Page 39 of Always the Bridesmaid, Never the Duchess (Wallflower Season #3)

Scarlet grinned mischievously and teased them for speaking about her when she was not around to defend herself. “I knew that you would be. I had to come over here to stop your vicious tongues before they concocted anything too scandalous.”

“You are far too late for that!” Jane teased right back. “Though, in all seriousness, you looked as if he bored you to tears. I was tempted to place a bet on whether or not you would yawn and ruin the prospect entirely.”

“If I was uninterested, you were the only ones who noticed that. My brother seems to wish to hand me off to the first person he can get his hands on…I do not think that it matters to him any longer who it is so long as I am no longer his problem.”

Her three friends passed a glance between them. They all refrained from bringing up the numerous scandals that had followed her family last year. It was times like this when it was harder to keep from mentioning them.

A drunk for a brother, a town gossip for a mother, and a sister who had married a Marquess who until their wedding had not cleared his name — everybody had thought him to be a vicious murderer. It would be hard to produce a scandal that would top that.

Though, perhaps, if she managed it — it would be reason enough to put a permanent end to her brother’s constant pestering.

They had worked so hard to keep the scandals from affecting her own marriage prospects, and until this point, it had worked…

maybe she should have let it. At least, it would have kept things interesting.

“I understand your struggles, Scarlet; I too am suffering from the lack of challenge or thrill in this Season’s gentlemen,” Poppy agreed as she hooked her arm in through Scarlets.

“If you are truly looking for entertainment, my dear friends, there is one surefire way to find something a touch more exciting…but it might be too scandalous for your innocent, unmarried ears to hear—” Rosalie mused, tapping her gloved finger against her chin.

There was no telling just how many glasses of wine she had had until this point, but from the pink tint on her cheeks, it was likely at least one or two glasses more than she ought to have.

Yet, her words lured Scarlet in as they were meant to. She and Poppy loomed closer.

“I assure you, after listening to some of the very unsavory things the older gentlemen have whispered to me, I can handle anything,” Poppy said.

“Yes, please, tell me.” Scarlet agreed. The small group of women huddled closer together with a grin as Rosalie beckoned them forward with a finger.

“You can always attempt to pursue a thrilling genre of man known as a rake.”

Poppy balked and took three steps back from the group, blushing furiously. No doubt the notion shocked her to her core, no matter what she said. Yet, Scarlet found herself having the exact opposite reaction. A thrill curled through her and spread as curiosity piqued her mind.

She spoke equally as softly. “And where would one find one of those men? I have not heard rumors of that sort this Season.”

Rosalie smirked and shook her head. “I knew that you wanted something darker, you saucy little minx.” She finished off her wine and hiccupped. “I happen to know that one is in attendance, for my darling Henry forbade me from speaking his name, let alone going anywhere near him.”

“Have you seen him?” Jane asked animatedly, curious as to how all of this was going to play out.

Rosalie nodded. “I have, and he is exactly as handsome as any would expect. I cannot tell you the first thing about seducing a man who has no doubt raked through half the continent…imagine all of the worldly experiences that he has had. No, but I can tell you that his name is Jonathan Reeves, none other than the Duke of Winbury.”

“A Duke?” Poppy hiccupped around the word, trying to work herself back into the conversation.

Rosalie nodded and grinned. “In fact, I believe that he’s making his way around the dance floor at this very moment…look, there he is.”

“Not all at once!” Rosalie chastised quickly as the small group of women turned quickly to see the man in question.

Jane snapped her head back in the proper direction quickly, not wishing to be noticed by anyone that might think that she was being improper in any fashion. While she was a committed spinster, she did not wish to provide false hope to those thinking that she was lingering her gaze on them.

Scarlet, however, could not turn her attention away so quickly.

The man in question was the very definition of tall, dark, and handsome.

He had the sort of expression that begged to be studied further.

His jaw did not sit quite straight on his face, and his brow was large and pensive.

His thick, dark hair pushed back away from his face artfully.

A small collection of moles covered the side of his face and traveled down the side of his neck where they disappeared under the collar of his shirt.

He had a solitary mole under his right eye.

The whole collection looked something like a painting of stars scattered across his tanned skin.

More charmingly, he smiled. It was a loud sort of expression, the sort that consumed the entirety of his face, stretching his full lips with it as his hand clapped the shoulder of the gentleman he was speaking to.

Whatever story it was that they shared was of the amusing sort.

Scarlet desperately wished to hear it. She wished to be so thrilled by a story that she was nearly doubling forward with laughter like Jonathan Reeves was doing.

The wine in his goblet nearly tipped forward, and he fumbled to keep from allowing the contents to slosh out of the glass itself and tip forward to the floor which only served to make him laugh louder. In fact, he seemed to be the only person in the entire ballroom who was enjoying himself so much.

Some part of her longed to be closer to him, longed to be standing at his side. She wanted to place her gloved hand on his arm and be pulled closer into the conversation just so that she could be enjoying herself on that level.

When was the last time that I enjoyed myself so thoroughly?

Scarlet crossed her arms over her chest and ran her thumb across her lower lip, watching both of them from the corner of her eye.

The gentleman he spoke to wiped a tear of laughter from his eye and said a few parting words before sidestepping him and rejoining his wife.

It was obvious that Jonathan Reeves was very well-liked, for the next person that he accidentally bumped into, he fell into just an easy conversation with.

Perhaps if I orchestrate a way to bump into him, he shall strike up such a conversation with me? It would certainly save me the trouble of dreaming up a conversation to strike with someone such as himself.

Scarlet knew that a rake such as himself would be able to provide her with some comfort.

Never mind that Edward would be furious with her for choosing to attract that sort of attention.

He would be forced to pay more attention to her then.

He would not be able to stick her into a room full of brainless, droll suitors and hope for her to just select one at random.

He could not stop her from courting a Duke either.

Assuming, of course, that courting was involved in the first place.

“Scarlet…Scarlet, are you listening to me?” Jane placed a hand on her arm, forcing her attention away from the Duke and back to her friends.

“Hm?” Scarlet asked, not having heard a word that had just been said to her.

“You cannot seriously be considering this, can you?” Jane warned with her eyes and a subtle shake of her head.

“So what if she is?” Rosalie laughed. “Mercy knows that should I have taken a few more risks before I agreed to be married then I would not feel so underwhelmed in my marriage bed.”

“Rosalie!” Poppy gasped, the back of her hand covering her mouth. “You cannot speak of such things!”

“Oh, darling, I am married so now; I can speak of anything that I choose,” Rosalie said a touch too loudly, drawing the attention of her husband who started to make his way back toward them with a sour expression on his face.

Rosalie clicked her tongue in disapproval and nearly stomped her foot in disappointment for what was heading her way.

No doubt he was ready to take his wife home so that she did not embarrass him.

Scarlet adored Rosalie, but she was a terrible drunk when she got too far into her cups — which was fairly often.

Jane turned to Scarlet as Rosalie started to speak to her husband.

“I can see the wheels turning inside of your head already, Scarlet, and you must not do it. Rosalie is already married and settled in a very comfortable life despite her arguments. She can afford to be bold in her words and suggestions where you and Poppy cannot. You must bear that in mind as you have not yet committed yourself to the spinster life as I have.”

Scarlet patted her friend’s arm. “Do not fret on my behalf, my dear friend. Do you really believe me to be the sort?”

Scarlet glanced over her shoulder to allow herself one final glance, but the Duke was no longer standing where he had been.

In spite of what might be the more reasonable reaction, her ears pricked in search of his boisterous and rich laughter.

She wished to at least have one final glance to indulge herself before resigning herself to the roster awaiting her attention on the dance card so daintily tied around her wrist.

She ought to resume what was expected of her.

She ought to heed her friend’s sound advice.

Yet, the moment that her eyes settled on the tall man’s form and the swift yet somehow casual way that he crossed the room toward the same exit that her own mother had retreated out of moments before, her feet started moving.

“Excuse me, I shall return swiftly,” Scarlet whispered without conviction.

“Where are you going?” Jane whispered after her, reaching for her skirts and not quite managing to make purchase to stop Scarlet as she whirled out of the way.

“I must attend the powder room for a moment. No, no, I do not wish for company. I shall return promptly,” Scarlet lied, her grin spreading even further. She tried to cover it with her fingers, but the heat rushing to her cheeks could not be hidden in that way.

She had never done anything like this before. The moment she was out of the loud rush of the ballroom, a moment of hesitation filled her. Her footsteps slowed as she moved further away from the party and toward the doors leading into the gardens.

This is lunacy.

She could not be seriously considering rushing after a gentleman that did not know her and to whom she had certainly not been introduced.

“Scarlet!” Poppy’s voice came from down the hall. No doubt she was hoping to talk Scarlet back into the hall.

Scarlet swallowed a giggle and lifted her skirts higher so that her slippered feet made less noise against the polished floors. It was precisely the push that she needed to propel herself further in the chase of a perfect stranger.

She could not help but wonder about all of the possibilities.