His Wicked Lady (13 page)

W
arren shook his head. “They’ll never be of any use to
Society.”

Malcolm set down the plans
he was modifying and followed Warren’s gaze. Lord Edon and Mr.
Christopher Robinson were reading through the
Tittletattle
and laughing.

“Simple minds,” Warren added. “Easily amused
by gossip. Who cares who was caught doing something
scandalous?”

Malcolm swallowed. God help him if the
scandalsheets ever put his wife in there. He’d never live the shame
down.

“You know what’s even worse?”

Malcolm wasn’t sure he wanted to hear the
answer because it just might have something to do with his wife.
For all he knew, Warren heard Regan was running through London
causing all sorts of gossip. That was silly. If Warren had come
across something like that, he wouldn’t be talking to him right
now.

Feeling better with this piece of logic,
Malcolm asked, “What?”

“Edon keeps copies of that horrible book on
how to pleasure a lady.” With a look heavenward, he sighed. “What
kind of gentleman has such an item in his possession? One who lauds
his many exploits, that’s who.”

To Malcolm’s surprise, Warren got up from his
chair and walked over to Edon and Robinson. Malcolm glanced around.
White’s was nearly empty this time of day. Good. He didn’t relish
the idea of an argument erupting while he was there. While he’d had
his share of conflict with Logan, he didn’t exactly welcome such
exchanges.

“Lord Edon,” Warren greeted.

Edon and Robinson looked up
from the
Tittletattle
. “What is it, Steinbeck?” Edon asked.

“You know that disgraceful book you keep
handing out to the gentlemen in this reputable establishment? The
one with examples of your many exploits?”

Edon’s eyebrows furrowed. “My many
exploits?”

“Yes. The one where you recorded your
romantic conquests during your days as a rake?”

Edon’s jaw dropped. “You think I wrote the
book on how to pleasure a lady?”

“Who else would have written it?”

“Anyone. The author is anonymous.”

“It’s true,” Robinson said, quick to defend
his friend. “Some lady who wishes to be anonymous wrote it for our
benefit. It’s an excellent guide on how to be a good lover.”

Malcolm inwardly shuddered. Like he had time
to be worried about that when he had business plans to work on.
Warren was right. Edon and Robinson had nothing better to do with
their lives than to study such a book, which was a complete waste
of time. Think of all the money they’d make if they spent more time
on important things instead of lovemaking and gossip.

“It’s a guide on how to be a lover from
someone who used to be London’s most notorious rake,” Warren told
Robinson in a tone one would reserve for a child.

Robinson frowned. “I’m not a simpleton,
Steinbeck. There’s no way a gentleman, even one as experienced as
my friend,” he gestured to Edon, “could know all the things that
are in that book. Only a lady would.”

“He’s right,” Edon said. “Go back to your
corner over there and work on your plans for world domination.”

At that, Robinson chuckled. “Indeed. We’re
already aware of how important you two are.”

“Much more so than us simpletons,” Edon
agreed and crossed his eyes, which made Robinson laugh harder.

Malcolm wondered what was so funny. Did those
two think he and Warren were under the delusion they thought more
of themselves than they should?

“You are simpletons,” Warren told them. “And
worse,” he looked at Edon, “you’re too much of a coward to come out
and admit the book is yours.”

“It’s not mine. I keep getting copies to hand
out at the beginning of every Season. If I knew who was sending
them, I’d put a stop to it.”

“If you find the book so repulsive, why hand
them out?”

“Because gentlemen keep asking for them.”
Edon glanced at Robinson. “For someone so much better than us, he
sure is slow to figure it out.”

Warren crossed his arms. “White’s could be a
respectable club if it weren’t for gentlemen like you. Do you think
I like admitting I belong to the same club as you two? It’s
embarrassing. The other day someone asked me for one of those
retched books, and I had to tell them I would never carry something
like that around.”

“What do you have against making sure a lady
is happy in bed?” Robinson asked.

“It’s what the book stands for. That is the
kind of book that is responsible for the ruin of our society.”

“I feel sorry for your poor wife. She must
cry herself to sleep.”

Edon snickered. “He’s not married. The ladies
have been spared.”

Robinson laughed again.

With a grunt, Warren returned to Malcolm and
plopped in his chair. “If it weren’t for Edon’s money, he wouldn’t
be here, and if it weren’t for Edon, Robinson wouldn’t be here. I
don’t understand why so many gentlemen idolize Edon. He didn’t get
his wealth through honest means. All of it was the result of his
many times at the gambling halls and placing wagers.”

Malcolm shifted in his chair and spoke so the
others wouldn’t hear him. “You don’t think everyone sees us the way
they do, do you? That we think too much of ourselves?”

Warren snorted and waved his hand at Edon and
Robinson. “They’re jealous, Malcolm. We are at a higher level than
they are, and they know it. I mean, look at them. That is the best
they’ll ever amount to. But you and I… We’re going places.
Sometimes I think we should start our own gentlemen’s club and not
let things like that into it. Then we’d finally have a place worthy
of us.”

“You really think it’d be possible?”

“Anything’s possible. We’d just need to find
a building and invite the most reputable gentlemen to it. I’m sure
Lord Roderick and Lord Clement would welcome the reprieve. Even if
they were forced into scandalous situations, they’re gentlemen of
morally, upright character. I can’t fault them if they have wives
who took advantage of their naivety. Sometimes it’s ladies who are
the problem, not the gentlemen.”

Malcolm breathed a sigh of relief upon
hearing this. Perhaps he wasn’t doomed after all. If Regan did
something scandalous that erupted into gossip, Warren might show
him the same understanding he was showing Lord Roderick and Lord
Clement.

“It’d do no good to invite
Lord Reddington,” Warren continued as he picked up his glass of
brandy. “He’s friends with Lord Davenport, and Lord Davenport made
that wager over a lady that was the focus of the
Tittletattle
for an
entire month.”

“To be fair, Lord Toplyn and the Duke of
Ashbourne also created scandals that made headlines in those
scandalsheets.”

“Yes, but it was Lord Davenport who started
it all. If it weren’t for him, Toplyn and Ashbourne would have won
the wager, and they wouldn’t have kissed ladies to get into
money.”

“You really think Lord Davenport would have
won that bet had it not been exposed?”

“I do. Miss Giles was
obviously attracted to him. If I had to guess, Lord Pennella
exposed it to someone at the
Tittletattle
to get out of paying
Lord Davenport.”

Malcolm wasn’t so sure it happened that way,
but since this all happened before he became a member of White’s,
it was hard to argue with Warren.

“Let’s not spend any more time on the
reprobates of this club,” Warren said. “Tell me about your plans
for making more money.”

Happy to oblige since money was far more
interesting than people, Malcolm did just that.

***

Feeling rather foolish, Regan tapped her
fingers along the edge of the windowpane in front of her. Maybe
coming to Melissa’s townhouse was a bad idea. She could slip out of
here right now. The butler had just left to get Logan. She still
had time to make her escape.

But she needed to know what she could do
about Malcolm. She couldn’t be stuck in a marriage where a
gentleman didn’t want to be with her. She’d never imagined a
gentleman could be so wrapped up in money he’d prefer it to
lovemaking. It didn’t make any sense to her. No sense at all.

The approach she had used with Frederick
wouldn’t work with Malcolm. Malcolm was a different breed of
gentleman, altogether.

But should she really involve Logan in this?
Didn’t he have better things to do than help her?

Maybe this was a bad idea. She should just
leave. Leave now before she did anything to further embarrass
herself. It was enough she’d come by here without an
invitation.

She headed for the doorway when footsteps
came down the hallway. Her steps grew still. She’d waited too long.
Now she had to stay.

Logan appeared in the doorway and blinked
when he saw her. “The butler must have made a mistake,” he told
her. “He said I had a visitor, but he probably meant to get
Melissa.”

He started to leave, so she blurted out, “No,
your butler was right. I did come here to see you.”

He stopped in mid-turn then faced her, eyes
wide. “What do you need with me?”

“Advice. I hope you don’t mind.”

“Well, no. I never have trouble telling
people what I think.” He glanced out in the hallway. “Are you sure
you mean to speak to me? Some people say I don’t have very good
advice.”

“I’m sure. Right now I need to talk to a
gentleman, and you’re the only one I know that I can go to about
this particular thing.”

His eyebrows raised in interest. After a
moment, he went over to the decanter and poured himself a glass of
brandy. “Want some?”

“Brandy?”

He shrugged. “Why not? We’re going to have a
gentleman’s conversation, aren’t we?”

Though she’d engaged in bold talk with
Frederick in the past, she had a harder time doing it with someone
else. But this was what she came here for. This was what she
needed.

Taking a deep breath, she nodded. “You’re
right. I’ll have some brandy.”

With a smile, he poured her a drink. “I’ve
never been a huge proponent of tea myself. Brandy has a lot better
flavor to it.” He went over to her and gave her a glass. “Sit
anywhere you like.”

She waited until he sat in a chair before
picking the one nearby. The doors were open, which was good. No one
needed to think they were doing anything wrong, but she didn’t wish
for anyone to overhear her.

“This must be good,” Logan said then took a
sip.

“It’s private,” she replied.

“Like I said, this must be good.”

“It involves Malcolm.”

“You want to kill him, and you need my
help.”

She couldn’t help but chuckle at his joke.
“No. I want your advice on how I might get him interested in
me.”

“I don’t understand. You’re gorgeous, and he
can see. What’s there to advise?”

“You’d think nothing, but this morning,” she
lowered her voice as he took another drink, “I suggested I put my
mouth on a certain part of his body, and he said he’d rather
not.”

Logan nearly spit out his drink. After a
couple of coughs, he looked at her in shock and asked, “He said
he’d rather not?”

She nodded. “Now you know why I need your
advice. How could a lady convince you to do something like
that?”

“All Melissa has to do is mention it, and I’d
have my trousers off before she finished the sentence.”

“Let me ask that a different way. How could a
lady convince someone like Malcolm to do it?”

He stared at her in disbelief. “He really
said no?”

“Yes. Unfortunately.”

“That doesn’t make sense. You know how many
gentlemen would love nothing more than for a lady to offer to do
that to them?”

“I wager a lot.”

“You’re right. Just about every single one
I’ve come across. Except for Malcolm. I don’t know what’s wrong
with him, but he’s lost his senses.”

“I’m being serious.”

“So am I.”

She put down the glass of brandy and leaned
toward him. “Logan, I have no one else I can talk to about this,
and I need a gentleman’s perspective. What can I do to seduce
Malcolm? He doesn’t respond well to suggestions of lovemaking or
even the removal of clothes. What else can I try?”

Logan downed the rest of his brandy then put
his glass next to hers. “All right. I think I know what will appeal
to Malcolm, but it’s bound to be hard to do.”

“What is it?”

“I’m afraid you’ll have to do something
drastic.”

“You want me to kidnap him and take him
somewhere secluded?” she asked. The thought just then flashed
through her mind, though she didn’t know how she’d ever pull off
such a feat.

“No, nothing like that. He’d probably run
back to London.”

Unfortunately, he was right.

“Malcolm likes to be right,” Logan said. “He
likes to feel important. Though his opinion doesn’t matter in the
long scheme of things, he likes to believe it does. I think in
order to win him over, you’ll have to act like you adore everything
he says and does.”

She frowned? That was all?

“I know.” He patted her hand. “It’s no easy
task for any of us, but I honestly can’t think of anything else
that will work.”

“I’ll do it.” What did she have to lose?
Appealing to his sexual needs wasn’t working. Why not appeal to his
vanity? “Thank you, Logan.”

As she stood up, Melissa came into the room,
blinking in surprise when she saw them. “I didn’t know you stopped
by,” she told Regan.

“I came to ask your husband for advice,”
Regan explained.

“You did?” Melissa asked.

“Why do you sound so shocked?” Logan stood up
and went over to kiss Melissa. “I have been known to say something
useful from time to time.”

“Well,” Melissa began, “I know that. I just
can’t see how you would advise her to do anything good to my
brother.”