AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Lucinda groaned. “Please do not dare me. My poor nerves cannot bear it. It is I who do the daring under this roof. I am exempt from the general shenanigans and mischief of the club. I am simply too mature for it,” she desperately said.
“Nonsense,” Theo cried. “That you should try and get out of a dare with that flimsy excuse. I am only two years younger than you, and I was dared, and I had to do it.”
“Well, I am made of sterner stuff and will refuse,” Lucinda said vexedly.
“Oh, no, you shall not,” Theo murmured. “I shall convene a meeting with the ladies and put the matter to a vote.”
Lucinda groaned rather dramatically, and her friend dissolved in laughter then hiccupped. She suspected they were both on their way to becoming delightfully tipsy.
“I second that dare,” Prudence said, sauntering into the small drawing room Theo and Lucinda had sequestered themselves in. “And Charity shall join the call as soon as she arrives. I shall send a quick note asking her to come!”
Lucinda turned her head and glared at her friends before her lips curved into a smile. It would be scandalous indeed to sneak into the earl’s bed and initiate a tryst. She stretched her hands to fold them beneath her head, wondering at her nerve.
“I can see that you are thinking about it,” Theo cried, delighted.
“Perhaps I am thinking about it,” she admitted softly.
A lover. Someone to laugh with, take a stroll in the park…to kiss, and love. A connection that would make her feel less…unfulfilled and lonely.
She closed her eyes, trying to imagine what it might be like to experience the pleasures her friends often said they found with their husbands. Would it indeed chase away the sense of emptiness that the endless balls and frivolities of thetonhad not been able to fill? “The earl is already paying me attention. Perhaps I should allow Lord Raymore to take the reins on whatever is happening,” she murmured, almost vexed with the lack of excitement she felt at the idea of seducing the earl.
“Absolutely not,” Prue said. “He is moving too slow with whatever he is doing. And tonight at the countess’s ball, he danced with Lady Minervatwice.”
“How shocking,” Lucinda said drily. “That he should choose to have some fun.”
Prue scoffed. “It issomethingwhen you consider that everyone knows Lady Minerva is seeking a keeper. The next time you might hear that he has found himself a lover, where would that leave you?”
“It would leave me free from your and Theo’s outrageous urgings,” she said with a light laugh.
“Admit you are tempted,” Theo cajoled.
“Only the slightest bit,” Lucinda admitted with a sniff.
Prudence filled three glasses with sherry and handed them out. “Wedareyou as you have dared us in the past.”
Lucinda shuffled on the sofa, sitting up and curling her feet beneath her shins. Her fingers closed over the cool crystal, centering against the unexpected nerves cascading through her limbs. “Dare accepted,” she said coolly, lifting her glass to her dearest friends.
Prue raised her glass, her green eyes sparkling. “To ladies who dare.”
To ladies who dare.
Lucinda tilted her glass in agreement, taking a sip of her sherry, an odd sense of premonition settling deep inside her that she had perhaps accepted a devil’s bargain.
CHAPTERTWO
A week later…
Chatham, Kent.
Lucinda had been honored by an invitation to Lady Cashmere’s country house in Kent. So far she had enjoyed the idyllic grounds and some gorgeous weather and most importantly some interesting company. The house had started as a small three-story construction, but previous occupants had added to the original cream stone edifice, with an additional ballroom, which was well lit by many windows and a brick extension to the rear which held modern kitchens and servant’s quarters. Lady Cashmere had chosen to decorate in warm shades of pinks and reds without an excess of fancy plasterwork and ornamentation. The overall effect was one of luxurious comfort rather than pomp and show. Lucinda would have found herself feeling rested and at ease with the world if it hadn’t been for the dare hanging over her head like the sword of Damocles.
Lady Cashmere’s house party was well attended by a multitude of notable lords and ladies in theton, who claimed to be enjoying their break from town. Tonight’s gathering in the drawing room was well attended, and a few terrace windows had been opened to allow in the cool breeze. Lady Beaumont entertained everyone with her skill at the pianoforte, and a few couples danced to the lively jig she played with such melodious skill.
This season was quickly drawing to a close, and many of the lords present would soon withdraw to the country to rusticate and hunt. Including Lord Raymore, who currently smiled at Lucinda with a tender look in his eyes. That look warmed Lucinda, even if it did not make her feel breathless with want, as Theo had claimed she felt with only one look from her duke. Lucinda snorted down in her glass of champagne. Perhaps she was simply not a lady fashioned to feel such lusty passion. She was fortunate enough that her two marriages had not been cruel, even if the last one had brought her a measure of heartbreak and many tear-filled nights.
Do not dwell in the past, Lucinda.
“I wonder what you are thinking, Lady Darby, to frown so prettily.”
