She had!
Dear Lord Marshfield,
First, I must thank you for your invitation, so unexpected. Some, I suppose, might consider it an honor.
However, if I am reading it correctly, then I must decline with one line of explanation: Let me remind you, sir, I am a vicar’s daughter.
Yours truly,
J. Sudbury
The deuce!She’d understood his bold invitation for what it was, an attempt to get her alone for a possible after-dinner seduction.If not during dinner!For he could easily imagine sending a few plates flying to the floor in order to press her down upon the tablecloth and feast upon her.
While he had an excellent cook, he could be certain Miss Sudbury would enjoy that particular course most of all. He definitely would!
Vicar’s daughter, indeed!She was as worldly as any Drury Lane strumpet, or he would eat his hat. At least, she gave off a knowing confidence. He would believe her words, but her kiss gave them the lie. She kissed like a woman who knew what she was doing.
Regardless, she had turned him down and insulted him with her words about it being asupposedhonor. He grinned. She could pack more meaning into a line than most into a book.
Yet she hadn’t told him to leave her at peace. He would try again with a better invitation after a few day’s cooling off.
With that plan in mind, he was surprised to receive a missive from the brazen baggage the very next day.
Dear Lord Marshfield,
My sister, the Countess of Worthington, and the Viscount Denbigh, are having a small get-together tomorrow night. If you would care to come to our home on Hanover Square, I would be most pleased to have you as my dining partner.
Yours truly,
J. Sudbury
Jasper grinned to himself.Well. Well. Well.
Chapter Six
“Lord M__’s carriage was seen depositing the earl at the Hanover Square home of Lady W__ this week, long past polite afternoon visiting hours. Perhaps he attended a dinner party, dear reader. Yet no other guests were noticed!”
