Chapter Three
“At Lady Pritchard’s ball, Lord M__ was seen dancing with the aforementioned country miss, now known to be the penniless sister of Lady W__.”
-The Morning Post
It wasn’t too longbefore the ballroom filled up, just like a dozen balls Jasper attended before.Or was it hundreds?He’d lost count.
Sighing, he helped himself to a glass of champagne. As he wandered the parquet floor, he spied a few women he knew, and to these he sent a polite nod. He also saw a few whom he’d bedded, and to these he swiftly turned his back and ducked in the other direction. Sometimes, the speed with which he broke off an association after swiving caused hurt feelings.
And if the girl’s mother had found out, more the worse for everyone! He’d been the source of one or two nasty scenes and wished to avoid another that night.
Besides, he didn’t want to ask anyone else to dance, regardless of what a terrible guest that made him. Lady Pritchard would certainly take him to task if she noticed him standing about while single ladies lacked partners, but that wasn’t his problem.
Jasper wanted to keep his eyes upon a certain mysterious blonde female. Moreover, he couldn’t deny he wanted to put his hands and lips on her, too, if she was willing. He couldn’t tell yet if she were a chaste and cool princum prancum or a loose blowsabella, who would give him a good roll and then smile at the end of it.
By God, he hoped she was the latter!Approaching her a mere minute before their dance so there was no time for more prattle with the dreaded chaperone — the bane of most single men’s existence — he nodded to the older woman and took his prey’s arm in his.
“Are you enjoying the evening so far, Miss Sudbury?”
“The night is young, yet, my lord.”
“True, but I can confirm the champagne is cold, and that’s a better start than at many balls.”
He turned her toward the room’s center and away from the matron’s hearing. “Although the dragon protecting you might allow youonlylemonade.”
She laughed, and his rod twitched against the inside of his breeches.What a delightful sound!Moreover, she didn’t hide it behind her gloved hand.
The first dance, a cotillion, had just ended and had been performed in the elegant, slow French style. He’d noticed Miss Sudbury hadn’t danced but had watched intently. Their dance was to be a waltz, considered somewhat scandalous by some of the stiff-rumped hosts. He’d been pleased to learned Lady Pritchard would allow it. Moreover, he was determined to keep Miss Sudbury tight against him while he had her undivided attention.
“You have not lived long in London, I understand,” the earl remarked, “and this is your first Season.”
“You are wrong on both counts, sir,” she said, and nothing more.
The deuce! What a bewattling ewe!
“Why don’t you enlighten me?” he prompted before spinning her past the marble fireplace over which hung a wide mirror, bouncing light in every direction.
Jasper had danced there before. When he looked up at just the right angle, he could see down her décolletage to the pale swell of her ample bosom.Beautiful!And then they had waltzed past it, and he focused on her face again.
“I have been in London for nearly two years,” she said. “While I haven’t had anything like a formal Season, I accompanied my sister to a number of social events once she was out of mourning this year.”
“Ah, yes, Lady Worthington.”
Miss Sudbury tilted her head, never missing a step.
“You say that as if you are acquainted with my sister, yet I do not believe you are.” She paused, looking at him from under her lovely brown lashes, darker than her fair hair and perfectly framing her periwinkle blue eyes.
“Although she seems well aware ofyou, my lord.”
The smiled died upon his face. Despite her pleasant expression, he knew by her tone Miss Sudbury was referring to the very worst of his behavior, the lascivious deeds, often exaggerated, tattled in the gossip rags. This was the shady conduct that made the mothers terrified and their daughters curious.
He sighed, pressing his hand more tightly against her waist as if she might flee from him and his monstrous nature.
“Your sister may have read about me, but you are correct. We are not personally acquainted, nor does a pot of muddy gossip-water make for clarity or truth.”
“Really?” She blinked at him. “In polite society, we cannot discuss what you may or may not have done lest my chaperone’s ears turn a brilliant shade of red. But honestly, Lord Marshfield, are you saying there is no truth behind the rumors of your devilish deeds that left more than one female regretting the day she met you?”
