He was damned if he was going to welcome the earl. At the moment, he didn’t care if he violated every one of the hundreds of rules of proper British etiquette Edmund Kerr had been trying to teach him.
You might want to hold your temper, Montgomery.How many times had he heard his brother, Alisdair, say that to him in his youth? Too many times not to also recall the disappointment in his tone.
The earl looked up at him, evidently understanding that this was not to be a cordial meeting.
“My niece is here?”
“Yes,” he said. “In the company of my housekeeper ever since she arrived.”
“You think that’s enough, sir? You’ve only made the situation worse.”
“What did you expect me to do? Leave her on your doorstep in the cold?”
The older man straightened, a banty rooster showing his puffed up chest.
“Within hours, all of London will know she spent the night under your roof.”
“In the care of my housekeeper,” he said.
“I’m not aware of society in America, sir, but in England, our females know how to comport themselves. The fact that my niece has shown lamentable judgment requires that she be punished.”
“How? By turning her out of your house?”
“Refusing to do so would indicate I condone her actions.”
“What about familial loyalty?” he asked.
“I believe I am demonstrating that, sir, by refusing to allow my niece to taint my children with her scandal.”
“It isn’t a scandal unless you make it one,” Montgomery said.
He held his temper in check, leaned against the wall, folded his arms, and regarded the three of them.
“I doubt all of London knows she’s here. I doubt anyone does. Take her home, punish her if you must, but don’t misjudge the situation. Your niece was in some difficulty. I provided her assistance. That’s all.”
“She returned home nearly naked. Can you explain that?”
He couldn’t. Not without confessing Veronica had also been naked in front of dozens of men. He doubted the revelation would better the situation.
“Nothing happened between us,” he said. “You’ll have to take my word for it.”
“Tell that to the rest of society, Your Lordship,” the earl said, accentuating the title. A hint, then, that Montgomery had not once addressed him properly.
Nor did he have any intention of doing so. He was tired of jumping through English hoops.
“You’ve been in London a few months, have you not?”
“Two,” he said. “Two months.” Two endlessly long months.
“Can you honestly say that you believe there won’t be a scandal? Surely you know how quickly gossip travels in London?”
He nodded reluctantly.
“Everyone knows who you are, Your Lordship. Or do you discount that, as well?”
He shrugged.
“I’ve made inquiries as to the Society of the Mercaii. Are the rumors I’ve heard true?”
