Stop this instant!” His feet on the pavement outside the Townsend townhouse, Jamie turned at the sound of Lady Minerva’s strident voice. Habit. His mother had always said that when your betters call, you better answer. The trouble was, at the moment, he could not agree that anyone in that house was his better. Still, he waited as the elderly lady stomped down the stairs to his side. Her long nose pointed accusingly at him. “How could you leave her to a monster!” Jamie shook his head. “You made it very plain, your ladyship, that any suit of mine would be inadvisable and unwelcome. What did you expect me to do?” She threw up her bony arms. “Fight! Show him for the dastard he is. Challenge him to a duel!” “Only gentlemen are allowed to challenge,” he told her. “And dueling is against the law.” “A law you uphold only when it suits you,” she complained with a snort. “Have you no love for the lady, then? Is she truly to wed that creature?” The idea made him ill.
