Chapter One
Mayfair, 1824
Of all the clumsy, imbecilic things to do!And in front of a lovely lady, no less. Geoffrey had tripped over the cellist’s chair leg and nearly bumped into a pretty blonde.
“Terribly sorry,” he said when the musicians beside him turned as one to glower while not missing a note of the mazurka quadrille they were playing. And quite loudly in his ear, too. But he wasn’t apologizing to them, rather to the vision in blue.
However, she gave him a withering look, not the warm one he’d hoped for when deciding to go in her direction. Having been introduced earlier, Geoffrey fully intended to ask for a dance.
Lifting her chin, the lady strolled past him to take another man’s hand.
Still looking back at her shapely figure, Geoffrey crashed into another guest.
“Ow!”came a female voice from the vicinity of his cravat where her face was now pressed.
“Terribly sorry,” he repeated, holding her by the shoulders so she wouldn’t tumble backward. All he could see was the top of her head. It was a view of fiery, copper-haired coils and an aigrette of small emeralds, whichanchored two peacock feathers tucked alongside her chignon.
Holding her still, he stepped back. When the lady’s green gaze locked with his, Geoffrey was reminded of his family’s verdant Derbyshire estate.
“No harm done, my lord,” she said, offering a smile that stole his breath.
“Whoareyou?” he asked, mesmerized. At the same time, the performers enthusiastically played a crescendo.
Frowning, she asked, “Into the garden?”
That couldn’t be what the red-headed young woman said, not unless she was the most forward lady at Lord and Lady Fenwick’s Belgrave Square ball.
Bending low, he put his ear close to her pink-tinged, satiny lips.
“I said, ‘I beg your pardon,’” she clarified.
Then he put his own mouth to the delicate shell of her ear.
“I asked your name,” he explained.
She reared back and looked up at him. As the musicians now played less enthusiastically, he could hear her next words.
“You are breaking rules right and left,” she told him, entirely without animosity. In fact, she seemed entertained. “You know you cannot ask me that question, not in such an informal manner.”
“Of course not!” he agreed, glad she wasn’t annoyed. He needed a formal introduction.What on earth was wrong with him?
Yet never having seen her before at any assembly, Geoffrey feared she would vanish before he could discover her identity.
“And your hands are still upon me,” she reminded him, having to speak loudly over the music.
Yes, they were.And under his gloved fingers, she was warm and soft. He didn’t wish to release her, but he did.
“Stay there,” Geoffrey ordered. “Don’t move.”
Her eyes widened.
“If you wouldn’t mind,” he added.
Looking around wildly, he spotted their host walking in the opposite direction.
“Lord Fenwick,” he exclaimed. Then he looked at the coppery goddess. “I shall return with our host at once.”
Sprinting in the direction of the old viscount, Geoffrey managed to catch him before he left the room, going so far as to grab his father’s friend by the arm.
