The Dangerous Lord by Sabrina Jeffries Page B

looked now that it was finished.” The others had already begun expressing their compliments over the design when Sara added, “Oh, no, I forgot to introduce Ian.”
    â€œNo need,” Lord St. Clair remarked. “Miss Taylor and I have already met.”
    Felicity shot him a wary glance. This was the moment she’d feared. He would expose her to his friends. Well, if he did, she’d make him regret it. Just let him try.
    Lord St. Clair’s words seemed to intrigue Sara. “Have you indeed? I had no idea. Where did you meet, Ian?”
    â€œPerhaps I should let the lady tell you.” He taunted Felicity with a smile of such challenge it made her grit her teeth.
    What did he expect? That she would expose herself? Or lie, so he could accuse her once more of “inventing” things? Well, she wouldn’t do either. “Actually, we met at Taylor Hall.” When the others looked shocked, she added, “Lord St. Clair came to pay his respects after Papa died.” It was true. He had paid his respects…in a fashion. Still, calling on an unmarried woman to whom one hadn’t been introduced was scandalous under any circumstances.
    Well, she thought, she’d certainly laid down the gauntlet.If he wanted to expose her, now was his chance. They might as well get it over with.
    His smile vanished. “Miss Taylor, you’ll tarnish my reputation as a gentleman. You fail to mention my companions, the ones who introduced us at your home.”
    Her heart skipped a beat. Apparently he wouldn’t risk an open discussion of her column before his friends. That knowledge emboldened her. “Oh, yes, your companions. You and I were engaged in such lively conversation that day that I’d quite forgotten about them. Remind me again of who they were?”
    He raised one eyebrow and opened his mouth to retort. She even found herself eagerly anticipating his reply.
    Then Gideon broke in. “I hate to interrupt, but may we continue this discussion over luncheon? Hunting in this foul weather rouses a man’s appetite something fierce.”
    Sara laughed. “Yes, of course, my dear.”
    Pleased to have had the last word in the skirmish, Felicity took the nearest seat and flashed Lord St. Clair an impudent smile. Although Gideon and his father flanked her, Lord St. Clair seated himself directly across the table from her, and his determined expression showed he had no intentions of retreating from the battle yet.
    Good. She was ready for him today.
    As soon as everyone was settled and the servants began serving them, Sara leaned forward a little to look over at Felicity. “You must excuse my husband’s rudeness, Felicity. We spend a great part of the year on a remote island where blunt speech is more common than here in England.”
    â€œI don’t mind blunt speech,” Felicity replied, casting Lord St. Clair a pointed look. “It’s preferable to deceptive speech.”
    He lifted his wineglass, a half smile playing over his lips. “Ah, then I suppose you never participate in that female diversion called ‘gossip.’”
    Before Felicity could reply, Sara answered him. “Like all men, you find any female talk suspect, and I’ll admit it can sometimes be vicious. But even gossip has its uses. The Ladies Committee relies on rumor or the threat of it to convince recalcitrant members of Parliament that they should aid our cause.” She served herself some venison stew from the plate proffered by the servant at her elbow. “And it has social uses as well, by urging unsavory men and women to avoid public censure by being more discreet in their vices. That prevents them from unduly influencing our young, don’t you think?”
    Felicity had never heard a more eloquent defense of her profession. She instantly added “reason” and “intelligence” to her growing list of the countess’s appealing