A Dash of Scandal(76)

“You know I can’t do that. If I hear something that is scandalously intriguing, I must write about it.”

“I’ve known him for fifteen years. I think I would know if my best friend had squandered his money. I’ve seen no change in his lifestyle.”

“Perhaps there’s a reason there’s been no change,” she responded quickly.

Chandler was firm. “He did not steal the raven. He would not steal from me or anyone.”

Millicent remained calm, unperturbed. “Desperate men attempt dangerous things.”

He simply said, “Millicent.”

She looked up at him and relented. “However, I apologize if you think I was accusing your friend of being the Mad Ton Thief. I was merely pointing out possibilities.”

“In this case, there is no likelihood he’s involved. If he were having trouble with his finances, he would come to me. Besides, there must be dozens of titled gentlemen who’ve been gamblers and spendthrifts with their inheritances.”

“But, did they attend your party?”

Chandler stopped and turned her to face him. “You may have something there. My dear Millicent, you are not only beautiful, but clever, too. I’ll have Doulton check into who among the ton, is in debt, and we’ll see if any of those names show up on the lists where there have been robberies.”

“That’s a very good idea, sir. If there is not a stranger among the ton and it appears there isn’t, then the Mad Ton Thief has to be someone’s friend.”

He looked down at her and an urgent need to possess her filled him. She wasn’t right for him. He wasn’t good for her, but still he wanted her. “I could kiss you right here in front of everyone within sight of us.”

She stepped away and her eyes flashed a warning. “Do not try to do that, Lord Dunraven.”

“All right, I’ll wait until I get you behind a tree.” He took her arm and slipped it through his arm again and continued their walk, but faster this time.

“There are no trees nearby.”

“No reason to sound so disappointed.” He smiled wickedly at her and winked. “There will be in a few minutes. I know the perfect spot.”

“I am not disappointed, sir,” she argued, but not with any real conviction. “And how dare you think to escort me to a place where you’ve kissed dozens of girls.”

He kept his tone light. “You are hard to please. Now you sound jealous.”

“And you, sir, are a cad.”

“But a likable one.”

She stopped. “Yes. You are incorrigible. It’s true and it’s my misfortune.”

“And my good luck.”

Suddenly Millicent turned away from Chandler and pulled on the crook of his arm with her arm, forcing him to turn around and head in the opposite direction.

“What are you doing?” he asked, not using any strength to stop her from guiding him.

“Not today, my lord. I will not let you endanger my reputation this afternoon. We are going to make this a proper outing if it kills us.”

He looked down into her eyes with appreciation and admiration. “All right. Today you win. No matter that I want to kiss you madly, I will respect your wishes.”

She took a solid breath. “Thank you for that small consideration.”

“You’re welcome.” He liked that she didn’t try to punish him for being forward.

Oh, hell, what don’t I like about her?

They started walking toward the carriage. “We need to return to the subject of Lord Truefitt’s column, because there’s something else you should know.”

“What’s that?”

“Andrew is thinking of hiring a Runner to find out who Lord Truefitt is so that he can expose him.”

“Oh, no! That would be disastrous. You can’t let your friend do that.”

Chandler didn’t like seeing real fear in her eyes. Would there be harm to her if Truefitt was revealed? He wondered again what could be between Millicent and the gossip writer. He didn’t know, but it was time he did something to find out what hold he had over Millicent.

“You must tell Truefitt to keep Andrew out of the column and perhaps his temper will cool down. I’ll do what I can, but Andrew has a mind of his own. I do believe he is serious about this.”

“Thank you for telling me.” Her voice was soft, uncertain, grateful. “I know you didn’t have to confide in me.”