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CHAPTER1
London, 1814
Rule One: Stay away from Wallflowers,
They are more trouble than they are worth.
—Gabriel Williams
A Rake’s Rules
“Have you found your next victim, yet?” his friend, David Martin, Earl of Gladhame murmured while sipping his champagne. By London standards, the Crescentwood ballroom was not a large one, but it was a charming room with large windows, a perfectly sized dance floor, and ample comfortable seating for those who did not care to dance.
With only the select number of thecrème de la crèmeof the ton in attendance—not more than fifty, he presumed— it was prime chance for Gabriel Williams, Duke of Clovervale to find his next dalliance for the season.
“How crass of you,” Gabriel murmured. “Victim sounds so…vile.”
“Shall I count the ladies you have loved and left?” David asked smirking, his hazel eyes dancing with mirth.
“Yes, women who could well handle me.”
Gabriel snorted; it was true, he had no time for the innocent and untried. They were beautiful and pure, yes, with hopeful virginal glances and shy smiles, yet he wasn’t a fool.
“One does not deflower a virgin without accepting the consequences. It is quite easy to move from the warm bed to the cold altar and to be caught in the Parson’s snare,” Gabriel announced as his eyes landed on a newlywed pair, Lord Yates, Alistair Hudson and his new wife, who looked as if they would rather be at opposite sides of the room.
Her father had caught them kissing and had demanded that Alistair do right by his daughter; three days later they were wed—with not a speck of affection between them,
Gabriel lifted his chin to them, “Case in point. Some Cupids kill with arrows, some with traps.A moment of passing pleasure can cost you a lifetime of pain. That is why I have my third rule: always be careful.”
“Speaking from experience?” David teased him.
“Hardly,” Gabriel stuck an arm behind him and clasped his fist to the base of his spine. “And you are no better than I am, so do not start lobbying stones.”
“Au contraire,” David snorted, “I may wander from time to time, but I am not as dreadful or dissolute as London’s most infamous rake.”
“But Wallflowers are generally to be avoided,” Gabriel said while he looked over a group of women clad in weak pastels.
Brushing his black hair that curled in natural ringlets around his head away from his face, David remarked, “By the by, is that Lady Cavendish? Why is she heading this way with the fires of hell in her eyes?”
Gabriel handed off his glass. “And with that, I shall make myadieu.”
With a quick look around the room, he spotted a dark maroon curtain that could be his only hiding place. He did not know where it led to, but he was not going to stand and wait for the Lady to corral him into dancing with her two-left-footed daughter who he had drunkenly promised a waltz to a season ago.
He doubted the girl had found her right foot, but he did not particularly care to find out. Ducking through the curtain, Gabriel found himself on a balcony, and because he had thrown a cautious glance over his shoulder, he bumped his shoulder into someone.
Spinning around, he made to apologize and—went temporarily speechless. A lady, elfin and utterly breathtaking, was standing there as awareness—and arousal— sizzled through him.
Her delicate brow arched while he studied her oval face; her cheekbones were high, long lashes rimmed bright green eyes, and her mouth a perfect rosebud. Her long hair was combed into a chignon at the back of her neck. A few strands curled around her ears lending simple yet beautiful adornment to her face.
She is the kind of woman to care overly for adornments or ostentation, is she?
“Good…evening?” she greeted slowly as if she were speaking to a young child.
Even her voice was beautiful—mystery and innocence wrapped in lustrous raven tresses and sweet rose-tinted lips, one perfect package. When she smiled, his breath lodged in his throat.
“Pardon me,” he said, dropping his voice to a purr and went ahead to ladle on the charm. Within minutes she should be blushing and twittering like a debutante at her first ball. “I did not mean to intrude. I was just looking for some privacy and a breath of…fresh air.”
Oh, goodness, she was that in spades. He could not see a speck of pigments on her face and splattered across her nose was a swath of charming freckles.
