Page 40 of Miss Kimble Bites Back

Sebastian winced. Lord Brookes looked to have trapped himself into making a marriage. Finally, one of the ladies he’d led on would bring him up to scratch.

As Sebastian looked across the room, he couldn’t help but notice that Justine Dawes had turned pale as Lord Brookes took up her sister’s hand.

He glanced at Gabby, wondering what she thought of this turn of events.

“This is terrible. Poor Justine,” Gabby whispered. “Such a scandal.”

Although Gabby had whispered the question to him, Justine shot her a look of pure venom. Gabby flinched, and Sebastian moved closer to her side.

She looked up at him. “Why is she doing this in front of everyone?”

“To force his hand,” he told her, even as Brookes was lowering himself to one knee before Lady Whitlow. No one paid attention to the sister’s dismayed expression.

Sebastian turned away. He’d seen enough.

“I could never have done that just to become a wife.”

“There will never be a need. Lady Whitlow got what she wanted, and in the same manner as she acquired her first husband. She’s fond of a match under the threat of blackmail,” Sebastian murmured.

Justine moved to stand behind the pair, her eyes lowered now.

People started moving around and whispering as the prospective bride and future groom were encouraged to dance together. To celebrate their match, such as it was.

Sebastian vowed that at the next ball, society would celebrate a better-made match. One both parties wanted.

He turned to Gabby and held out his hand. “May I have the pleasure of the next dance, Miss Kimble?”

“I would be deeply honored, your grace,” she said immediately, throwing him a shy smile.

Sebastian reached for his hand.

As they took the floor, along with others, he glanced at Justine Dawes one last time. She stood alone and continued to regard the floor. He felt pity for her. She’d made a mistake turning her back on true friends.

His glance darted across the room to where Lord Brookes had just clumsily trod on his future bride’s foot. Lady Whitlow limped to the sidelines, but Brookes turned the other way, leaving her to her friends. There had never been a more ill matched couple in his entire memory. Yet Brookes had proved himself an enemy. He had tried to blacken his character to Gabby’s guardian. Sebastian could not forgive him for that.

Sebastian drew Gabby into his arms a little tighter and let out a sigh. “It’s the ultimate revenge.”

“What is?”

“Our engagement.”

Gabby glanced up at him and frowned. “I could never see it that way.”

“That warms my heart to hear,” he promised as they spun about the floor together, perfectly in tune with each other.

EPILOGUE

Gabby sat impatiently in her new bedchamber, her fingers playing with the delicate fabric of her wedding gown. It was the day of her nuptials, and she was about to marry the man of her dreams.

She couldn’t believe how lucky she was and how deeply she adored her future husband. Four months of courtship, longing glances, and a few precious, stolen hours where they had been completely alone with each other.

Gabby had lost her innocence to Sebastian the night their wedding date had been announced, and Sebastian had been the most attentive suitor ever since.

Tonight, they would be alone together all night long, and she could not wait. She would have Sebastian naked in his bed or in hers. And tomorrow, his would be the first face she saw.

As she waited for Bennett to come and fetch her to give her away, her mind wandered back to the day when she first met Sebastian. He’d affected her from the start, but she had not realized what their relationship might become until many weeks had passed.

And now, they would be husband and wife. It was to be a small, private ceremony in his home, with only their closest friends and family in attendance. Cordelia had organized everything for their special day. Lady Windermere had provided Gabby’s wedding gown, a trousseau, and information about how she might satisfy her husband and herself in their marriage bed.