virtue nodded, pressing her lips together. “It won’t happen again, Lady Deering. I promise.”
“I don’t blame you for what happened,” Pamela felt the need to explain, for she genuinely cared for her. Lady Virtue was twenty, and she’d been abandoned by her father, who had died and left her in the care of Ridgely. And her brother most definitely hadn’t wanted the responsibility. “Ridgely should have known better. I’ll go and speak with him now.”
As furious as she was with her brother, Pamela wasn’t certain just how much calm, polite speaking would happen. Likely not any.
CHAPTER2
She found her brother in his study, still looking guilty as sin and holding an empty glass of brandy, as if spirits could serve as penance for what he had done.
He offered her an exaggerated bow. “Pamela.”
She didn’t curtsy in response, but crossed her arms over her chest, pinning him with a fresh glare as she watched him refill his glass. “Will you tell me what happened, or am I to guess?”
Ridgely lifted his glass to her in a mocking toast. “Need I elaborate?”
Pamela was decidedly not amused by his attempt at humor. “Ridgely.”
Her brother took a sip of his brandy and then sighed, looking suddenly weary beyond his one-and-thirty years. “After the guards were in place, I wandered to the library and fell asleep.”
Guards.
The word instantly brought to mind compelling hazel eyes and a sinfully sculpted mouth and a deep voice with the slightest hint of an accent that she couldn’t help but to find intriguing. But no, she had a far-more-important matter to discuss before she asked her brother abouthim. About Beast.
“That doesn’t explain how you came to be atop Lady Virtue on the divan,” she said, struggling to keep her voicesotto voce.
She waited for her brother to enlighten her as to why he would have taken such liberties with his ward. Why he would have been foolish enough to do so at all, let alone on a Grecian couch in the afternoon, where anyone could have walked in upon them. But Ridgely appeared lost in his thoughts, sipping at his brandy with a contemplative air. Objectively, she could well see why someone as naïve as Lady Virtue had been tempted by a man of her brother’s experience. Every lady in London swooned over his dark-haired handsomeness, and he’d likely won half of them into his bed.
Which only served to render his conduct all the more egregious.
“Have you nothing to say?” she demanded of him, frustrated and furious beyond measure.
“I’ve quite forgotten your question.”
A few more steps, and he would be within reach of a sound boxing of the ears.
“My question,” she repeated, sharply, “was what happened between you and Lady Virtue in the library?”
