And the more time he spent in Miss Sudbury’s company, the more he wanted to spend. An unusual circumstance and one which he’d never experienced before.
After he dropped them home, he tried to decipher if this dawning attachment to a woman, this one in particular, was a good idea or even a desirable thing to have happen.
“To White’s,” he ordered his driver. Male company, billiards, and good brandy would knock some sense back into him.
However, a few hours later, he didn’t stop off at one of the most luxurious and costlyhouses of civil receptionwith his friends. No Cyprian, no courtesan, regardless of her sensual talents, currently interested him. Nor did memories of any of his previous mistresses entice him, either.
At present, no one attracted him save for Miss Sudbury, who had snagged him in her delicate web without even trying.
There was only one thing to do. Tup her and move on.
Chapter Eleven
“The weather was unseasonably warm last night, causing many guests to take the night air during Lord and Lady Wendelson’s ball. Lord M__ was seen leaving the ballroom with Miss S__ yet returned from the garden alone.”
-The Morning Post
Jasper was firmly ofthe belief that horses were an excellent distraction for any ailment, be it physical, mental, or even relating to the emotions. Miss Sudbury qualified as all three. She had his body aching for her, his mind constantly thinking of the blasted woman, and somehow sappy sentiment was involved, too, with an unfamiliar happy emotion when picturing her face.
He headed to Tattersall’s. Being surrounded by top-rate horse flesh at the Hyde Park Corner repository and auctioneer would drive the notion of a certain female from his mind. At least, he hoped so. Bidding on a new mount he didn’t really need was a weakness he allowed himself since he had few other costly vices. He paid his groom and coachman more than the rest of his household staff. Moreover, the feeding and care of the horses he kept in the private mews behind his house was probably more than some folks paid for their own yearly nourishment.
Afterward, he would see who was lounging around the Jockey Club. He enjoyed the gathering place for gentlemen interested in all horse matters, particularly racing, even more than he cared for the company at White’s. Too many of those men let cards and drink go to their heads. Better to focus on...
Miss Sudbury!To his amazement, barely ten minutes after he was positioned under Tattersall’s columned portico, starting to bid on a matching pair of Cleveland Bays, he saw her out of the corner of his eye.
Faltering in his bid, Jasper turned to make sure it was really her. It was, and watching her pass by, his heartbeat sped up with excitement.
“Go on, Marshfield, outbid us all as usual,” a fellow member of the Jockey Club said half in jest, although it was the truth. Of the dozen others surrounding them, some laughed ruefully, as they nearly always lost to him if he had his heart set on winning.
Jasper couldn’t even recall the last amount he’d offered. Sighing, he decided to chase after the object of his desire, and it wasn’t the pair of carriage horses.
“Too rich for my blood,” he joked back. “I shall have to beg off.” With that, he darted out of the courtyard of Tattersall’s, and in a few steps, he’d caught up with her.
“Good day, Miss Sudbury,” he said, watching her startle and then stop dead on the sidewalk. “Where are you off to in such a hurry?”
She smiled at him, and he felt a twinge of gladness right down to his toes.What the devil!Since when could a female fell him with a glance?
