Regency 03 - Deception Read Online Free PDF Page B

to avoid
her.”
    Since Miss Suzanne Weatherby frequented only the
best of shops, her own gown of scarlet silk was the very height of
fashion. Cut low over the bosom and high at the waist with a short
enough skirt to show tantalizing glimpses of a well-turned ankle,
it was forgivable that many gentlemen thought more of tumbling her
into a bed than sliding a ring onto her finger.
    Levi wanted neither. But the girl had a dowry of
twenty thousand pounds. Her age declared her to be on the shelf.
Why, she had to be at least four and twenty! Which accounted for
her very un- débutante choices in dress colors and
styles.
    Lady Marigold frowned, mumbled something incoherent,
and scurried away. Levi watched her exit with mixed feelings. He
preferred his chosen brides in diluted company. Being alone with
any one of them was a fairly accurate glimpse of hell, in his
opinion.
    “ My lord, you are not attending,”
said Miss Weatherby in her throaty voice. She laid one perfectly
manicured hand on his arm and smiled up at him. “Would you like to
find a place where we can be…private?”
    Good God, no! “And deprive all these other
gentlemen of your charming company? I could not be so selfish.” But I am more than willing to pawn you off on any of
them.
    And that’s what he did. He found Lord Acton stood
quite near. Never having liked the stiff-rumped young man, the earl
felt no qualms about leaving the hellcat on the lord’s arm.
    Good, he thought as he walked away, now
everyone’s happy and I can seek out my fairy princess.
    “ Hello, Lord Greville.”
    He stopped, groaned silently and turned, affixing a
social smile to his face. He bowed. “Good evening, Lady
Regina.”
    She did not hold out her hand. Levi liked her all
the better for it. “How is your father?” he inquired politely.
    “ He is quite well, thank you.”
There was an awkward pause. Then she looked away and sighed. “Have
you met Miss Glendenning, my lord? I find her to be quite
personable.”
    “ Indeed. I would have to agree
although I have had little opportunity to converse with the young
lady. Do you know her well?” Please don’t say she loves
cats.
    “ I have only just met her this
very evening. Lady Connor was kind enough to introduce
us.”
    “ Indeed. And you found her to be
quite likable?”
    “ Oh, yes. She was quite enchanted
with the latest antic of my cat, Loki.”
    No. Please. Don’t. Blast.
    “ Apparently,” Lady Regina said as
she leaned closer, “my dear little Loki thought it would be great
fun to present mama with a darling little gift. Mama took exception
to being the recipient of a dead shrew.”
    The Countess of Greenwood would take
exception to a dead version of herself.
    In for a penny… “So what did you do?” Throw the little beast into oncoming traffic?
    The very lovely Lady Regina Trent shrugged one
delicate shoulder. “I had Benning take care of it.” Then she
grinned, a surprisingly charming expression lighting her features.
“Loki took exception to that and shredded poor Benning’s leg.”
    Poor bloke, indeed. “I think I see your
mother gesturing to you,” Levi said then. He wasn’t lying. Lady
Greenwood gestured in the general direction of her daughter. He was
fairly certain, though, that the woman did not want Lady Regina to
abandon the field to someone else.
    It was a conundrum to Levi that he should be so
sought after as a prospective husband. It wasn’t exactly a secret
that he was punting the River Tick. He was the Earl of Greville,
however, and as such owned what the ladies liked to call the most
romantic of medieval castles in England. He didn’t reside at the
castle but at an estate whose grounds were some of the most
picturesque in the country. He also had various estates scattered
around the whole of Europe—all entailed, all only making enough
money to keep the estates afloat, all containing several indigent
relatives, and all the most boring places on earth. But the castle
alone would have