Font Size
Line Height

Page 26 of Only Earl in the World (Taming of the Dukes)

“As though I’m something ruined or broken in need of repair.”

Nève scoffed. “You’re not!”

“None of us are. And we’re all wonderfully imperfect and flawed in some way,” Effie added. “I love animals more than people, well, except you four, and Gage, I suppose. And I love dildos. In fact, I own a dozen of them in various shades of colored glass. They have names.”

Everyone stilled and then started snorting.

“My brain doesn’t work like everyone else’s. I love swearing,” Vesper chimed in. “And I have a decidedly indecent penchant for swiving my husband in public places. Especially on giant stone dinosaurs.”

A slew of giggles ensued .

“I was paid for coitus,” Nève volunteered. “I’m the richest courtesan duchess in all of England. And France!”

They giggled harder.

“I like being spanked,” Laila admitted, and then went crimson.

They roared, collapsing to the grass in a heap of skirts and crinolines. Briar wiped at her eyes as they all flopped to their backs like the demure ladies they were. The housekeeper and a handful of maids bustled over to clear the table, their faces amused.

They were more than used to the Hellfire Kitties, who never did anything they were supposed to.

Who were unapologetically unconventional.

Who were spurned and envied in equal measure by high society.

Who fought for justice and lived by their own moral codes.

And three of them had married dukes, one a marquess, and well, Briar supposed that she might someday marry an earl.

With laughter in her heart, she stared up at a very blue sky, several shades lighter than the blue she loved. Ocean -blue with flecks of cobalt at the center. Eyes that a girl could willingly drown in.

“I gave Lushing my virginity,” she said.

Dead silence ensued before screaming rent the air, and she was suffocated by four ridiculous women who piled on top of her in an undignified heap.

“WHAT?” The biggest screech was unidentifiable.

“I am finally getting my own sister!” That muffled shout was from Vesper, obviously.

“How was he at the blanket hornpipe? Did you ride the rantipole?” Effie teased, throwing Briar’s own words back at her when she and Vale had been courting, and someone made a gagging noise.

“Vile, I do not want to hear about my brother like that.”

Effie giggled. “And yet you read about it with no qualms? In all her volumes, Lady Ivy has seduced nine redheads, three brunettes, and two blonds. Do the mathematics; red hair is simply not that common.”

“Ten, if you count the real thing,” Briar added with a grin.

“ Ahhh!” Vesper shrieked. “ He was your inspiration in Lady Ivy? Bloody fucking hell, I’m going to be ill. Move! Or I shall cast up my accounts all over the lot of you!”

Briar smashed a palm over her own mouth to block her giggles at Vesper’s histrionics.

By God, she loved her friends.

When the chaos had calmed once more and the others had gotten in all the bawdy jabs they could about Lushing’s red hair, prowess, and stamina, they lay in silence, still piled on each other.

Someone’s leg was jammed over her hip. Her head was currently in Vesper’s lap with her feet trapped beneath Laila, who was half stretched over an entangled Nève and Effie.

“Is the engagement still on then?” Nève asked.

“It was never real to begin with,” Briar replied softly. “Lushing has never actually asked me to marry him.”

“He and I will have words,” Vesper promised.

With fond exasperation, Briar glanced up at her friend.

“Promise me you won’t. If we are meant to be, we will be.

Right now, I have bigger things to worry about…

like whether that sackless viscunt will expose me to the ton.

I don’t care ab out my reputation, but I don’t want to hurt my parents and expose them to scandal. ”

“Cool your heels! Did you just say vis- cunt ?” Vesper asked and then cackled. “Viscunt Sackless shall rue the day he touched one of us! I might not be allowed to commit murder, but when I’m done with him, no one will dare welcome him anywhere, I vow it.”

Nève nodded. “We might not have lawful power, but we have influence. ”

“We are like chai,” Laila added. “You never know how strong we are until you drop us in hot water.”

Effie reached for Briar’s hand and squeezed. “Weak men will always be intimidated by formidable women, and when they try to break us, they learn that we’re not so fragile. We fight back and we don’t suffer fools gladly.”

Sitting in his coach, Jasper stared at the red velvet-lined box containing the elegant gold ring that had belonged to his mother.

He intended it to be an engagement gift for Briar.

While the clarity of the square-cut emerald could never hope to match the brilliance of her eyes, it was a close enough substitute that his heart sped up just looking at it.

A halo of rose-cut diamonds surrounded the glittering, faceted stone.

It was the perfect ring…for the perfect woman.

His stomach clenched with nerves.

She could still say no…

Especially since his second gift for Briar was the purchase of a property in Bath that he intended to give her, regardless of whether she accepted his offer of marriage or not.

He’d just made two stops. One to visit his father, the allegedly ailing and bedridden Duke of Harwick, whom Jasper had caught playing a boisterous round of cards with his valet and his coachman.

The duke had miraculously taken a turn for the better, only just recently, according to his private physicians.

Jasper had had his doubts, but he didn’t blame the crafty old man for forcing his hand. After he’d asked for his late mother’s ring, the duke had brightened and clapped him vigorously on the back, forgetting that he was supposed to be infirm.

“Who is the lucky girl?” his father had asked. “Lady Penelope, is it? Vesper has kept me abreast of gossip in the ton when she visits, though your sister is adamant that the young lady isn’t the one.”

“Vesper is usually right,” Jasper admitted with a resigned laugh. “No, Father. I intend to wed Lady Briar Fairview.”

The duke’s eyes had sparkled with a shrewd knowing.

“The lively chit who writes letters to Parliament on women’s suffrage?

If I recall, she and Dr. Garrett worked with John Stuart Mill for the petition to the House of Commons two years ago, garnering some fifteen hundred signatures in support of their right to vote.

” When Jasper nodded, his father had grinned.

“She’s the one who has always twisted you up in knots and never tolerated any of your tomfooleries. I like her very, very much.”

“That’s the one,” Jasper had replied drily. “Glad you approve. Now I’ll leave you to your clandestine card game. Don’t wager away my inheritance, will you? ”

Jasper’s next stop had been to Briar’s father, the Earl of Rubens.

At first, the earl had listened politely, saying that the viscount had already renewed his suit, but after Jasper had given him a short summary of Viscount Sackley’s foul behavior and treatment of Briar, he’d swiftly changed his mind.

Jasper had also made arrangements to purchase the unentailed property in Bath outright when Rubens had explained that his title would go back to the crown upon his death.

If it was part of her dowry, that meant it would belong to her husband.

Jasper intended to keep it in a trust for her for as long as she lived.

Even if she married, it would remain hers.

He was an avid supporter of the Married Women’s Property Bill in Parliament that had recently been submitted to grant married women the same property rights as unmarried women, to allow them some financial independence.

There was no guarantee it would be approved, however.

And he knew how much her childhood home meant to her.

When the coach finally arrived at Lethe, Jasper knew something was wrong the moment he walked through the doors. Hapless servants were running around while others were openly weeping. Had there been an accident? Had someone died?

He turned to the grim-faced factotum. “What has happened?”

“Minthe is missing,” he said.

Jasper frowned. “What do you mean, missing ? Did she not come in this afternoon?”

“Yes, according to the servants, she was here. And then a message came for a delivery for her or Lady Briar specifically.”

Jasper’s hackles raised, cold dread sluicing through him. “ Or Lady Briar?”

“She was not here, but Minthe went down to retrieve it.” The factotum scowled.

“And then she disappeared. One of the scullery maids said she saw her getting into a fancy-looking carriage. The maid remembered it clearly because they were joking about Minthe finally having a gentleman suitor who was making an honest woman out of her.”

“Any sign of who it was?” Jasper asked, though he had an inkling. The factotum shook his head. “Have one of the grooms saddle my horse.”

“Yes, my lord.”

If he recalled, the viscount had a property just outside of London.

He raced upstairs to his office and sorted through Minthe’s meticulous, alphabetically arranged ledgers.

Sackley had applied for membership less than a year ago, and though it had not been granted—membership at Lethe was exclusive , after all—his brilliant bookkeeper had kept a detailed record of every applicant, including their many addresses, vices, debts, and incomes.

“There you are, you bloody bastard,” he muttered, memorizing the location before opening a case and retrieving a pistol. He made sure that it was loaded before buckling a harness with a holster that went under his coat.

His office door slammed open, and a tempest whirled inside in the form of one curly-haired, green-eyed woman.

“Jasper! Olsen just delivered a note while I was at tea with the girls that Minthe is in trouble.” Briar’s eyes went wide as they dropped to the weapon. “What on earth is that for? Where are you going?”

Ad If ads affect your reading experience, click here to remove ads on this page.