Too Wicked to Wed Read Online Free PDF

fingers. She must guard against turning too cynical, Alexa reminded herself. It wasn’t as if she was hurt by the lack of suitors. So far, of all the gentlemen she had met, there was not a one for whom she felt the slightest glimmer of attraction. Indeed, for all their elegant manners and well-tailored wardrobes, they might as well have been cut from pasteboard. It was hard to distinguish one from another.
    Looking up through her lashes, she saw nothing that was going to alter that opinion.
    “Lady Alexa…” Her lemonade was proffered with a rather exaggerated flourish. “Allow me to escort you across the room.”
    Lady Fiona Eversham and her friends, four rather gawky misses fresh from the schoolroom, greeted Alexa’s arrival politely enough, but their real interest appeared to be in engaging Mr. Givens in a bit of mild flirtation. The young man lingered, clearly enjoying the attention, until the beginning of a new melody reminded him of a previous commitment.
    “He has very broad shoulders,” sighed Miss Katherine Wilberton as Givens finished making his bows and edged his way across the dance floor. “And remarkable blue eyes.”
    “Yes, but Mama says his family is quite un remarkable.” By the firm note of her reply, it was obvious that Lady Fiona was looked up to as the authority by the others. “A minor barony is all, and on top of that, he is naught but a second son. Turn your eyes elsewhere, Kitty. We can all look higher.”
    Though a number of caustic comments came to mind, Alexa remained silent, mildly curious to hear what other words passed for worldly wisdom among the younger girls of the ton . But after a short spell, she was heartily regretting the decision to leave her chair. Following Lady Fiona’s initial observation, the four of them were quick to begin a whispered exchange of other bits of gossip and rumors, each one more outrageous than the next.
    Having heard enough foolishness, Alexa was about to excuse herself when Lady Fiona gave a theatrical flourish of her fan. “And speaking of ineligible gentlemen, you have only to look over there !”
    She followed the young lady’s gaze to the colonnaded entrance of the ballroom.
    “The Earl of Killingworth possesses the most wicked temper in Town,” continued Lady Fiona in a knowing tone. “He is said to have broken a man’s arm just because he did not like the way the fellow was looking at him.”
    “And I overheard Papa say that he shot his paramour’s husband.” Lady Lucinda Lassiter was quick to contribute her own bit of scandal. “But as the man was Italian, Prinny did not force the earl to flee the country.”
    “He is a notorious gamester, and has stripped a number of innocent young men of their fortunes!” added Miss Wilberton rather breathlessly. “It is also said he smuggles brandy.”
    Not to be outdone, Lady Marianne Dickerson gave a tiny wave of her fan. “That is not even the half of it.” Lowering her voice to a conspiratorial whisper, she went on. “Aside from being a ruthless rake, my brother has heard that the earl was cashiered from the army for conduct unbecoming an officer.”
    A nervous titter ran through the group.
    “La, Mama will fall into a fit of megrims when she sees he is among the invited guests. Lord Killingworth is precisely the sort of scoundrel she forbids me to even look at,” announced Lady Fiona. Her eyes, however, remained glued on the tall figure standing in the shadows. “In less polite company, he is known by the nickname of the Irish Wolfhound, and no wonder. The earl is a very dangerous beast.”
    As if the man was going to leap out and sink his fangs into the silly chit’s neck , thought Alexa. She drew in a sharp breath, aghast at the viciousness of the rumors that were circulating through Society.
    Reckless daredevil, inveterate gamester, notorious wom-anizer—Killingworth was certainly no saint, but neither was he the devil incarnate. Though her brother Sebastian had been suspiciously