Ellen’s heart beat wildly. Her reputation would be ruined if anyone caught them together like this unchaperoned. She could feel the tears running down her cheeks more freely now.
“You need to be quiet. Do you understand?” the man said.
She nodded her reply.
“All right, then,” he said, letting her go gently and putting a respectable distance between them. “I am sorry if I startled you. I wasn’t aware anyone else was here.”
The Earl of Ridlington! What was he doing out in the gardens?
“Oh my, I must have given you such a fright,” the Earl said when he saw her tears. “Here,” he continued, handing her his handkerchief.
“Thank you, My Lord,” Ellen replied, dabbing at her face lightly.
“Please, call me Gerard. I do not care much about my title. And if you’re here, instead of inside, dancing, I’d suggest that you don’t care much about it as well,” he grinned wolfishly.
Ellen gasped. He certainly was more handsome than all the eligible bachelors of thetonput together, but she knew that this was a dangerously handsome man who would only get her in a lot of trouble. “I would like to go now,” she said softly and turned away.
Gerard grabbed her by the wrist. “But we have not been yet introduced. Would not you say it’s rude to leave without telling me your name?”
Ellen gasped again. This man had no regard for the rules of propriety. She was genuinely shocked at his inappropriate behavior, even though she felt a warmth spreading through her as he held her hand. “My Lord,” she began, “I am ashamed to discover that your reputation does indeed precede you. You shouldn’t touch a lady you have just met.”
Gerard began to laugh, leaving Ellen quite confused.Why was he laughing? Was he so mannerless that he would ruin her reputation like this?
“I have never been spoken to in this manner before. Such a quick judge of my character. Poets would not do your passion justice,” Gerard said.
“You don’t strike me as a reader of poetry.”
“You shall have to tell me what I strike you as then.”
“A rake.”
Ellen put her other hand over her mouth as the words left her mouth. She had just called the Earl of Ridlington a rake. Her mother would have her head. “Please let me go,” she pleaded. “I need to get back to the ballroom before my mother notices that I am gone.”
“Hmm. You have called me a rake, questioned my character, and said nothing kind to me when you have only just met me. I may not have been around thetonmuch, so I have to wonder if this is the newly accepted norm?”
“You have to agree that nothing about the circumstance of our meeting is normal. You just jumped down from a tree.”
The Earl nodded. “I will make you an offer then.” Ellen winced at the mention of an offer, but if Gerard noticed, he did not say anything about it. “I assure you that I can be gentlemanlike if I want to, and I will be civil if you will be too.”
“I doubt that we shall see each other again, so that will not be necessary,” she said and turned to leave.
“Wait, your…what is that?” Gerard asked, causing Ellen to turn around to face him again with a sigh. He was holding the list of don’ts she had thrown to the ground earlier.
“That isn’t yours to look at, My Lord,” she said, horrified.
Gerard paid no mind and began to read.
Be alone with a man
Stray from the ball to the gardens on your own
Be rude to a gentleman or lady
Accept three dance offers from the same gentleman
Go anywhere unchaperoned
Never let a Rake kiss you
