No Marriage Of Convenience - No Marriage Of Convenience Part 12
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No Marriage Of Convenience Part 12

"Why she is staying with us," the lady said.

"With you?" Lord Delander turned slightly, shooting Lord Ashlin a questioning glance.

"Oh, yes," Cousin Felicity continued in her own bubbling fashion. "Staying with us. Where else would

family stay?"

"Family?" At this Lord Delander grinned. "Another cousin, I presume?"

Riley glanced at the Earl, who appeared too stunned even to speak. Why didn't he do something-like

silence his errant cousin before she made matters worse?

"Yes, yes, our dear Cousin..." the lady hestitated.

"Cousin...?" Lord Delander asked.

"Riley," she told him, realizing there was no other way than to toss him a bit of a line to chew on.

Lord Ashlin glanced over at her. "Riley?"

"Yes, Riley," she told him, knowing now why the traveling companies always said to avoid Oxford.

These professors hadn't a bit of improvisation in their soul.

Well, perhaps in kissing...

"Yes," Lord Ashlin said, finishing the introduction as if he were announcing a hanging. "Miss Riley St.

Clair."

Lord Delander didn't look all that convinced, but he was too much of a gentleman to make an issue of it.

"Delighted to meet you, Cousin Riley," he teased, finally releasing her hand. "And your esteemed guardian? Is he staying at Ashlin House as well?"

"Still in the country!" Cousin Felicity interjected. "And our poor cousin without any other living relatives

to look after her interests."

Her interests?

Even Riley, with all her training and years of practice, felt her mouth drop open and her jaw gape at this

outrageous lie.

Cousin Felicity made her sound like some sort of heiress-a conclusion Lord Delander had obviously

reached from the knowing glance he shot in Lord Ashlin's direction.

"How commendable of you, old boy," Lord Delander commented. "A regular saint, to take in another poor relation."

The man grinned at Riley like she stood before him holding a dowry of Spanish treasure, while Lord

Ashlin gazed heavenward-probably praying to be struck down.Which wasn't so far from the truth.She let Cousin Felicity lead her up the stairs only too happy to flee from the Earl and his friend before the bird-witted lady decided to invent a family history to go along with her newfound fortune.

If Mason had thought for a moment that a powder keg of disaster could be averted when Del and

Madame Fontaine had arrived at that same time, Cousin Felicity had seen to bringing not only the fuse, but a lighted torch as well.

And all his plans would continue to go up in smoke if he didn't separate his rakish friend from his

newfound "cousin."

Damnation, could his life become any more entangled?

"Come now, Del," he said. "Our ride?"

"Ah, yes, our ride," the Viscount replied, gazing at Riley's departing figure. They mounted up and turned

their horses away from the house. "Your cousin, you say."

"Yes." Mason wondered if he could legally lock Cousin Felicity away as mad.

Del straightened in his saddle. "So are you thinking of courting her?"

"Courting who?"

"Your Cousin Riley, of course."

"Certainly not!" Mason told him. Gads, all he needed now was a rumor about town that he was about to

marry his cousin. Not when he needed to find a real bride.

Del shrugged. "No need to get into a state. Here I've been worried sick over all the rumors about you

being rolled up, and now I find you've got an heiress tucked under your roof. Doesn't take a degree from Oxford to put two and two together."

"There are no twos to put together. My country cousin is neither rich nor in the market for a husband,"

Mason told him.

Laughing, Del turned toward the park. "There isn't a single woman in London who isn't in search of a husband."

"I assure you, my cousin is not."

"I think you doth protest too much," Del said, waving his hand with a dismissive gesture. "I can see very

clearly you mean to steer me away, but it won't work. You've let the devil out of the bottle now. And Ihave every intention of uncovering exactly what it is you don't want me to find out about her."Mason sighed. "Del, you're making a big mistake."

"How so? Felicity said quite clearly the girl has interests. We both know what that means."

"Cousin Felicity? You're staking your future on Cousin Felicity's blithering? In all the years you've been acquainted with her, has she ever known what she is talking about?"

"Well, not especially," Del conceded. "But remember, you are speaking to someone who has known you

all your life, oh sainted one. And I have to assume your cousin must be scandalously rich for you to be so

protective.""Del-Riley is not rich. Quite the contrary. And I'm warning you..." Mason should have known betterthan to fend Del off with a reproach, for the words of caution only served to fuel his friend's unwittingresolve.

"Harangue me all you like, for I've no mind to ruin the girl or get into any mischief. You may not believe this, but the moment I saw your cousin, I felt something very special."

"Oh, I believe that," Mason muttered. He felt only too much around his new cousin.

"Her air of innocence, her beauty, that wealth of gently bred qualities have all inspired me."

"Inspired?" Mason didn't like the sound of that at all. He knew damn well what Riley inspired in him."Yes," Del said, a little too enthusiastically for Mason's comfort. "The moment I saw your cousin I knewit was time to start my nursery."

"Your wh-a-a-t?"

"My nursery. You heard me the first time. I think that cousin of yours will make a first-rate mistress for

Delander Hall. Exactly the respectable chit to please my mother and plump up my pockets if my suspicions about her purse are correct."

"Your mother?" Mason knew he shouldn't have asked the heavens how his day could get any worse.

"You can't be serious. I doubt very seriously your mother will find Riley acceptable."

"My mother will find your cousin extraordinary."

More than you know, Mason thought. "I think you ought to consider your choice of bride a little more

carefully before you start introducing her to your mother."

"Are you daft? Riley is perfect. Odd name, that, but a rose by any other name, as they say." He leaned back in his saddle, his eyes closing. "She is like a breath of fresh air. Wherever did you find her?"

"I didn't find her. She found me," Mason said quite truthfully.

"I swear you Ashlins have the damndest luck. But not this time. I intend to steal your little heiress right out

from beneath you." He waggled his eyebrows suggestively, then laughed hilariously at his own jest.