What a Reckless Rogue Needs (The Sinful Scoundrels, #2)(79)

She wet her lips. “Yes.”

“Are you afraid?”

“I suppose everyone is a bit anxious before a life-changing event.”

“I’m glad about the engagement, Angeline. Our parents will be as well.”

“I had better return to the drawing room before someone discovers me here.”

“You are miserable doing needlework?”

“I’m going mad,” she said, leaning against the door.

“Angeline, no one is forcing you. If you don’t wish to do needlework, read a book.”

“I will feel guilty, because everyone else is mending or embroidering handkerchiefs or darning stockings. The mending does need to be taken care of.”

“Perhaps you could read to everyone else while they mend or embroider,” he said.

“You’re brilliant. Margaret has a copy of Sense and Sensibility. I could read it to them.”

“Well, it’s hardly a brilliant suggestion, but if it pleases you, it pleases me.”

She stepped closer to him. “I miss you.”

As much as he would love to kiss her, he didn’t want someone to catch them alone behind a closed door. It might create problems between their families, and he wanted the announcement to be void of any possible scandal. “You had better return, Angeline. It would not do if we were caught alone in here.”

She nodded. “I promised to tell you.”

Someone knocked on the door. He winced.

I’m sorry, she mouthed.

He opened the door. Penelope stood there.

“I beg your pardon,” Penny said. “Angeline, will you come with me to the drawing room?”

“Yes, of course,” Angeline said. “I just needed to tell Colin something I remembered about Sommerall.”

Penny regarded him with a slight frown. “Come, Sister. Mama will worry if you are gone too long.”



“Angeline,” Penny said as they walked through the great hall. “Mama sent me to find you when you did not immediately return to the drawing room.”

“Mama is overly finicky.” She wished her mother would not hover.

“You were expected to attend. Everyone noticed you were gone.”

“I had every intention of returning to the drawing room.” Where else could she go when the grounds were soaked and muddy?

“You will be cautious, will you not?”

Penny’s question made her heart race. “About what, dearest?”

“You should not have gone to the billiard room.”

Relief filled her. “Oh, you worry for nothing.”

“You are spending a great deal of time with him.”

“I have been helping him at Sommerall,” Angeline said. “There’s nothing to be concerned about. It is only Colin.”

Penny halted. “Why did you close the door?”

The question caught her unaware. “I only meant to tell him something, and I was on the verge of leaving when you came.” It was all true, but not nearly as innocent as she’d made it sound.

“Please be careful,” Penny said.

“Yes, I do not wish to inadvertently give the wrong impression,” she said. Her stomach felt a little queasy. She’d had to tell him there were no consequences. It would have been cruel to make him wait.

“I do not want you to ever have to leave again,” Penny said.

Her sweet sister’s words stung her heart. “I didn’t want to leave you, but Mama insisted I must be presented in Paris.”

“I know something bad happened,” Penny whispered. “Papa shut himself in his study. Mama’s friends no longer called. Lord Brentmoor went away.”


Chill bumps erupted on Angeline’s arms. Penny knew. “It is all over.”

“You must be careful,” Penny said. “Ladies must always guard their reputations.”

Angeline inhaled on a shaky breath. “That is wise advice, Penny, but Colin is a friend of our family. You need not be concerned.” She had only wanted to reassure him. It never would have been necessary if she had not abandoned herself to him. Tonight, however, they would announce their engagement. It was beyond anything she had ever imagined.

Of course, she’d wanted a kiss from Colin and words of reassurance. He’d been obviously relieved. She ought to be as well, but at the moment, she was tired and out of sorts.

“Penny, my head is aching. Will you please make my excuses to Mama and Margaret?”

“I hope you are not ill,” Penny said.

“No, it is only a headache. All I need is to lie down for a bit.”



She slept for two hours. When she awoke, she realized that she was fatigued from the anxiety. She’d managed to catch him alone, but Penny had come along, and Angeline realized how close Penny had come to hearing their conversation.

She’d sworn she would never regret that night with Colin, and she did not. She would never have made love to him if she did not love him dearly. They had been trapped by the violent weather at Sommerall, and she had wanted to share her body with him. She loved that he wanted to champion her, and she loved that he thought her smart. She loved his teasing, and she even loved him when he pointed out that she worried over the past and the future rather than focusing on the present. She had not even realized it until he’d told her.