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“Well, you can’t expect them to give up on you now, old fellow.” Montgomery scoffed. “You’ve given them hope, popped your head up out of the burrow, so to speak. And once on the market…”
“Always on the market, until wed or dead,” Percy said, glaring. “Yes, I know. I’ll marry in a few years, provided I can find someone to tolerate me. In the meantime, however, I’d like this constant harassment to cease. I’m half afraid I’ll look out of my window one morning to find my house under siege.”
“It cannot be that bad.”
“Ha! It’s bloody well ridiculous—dangerous, even,” he retorted. “Last week one particularly enterprising female actually climbed over the wall and got into my garden. A footman discovered her attempting to enter my residence through a window, no doubt to run straight through the house and out the front door screaming compromise. I thank Providence I was away at the time. I tell you, these women are going to be the death of me.”
A lopsided grin lifted one corner of Montgomery’s mouth. “I’m afraid you’ll have to leave England if you want any peace. Every unwed female here is eyeing you like a chocolate comfit during Lent.”
“I need a plan before leaping into the fray again,” Percy said with a disgusted snort that earned him a few disapproving looks from passersby. As usual, he ignored them.
“I wish you good fortune in implementing any strategy you come up with,” said the other man. “However, you ought to know by now that forethought is of little consequence when love is involved. Your heart will tell you when it is right, not your head.”
“I haven’t a heart,” Percy drawled, snagging a glass from a passing tray and downing its contents. What heart he’d possessed had been spent two years ago. “I’m a soulless cad, a remorseless roué, remember?”
“You’ve more heart than any man I know,” said Montgomery, all seriousness. “Your compassion and bravery puts that of others to shame, myself included, though I wish it were otherwise. I haven’t the courage to do as you’ve done.”
Such praise made Percy uncomfortable. “It is but recompense for the life I’ve led, and inadequate at that. Besides, you have other considerations, responsibilities I don’t share.” He glanced about to be sure no one was near enough to overhear. “Thus I’m at liberty to put myself at risk where you are not.” He sighed. “I hope to God no one ever finds out what I’ve been up to. Let the bloodhounds get so much as a whiff of altruism on my person, and I’m finished.”
Montgomery laughed. “Most men would deliberately fail to conceal such generosity in the hope of impressing others.”
“I’m not most men, and I care nothing for the opinions of my so-called peers—excepting yours, of course.”
“What will you do?”
The quiet question galvanized him. “I intend to throw them off the scent. A rousing good scandal ought to do the trick, don’t you think? I need but find the right female to act as a foil.”
“Oh? And here I thought you sought peace,” teased his friend. “What sort of female do you seek?”
Percy grinned and raised his now empty glass in a mockery of a toast. “One with no heart to wound.” Across the room he spotted Wells. “Pardon me, old boy, but I’ve just seen someone with whom I would consult on the very subject. We’ll play a round of cards later.” Stopping, he half turned back. “Oh, and congratulations, by the bye.”
“Told you, did she?” said Montgomery with an abashed smile.
“Indeed.”
“Much as I adore my little Magpie, I hope this one is a boy,” his friend whispered.
“You’ve plenty of years yet to get your heir. Still, I shall add my hope to yours and wish you luck,” Percy said, happy for his friend. If that happiness was tinged with a bit of envy, he chose not to acknowledge it. Bidding Montgomery adieu, he sought out Wells.
“Miss Eden Lowther, The Hellion of Holker Hall,” the man growled a few minutes later, nodding toward a blond woman of exceptional beauty. “Don’t b
e fooled by her sweet face or winning ways, man. She might look like a very angel, but she’s got the devil’s own heart, if indeed she possesses one at all.”
Perfect. “If I may inquire, what evil deed has earned the lady such harsh rebuke?”
The color in Wells’s ruddy cheeks deepened. “You remember Dewhurst?”
Percy nodded. “Took himself off to his family’s country estate to recover from a fever last Season, didn’t he?”
“Such is the falsehood spread by his family.”
“Oh?”
“The fellow tried to hang himself after her refusal unseated his mind. Damned near succeeded in buying himself a grave at the crossroads, too. He was discovered just in time by his brother, who cut him down. I visited him recently, and he’s still not quite right. Empty husk of a man. I tell you, that female”—he stabbed a finger toward the gallery—“is a bloody siren. She cares nothing for those she lures to their doom.”
Percy assessed his mark. She was delicate and slim—but pleasingly curvy—with hair like warm honey. Her smile, however, was what drew the eye. Quick and radiant, it lit her entire face.
Catching him staring, the girl held his gaze for an instant before turning away in such a manner as to show off her long, graceful neck.
