Page 88 of Rules for Ruin

Miss Compton flushed deeply.

Effie recalled Miss Compton having said that her father disapproved of Lord Mannering’s gambling habits. Doubtless he knew Mannering was indebted to Gabriel. “Is Lady Bartlett an objectionable person?” Effie asked.

“She meddles in the affairs of men,” he replied.

“The education of British girls?”

“Quite so. The subject is best left to the children’s parents.”

“Not every girl is fortunate enough to have parents,” Effie pointed out.

“In which case her learning must be guided by her betters,” Lord Compton said. “I have several gentlemen acquaintances who sit on the boards of charity schools. The girls within are brought up in accordance with their prospects.”

“While girls of good family—”

“Must be trained to be good wives and pleasant companions. It is a husband’s privilege to manage the other aspects of their lives.”

“Finances and so forth?” Effie queried, thinking of Miss Corvus.

“Among other things.” Lord Compton smiled at Effie again with fatherly condescension. It was an expression at odds with the one that continued to glimmer at the back of his eyes. “I despair of seeing genteel young ladies trouble their heads with such matters. Pray don’t tell me you are one of them, Miss Flite?”

“Miss Flite is a bookish sort of person,” Miss Compton said. “She has a great interest in your library.”

“Ah yes. My daughter informed me that you perused one of my medieval texts the night of our musicale. I trust you found it sufficiently enlightening?”

Effie wondered if Miss Compton had shared everything about that night with her father. If she had…

It would mean that Lord Compton knew about Effie’s lost hairpin. That he knew about her disappearing upstairs during the performances.

Despite his outward civility, despite his fatherly air, she would be a fool to underestimate him.

This was the man who had bested Miss Corvus. If Effie was going to take him on, she’d have to remain on her guard.

“I did, sir,” she said, choosing her words with care. “Regrettably, I only had but a few moments to admire your collection. I have been anxious to see it again ever since.”

“I would be pleased to show it to you now,” Lord Compton said. “If you can spare the time.”

Effie’s senses trembled a warning. She had eagerly anticipated perusing the viscount’s library again, but not with the villain himself as her guide. Still…

The opportunity of being in company with the man was too great to refuse.

“I would like that very much,” she said. “Thank you, my lord.”

Miss Compton moved to rise.

“No need, my dear,” her father told her. “You must rest from your ordeal. I shall take charge of your charming guest.” He gestured to the door of the drawing room. “After you, Miss Flite.”

22

Effie stood beside Lord Compton as he extracted the first volume of his medieval collection from its shelf near the fireplace. The library was empty at this time of day, sun filtering in through the half-closed draperies, capturing dancing dust motes in its rays.

This was but the third time Effie had entered the vast book-lined room. On her first visit, she’d encountered Gabriel in the darkness (a memory that still made her heart quicken). On the second, she’d been in company with Miss Compton. And now, here she was again, this time with the man she’d been pursuing from the beginning.

Gabriel would assuredly not approve.

He’d warned her away from the viscount countless times since they’d met. “Gentlemen of Compton’s rank aren’t to be trifled with,” he’d said. “Powerful men will do anything to protect their secrets.”

But Effie had power, too. Hers lay in the fact that she was a woman, and in this world, by this man, women had always been underestimated. Whoever Miss Corvus had been when Compton had robbed her and betrayed her, she hadn’t been the fierce and formidable female she would later become. It was that woman who had brought Effie up. Who had, as Nell claimed, raised Effie in her image.