Lord Derrick waited for Harley to leave before he turned a disgusted look on Finn. “Bloody waste of time. You were a damn fool to let Harley talk you into that wager.”
“No real harm was done.” Harley was right. If Finn couldn’t have Lady Honora, he’d settle for Miss Somerset. She’d do well enough. Willfulness could be tamed, after all.
“No harm toyou, but what if Miss Somerset should hear of it? It will hurt her feelings, and she might just decide to discourage your courtship. What then, Huntington?”
“Don’t be absurd, Derrick. There isn’t a lady in London who’d discourage a marquess. In any case, she won’t hear of it. Wrexley and Harley can’t say a word without implicating themselves. None of us will speak of it.”
Lord Derrick frowned as Finn rose and plucked his coat off the back of his chair. “Now you’ve settled the question of a wife, it’s off to see your mistress?”
“I may as well enjoy her while I can.”
He’d end it with her once he was betrothed. He was the Marquess of Huntington, after all, and despite his occasional lapses into the wickedness he’d inherited from his mother, he was a man of honor, like his father before him.
But he wasn’t betrothed yet, and Lady Beaumont was just a short carriage ride away, waiting for him, her lush body warm and eager.
As for Miss Somerset…
He’d have preferred Lady Honora, but Miss Somerset was nearly as pliable as her rival, and her grandfather had been an earl. Once the question of lineage was settled, what difference did it make which lady became his marchioness?
When it came to wives, one of them was as good as another.
Chapter One
Three months later
“Lord Huntington won’t kiss me.”
Iris Somerset drew in a deep, cleansing breath, then heaved it back out again in such a long sigh her lungs flailed in protest.
Goodness, it felt good to say that at last.
It had been weeks since she’d drawn a full breath. She’d been dangerously close to suffocation since the start of the season, when the Marquess of Huntington had singled her out as the fortunate recipient of his exalted attentions.
Of course, she hadn’t meant to blurt out her confessionhere. One didn’t speak of kissing in the middle of Lady Fairchild’s rose garden. It was considered a great honor to be invited to her ladyship’s Hampstead estate for her annual scavenger hunt, and a certain level of decorum was expected.
But she’d come this far, so she may as well finish it. “I’ve tried everything I can think of to lure him into an indiscretion, but it’s like trying to coax a fish to hang itself on the hook.”
Iris crossed her arms over her chest, eyed her two companions, and braced herself for the inevitable uproar.
As usual, Lady Honora broke first. “Hush, Iris! He could be right on the other side of this hedge!” She darted a panicked look around the garden to make certain they were alone, then swung back to Iris, a scandalized expression on her pretty face. “What do you mean, he won’t kiss you? Of course he won’t kiss—”
“Why don’t you just kiss him, then? He’ll succumb to his savage desires the moment your lips touch his, and that will solve the problem in an instant.” Violet snapped her fingers.
At any other time Iris might have found it amusing they’d each reacted just as she’d predicted they would, but Lord Huntington’s lack of interest wasn’t a laughing matter. “As far as I know, he hasn’tgotany savage desires. That’s the problem, Violet.”
Lady Honora winced at the worddesires. “My goodness, Iris. What do you expect? He’s an honorable gentleman.”
Violet frowned. “Honorable gentlemen don’t have desires?”
“No! I mean, yes, of course they…oh, how should I know?” Lady Honora turned on Violet. “If they do have desires, they keep them well hidden out of respect to their betrothed.”
Iris couldn’t deny Lord Huntington treated her with the utmost respect. He was unfailingly solicitous and polite, just as one would expect from a gentleman of such impeccable character. No proper young lady could complain of such treatment.
How disconcerting to find, mere weeks before she was to become the Marchioness of Huntington, that she wasn’t, after all, a proper young lady. “He’stoorespectful, if you ask me.”
Violet wiped her tears of laughter on the sleeve of her gown. “Well, you’ll have him all to yourself soon enough. Can’t you wait to lure him into a kiss in the privacy of your bedchamber after you’re wed?”
“I can wait, yes, butheshouldn’t be able to.”
