Stephanie Laurens - Regency 04 by Fair Juno

Author:Fair Juno [Juno, Fair]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2011-12-03T09:48:07+00:00

Both black brows rose; the hazel eyes watching her were as sharp as ever. 'I wonder why,' Hazelmere mused. To Helen's heartfelt relief, her long-time protector forbore to tease her, although his hazel eyes suggested that her joy was transparently obvious.

As he raised her from her final curtsy, Hazelmere said, 'I fear I should draw Miss Berry to your notice. She's been trying to attract your attention for some time.'

Following his gaze to where small, bird-like Miss Berry perched on a sofa at the side of the room, Helen chuckled. 'Poor dear. I dare say she feels she's missing out on things, now she's so deaf.'

Hazelmere's lips quirked but he refrained from further comment. He escorted Helen across the room, leaving her ensconced on the sofa, lending a sympathetic ear to Miss Berry.

From the opposite side of the ballroom, partially screened by a potted palm, Damian Willesden eyed the voluptuous figure in eau-de-Nil silk. He frowned, chewing his lip in vexation. He had come to the Broxfords' without an invitation, knowing no hostess would turn him from her door. But doing the pretty by a lot of curst females was hardly his style. He had only come because of what his friend Percy Witherspoon had let fall, of the bets regarding his brother's impending marriage.

He had refused to believe Percy but the entries in Boodle's wagers book had been too numerous to ignore. He stared across the room at Lady Walford; disaster stared back at him. Supremely confident that he would eventually inherit the Merton estates together with the sizeable fortune his mother insisted on tying to the title, sublimely sure that Martin would never trade his free-wheeling rake's existence for one of dull matrimony, he had borrowed until he was ear-deep in debt.

Damian swallowed convulsively. It was a wonder the cent percenters were not hounding him already.

No—not yet. They would wait until he was no longer Martin's heir before they moved. Even then, they would start slowly, expecting him to be able to persuade his brother to fish him out of the River Tick. But when they found out Martin had no intention of rescuing him… Never one to dwell on uncomfortable fact, Damian let that thought fade.

He hugged the shadow of the palm and cogitated on his fate—and how to escape it. Ever fertile in subterfuge, his brain fastened on the essential element of his discomfort. It was all quite simple, really. He would just have to see what he could do to prevent this ill-advised marriage.

Having evaded all Miss Berry's leading questions, Helen finally rose, leaving the old lady with a fond smile. She looked about the room, but could not spot Martin's dark head amid the throng. Knowing he would seek her with the Hazelmeres and Fanshawes, in whose company she had come to the ball, she headed in the direction of the chaise on which she had last seen Dorothea.

She had moved but mere feet into the crowd when a hand on her arm halted her.

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