Bronwyn Scott's Sexy Regency Bundle (132 page)

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Notorious Rake, Innocent Lady

uncle. But my cousin Gray has a ship he's invested in.

The cargo will cover our debts when it arrives and my uncle won't need Oswalt's money any more.'

'Wait, Julia,' Paine spoke slowly, putting his thoughts together as he talked. 'Has Oswalt given your uncle any money yet? An advance, perhaps?'

Her answer was just as slow. 'I don't know.' But then, there was so much she hadn't known just twenty-four hours ago. 'I suppose it could be possible.' The implications hit her full force. She twisted in Paine's arms to face him, hands clutching at his shoulders. 'Oh, no, if he has there's no way my uncle could pay him back. Any funds would already have been spent.' She thought with alarm of the wardrobe for her Season, that no expense had been spared for her gowns.

How had she ever thought her uncle and aunt could have suddenly afforded such expenditures when they'd sent her begging to the butcher to delay the meat bill back home on the estate? 'Now that I think about it, I am sure funds must have been given in advance.'

Paine nodded. 'Oswalt is known for his shrewd business dealings. If he's given someone money, there's bound to be a contract behind it, something legal done in writing to secure his investment.'

'There is a betrothal contract.' Julia looked frantically into Paine's face. What he said made sense, horrible sense. She couldn't decide which was worse: the cold reality that her actions would create a potential financial crisis for her family or that she had been bought and sold long before yesterday morning. What she'd thought

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was a prelude to her demise was in reality the finale. She swayed, relying on Paine's arms to keep her upright.

'Then this was all for nothing. My virginity was not a deal-breaker. He meant to have me regardless, just at a better bargain.'

'It is most likely the truth. Your uncle didn't think you'd run. Mortimer Oswalt doesn't care if you run-perhaps he even counted on the fact that you would.'

'Except he's lost his money. Granted, he's not out the whole sum but he's out a few thousand pounds,' Julia said, feeling a bit more herself now that the initial shock had passed.

Paine shook his head. Julia felt his grip about her waist tighten. 'Oswalt isn't a man who loses money with grace. He loses face with even less grace. He won't care if you run, Julia, because he'll find you. He'll count on your inexperience and lack of connections in the city, then will hunt you down and drag you back home in disgrace.'

Julia shook free of Paine's embrace and sank on to the bed. 'I have to go back and bargain with Oswalt. I have to fix this. I can't let my family suffer because of me.' She saw that Paine would protest that 'nice' people didn't sell their nieces.

'Really, they are good people. They've raised me since I was a little girl and I have repaid them with financial ruin.' She'd had her night of passion and got much more than she'd bargained for, a reward of sorts to act as a bulwark against the years to come. Perhaps for her family's sake she could stand it. In the morning

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light, it seemed to be the only solution in the wake of her transgressions the night before.

Her bravado received no support from Paine. Paine's eyes narrowed. 'I will not hear of it. Your solution is no solution at all. Oswalt is a lecher, but a keen student of human nature. He probably knew you'd run just as assuredly as your dolt of an uncle didn't think you would.

This is just another perverse game he's invented for the entertainment of his sick mind. There's no disgrace in eluding him. Oswalt has probably engineered all this like a puppet show, knowing that eventually your sense of honour will bring you back, begging on your knees, and in the meanwhile, he can financially blackmail your uncle.'

Despair rocketed through her. There had never been a chance for her to win. She was playing a game that was far deeper than her abilities, a game that had been well under way, if Paine was to be believed, long before she'd joined it. She prided herself on her sharp mind, but she could not divine the layers laid out by Oswalt.

She had no experience when it came to understanding the thought processes of the depraved.

What would she do now? She took quick stock of the inventory at her disposal. She still had a small opportunity and her

By now, Oswalt and her uncle

knew she was gone, but they didn't know where. It was unlikely even Oswalt would deduce she'd gone out seeking someone to ruin her. They would think she'd act like a girl fresh from the country-perhaps seek a way back home or take refuge with girlfriends. They would

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check the houses of her acquaintances and the posting inns. That would keep them busy. But for how long?

Long enough to catch a ship? They would check the docks next when the posting inns turned up empty, but maybe she could beat them.

Julia raised her head

drew a deep breath. She could

not save her uncle; perhaps she never could have, even with her marriage. But she could save herself and pray that Gray's ship

safely for the family's sake.

Her decision made, she could not impose on Paine any longer. That was a shame. He seemed to know quite a bit about her betrothed and he made her feel unaccountably safe. 'If I could ask for one last favour, I would ask that you take me to the docks so that I may find passage on a ship. I have some money and I have my