Wicked Scandal by Carole Mortimer

Author:Carole Mortimer
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Carole Mortimer
Published: 2017-08-30T18:30:00+00:00

Alys’s nervousness had only deepened by the time she came down the stairs a few minutes before eight o’clock that evening. Her intention was to join the gentlemen in the blue salon just in time for Holmes to announce dinner was served.

Tonight she would be the only lady present among nine gentlemen.

Nerve-provoking enough, but she had good reason to believe only one of those gentlemen looked upon her with any favor.

Sebastian.

Her brother’s friends would no doubt take their cue from their host and treat her with the same contempt Teddy now did.

As for the Earl of Carlton…

Having been the one to deliver the Special License from the Prince Regent, the earl could be in no doubt Deveril was not marrying her out of love.

Did he also know Deveril was to pay Teddy twenty thousand pounds for the privilege of marrying Alys?

Probably.

Alys’s maid had informed her the marquis’s lawyer had arrived late this afternoon, and although Alys had not been invited to the meeting, she believed her brother would now have ensured those funds had already been transferred into his keeping.

Which meant the lawyer would probably also be joining them for dinner.

Whoever or whatever was present, the conversation in the blue salon seemed to be far more muted this evening than on other nights. These past few evenings, Alys had been able to hear the raucous laughter and conversation of Teddy and his friends all the way up the stairs in her bedchamber.

The reason for tonight’s silence quickly became obvious once Alys stood unobserved in the doorway and saw there was a distinct division between the gentlemen in the room. Teddy and his friends stood near the unlit fireplace, talking in subdued voices. Deveril, the earl, and a middle-aged and gray-haired gentleman Alys could only assume was Deveril’s lawyer were standing all the way across the room next to the bay window.

Alys walked toward Deveril’s group, having no interest in her brother or his friends.

“—we shall go to my estate in Herefordshire after—” Devil broke off from answering the lawyer’s polite question the moment he saw Carlton’s pale gray gaze was now focused on something behind Devil.

Or someone.

Alys. Looking regal in her low-cut gown of deep blue silk, with her hair swept up in an intricate style at her crown.

But it was not the gown or hairstyle which gave her that regal appearance; it was the cool confidence in her sky-blue eyes and the proud tilt to her chin. She looked every inch the marchioness she would very soon become.

Devil reached her side in two steps before taking both her gloved hands in his. “I was not sure if you were going to join us after all.” He spoke softly so that only Alys could hear.

As the minutes had ticked by toward eight o’clock, Devil had believed Alys to have reconsidered her earlier decision and she no longer intended to join the gentlemen for dinner. Not that he could have blamed her if she had; there were far too many men’s egos gathered together in this one room.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.