The Soldier's Scoundrel (The Turner Series, #1)

by Cat Sebastian

“It turns out I have a talent for making conversation with ladies.” He gave his walking stick a twirl in the air. “It’s quite wasted on me, of course, but it’s a talent nonetheless.” Jack would not be charmed by how proud the man sounded. “Talent, my arse.” But it was true. At every inn Rivington found a baby to coo at or an old woman to prattle with. Yesterday Jack had watched him listen raptly to a farmer’s lecture on hop yields, a subject Rivington couldn’t possibly care about. “As for your talents with the ladies,” Jack continued, “I’ve already told you that you need to watch out or you’ll find yourself married by Michaelmas. But I think you’re safe as far as Miss Barrow goes. She’ll marry Ingleby.” “The vicar?” He sounded surprised. Would he never grasp the extent of Jack’s knowledge? “Did the gardener tell you that?” “No.” Jack sighed impatiently. “The vicar walked into her house through the garden door without knocking, which suggests intimacy. He needs a wife—your friend Peale said the man’s been a mess since his sister died, and you can see for yourself that he needs looking after. He missed a spot on his chin when he was shaving and his coat is covered in lint and God knows what else. Those are things that anyone can see.” Rivington made a noise of protest. “Or, rather, that anyone could see if they looked,” Jack amended. “To those facts, I’d add the following suppositions. Miss Barrow was likely friends with the vicar’s late sister, and I wouldn’t be shocked if ...