Page 2 of The Truth about the Lady (Whispers of the Ton #6)

CHAPTER ONE

“ H o there!”

Samuel, the Marquess of Thorne, grinned as not one but three of his friends approached him, clearly eager to see just how well he had done at the card table.

“My friends!” Chuckling, he spread his hands out wide, showing the stack of coins and the one vowel. “What say you to this?”

“Goodness, it appears that you have not only taken our money but the money of every gentleman present at the table this evening!” Lord Jedburgh said, pushing one hand through his hair as his eyes rounded just a little as he took in the sheer amount in front of Samuel. “It is clear that you have had an excellent night.”

“One of the best,” Samuel agreed, with a broad grin. “Though I did feel a little guilty taking coin from my dear friends, however.”

This made his friends laugh wryly, each exchanging a glance as though they wanted to be sure that the other felt the very same way. None of them believed for a moment that Samuel had felt even the smallest twinge of guilt over the games he had played and the money he had taken.

“Indeed,” Lord Sunderland said, one eyebrow arching. “If you do feel so truly guilty, then I would be glad to alleviate that guilt by retrieving my coins.” His eyebrow fell back into place, only to pull into a frown. “I have lost rather a large amount this evening.”

“Though that is entirely your own fault,” Samuel remarked, getting up from the table and sweeping the coin into a leather pouch, choosing not to give even a small amount back to his friends. “You were the one who sat down to play cards in the first place! Besides,” he continued, sending a wink in Lord Sunderland’s direction, “it is not as though you cannot afford to lose.” Lord Sunderland, Samuel knew, was one of the wealthiest gentlemen in London, though he had a lesser title than Samuel himself.

“That is certainly true,” Lord Elledge agreed, chuckling. “Come now, do not be a poor loser, my friend.” He set one hand on Lord Sunderland’s shoulder. “We all know just how much you do not like to lose any sort of coin but alas, in this case, it appears that you have d one so. And there is nothing you can do to regain it.”

“Aside from play again.” Lord Sunderland shot Samuel a quick look. “What say you? Another game?”

Samuel shook his head. “No, not this evening.” Setting the pouch in his pocket, he made his way from the table, his friends following him. “Though another time, certainly.”

“I shall hold you to that!” Lord Sunderland stated, slapping one hand on Samuel’s shoulder, as though this would be enough to force Samuel to play another game very soon. “You know that I shall not forget.”

Though I might refuse all the same. Samuel, disliking the way that Lord Sunderland was insisting upon this situation, shook off his friend’s hand. “Come now, tell me about this soiree. I did not expect there to be so big a crowd, I confess it. Lord Berkshire does not have the largest townhouse in all of England, that much is certain!”

“Though he is still an excellent host,” Lord Jedburgh added, with a small shrug when Samuel looked across at him. “I have found this evening to be a particularly enjoyable, even if I did lose some coin to an old friend.” With a grin, he nudged Samuel, who laughed.

“There will be many more opportunities for you to lose more of your coin to me, Jedburgh. Have no concern in that regard!”

“I thank you.” Lord Jedburgh chuckled quietly. “My goodness, this is a good evening, is it not? The card table was open from the very moment we walked into the room!”

Samuel, making his way through the room slowly, began to nod as he took in the sheer number of guests and the footmen who were trepidatiously making their way in and out of the groups of guests with trays of both food and drink in their hands. Given that the card room had been open from the very moment that Samuel had stepped into the room – and since he had made his way there at once – he had not realized just how many other people were present. Their host certainly had invited a good many gentlemen and ladies!

“The library is available, as is the ballroom,” Lord Elledge told Samuel, glancing all around him as Lord Jedburgh stepped into another conversation. “It is such a crush in here, I am sure that the ballroom would be less so.”

“Indeed.” Samuel, who did not much like the crush of a filled drawing-room, began to make his way to the door. “The ballroom, then?”

“The ballroom.” Lord Elledge led the way and Samuel followed, with Lord Sunderland falling behind, having delayed to stay and talk with a young lady of quality. Samuel glanced back over his shoulder, wondering who it was that he was talking to but his view was quickly broken up by the faces and figures of others. Lord Sunderland, as far as Samuel knew, had no intention of seeking out a bride this Season, so why was he pausing to talk to a young lady? Recalling the way that Lord Sunderland had behaved last Season, Samuel groaned inwardly. Surely his friend had learned his lesson by now?

“You look thoughtful.”

Samuel smiled briefly. “I am merely wondering if our dear friend is considering courting a young lady this Season, despite his protests that he wants nothing like that whatsoever!” He darted a look towards Lord Elledge but his friend only snorted.

“Lord Sunderland will be just as he was last Season, I fear and will be quite determined with it. The only thing that he desires is fine company and if that is with the young ladies present this evening, then I do not think he will have any difficulty in finding it.”

This made Samuel frown. “I do not think that I should like him to take advantage of any young lady, especially if they are unwed. After last Season, I would have thought he knew to stay back from them all.”

“Nor should I like him to do so,” Lord Elledge said, gently. “But we can do nothing at this present moment. And it may very well be that he does nothing at all, aside from conversation and dancing, just as any gentleman of the ton might do.”

Samuel frowned but did not disagree. Though Lord Elledge was quite correct, there was something about Lord Sunderland’s character that Samuel had always found difficult. There was a streak of determination that ran a little too deep, for Samuel had seen Lord Sunderland force others to give him what he wanted on prior occasions. He could only pray that it would not be so today.

“Here we are now.” Lord Elledge let out a long breath. “A little less of a crush here, is it not?”

Samuel looked around the ballroom, nodding in quiet agreement. There was entertainment here also – a small quartet that was playing something quite lovely and a dancer or two who were putting on an excellent performance, given the small group that was gathered to watch. Samuel let his gaze rove around the room, noting the one or two smaller groups standing together, though most were of ladies rather than ladies and gentlemen together. He did not want to interrupt them though he was interested in observing them, nonetheless. Being a Marquess with an excellent fortune meant that he was very often in demand when it came to his company and conversation but on evenings like this, Samuel preferred to be very careful and considerate as to which of society he spoke with. That way, he considered, he would be seen as a boon to any conversation, with those involved in conversing with him feeling almost a sense of privilege in what they had been able to do by having him in their company. It was, he knew, a way of adding to his own sense of superiority but that did not much trouble him.

“You are thinking as to who you might go to speak with, I presume?” Lord Elledge, one of Samuel’s closest friends, nudged him lightly. “Might it be that you yourself are seeking out a bride this Season?”

Samuel snorted at this, rolling his eyes in as obvious a manner as he could. “I think not.”

“No?”

“No.” Samuel shook his head firmly. “No, I shall not be pursuing a bride.”

“And whyever not?”

Lord Elledge, the only gentleman in Samuel’s close circle of friends who was already wed, came to stand a little in front of him, forcing Samuel’s full attention to be on him. “Why should you turn away from the thought of matrimony?”

With a heavy sigh that, Samuel hoped, told his friend that he had no interest in continuing on this conversation, Samuel spread his hands out. “I have determined that I will marry only when I have no choice but to do so. That may come from a sense of duty from within – though it is not something that concerns me as yet – or it may come from the expectation of others.” His hands fell to his sides. “I want only to enjoy the Season, to flirt outrageously whenever I please, and dance, speak, and smile with as many young ladies that will indulge me. The truth is, I can see that matrimony only as a bind, something that would take away all my delight and happiness.”

“I hardly think that is true!”

“Well, of course you would say so,” Samuel continued, waving away his friend’s protests. “You must say so, for else it would make out that your present situation is a good deal more miserable than you have tried to make us all believe!” He wiggled his eyebrows and grinned though Lord Elledge’s expression soon darkened. “Come now, you cannot tell me – and I will not even believe it if you do – that marriage has made you happier!”

Lord Elledge drew himself up, a sharpness in his gaze which forced Samuel’s grin to fade just a little. “I should like to inform you, whether you trust me or not, that marrying my dear Eliza has been the most wonderful thing I have ever done. It has brought me more joy and delight than I can express.”

Resisting the urge to roll his eyes again, Samuel tipped his head, assessing his friend’s expression.

“I will admit that the marriage was not something that I thought well of at the time,” Lord Elledge admitted, shrugging lightly as his gaze pulled away. “I am sure that you recall very well the number of times I expressed my frustrations that a gentleman such as I had no other choice but to marry.”

Samuel nodded. “Indeed I do.”

“But that has changed in this last year,” Lord Elledge continued, a firmness in his expression now. “I find myself more than contented, for it has changed my entire world! My whole life is now one of brightness and beauty, and if I am to be truthful – though no doubt, you will mock me for it, I have discovered myself to be quite in love with her.”

This knocked all sense of humor from Samuel’s chest. Instead, he swallowed hard, blinking quickly as Lord Elledge nodded, perhaps seeing Samuel’s shock. The astonishment of hearing such a thing from Lord Elledge shook Samuel’s frame entirely, for he had always thought – as had Lord Elledge, he had believed – that love was nothing more than some preposterous nonsense that mayhap, only the foolish young ladies might believe to be real and true. Now, however, it seemed that all of that had been turned entirely on its head!

“I shall not permit you to ask me any questions as though you will find a way to force me to reconsider my feelings and realize that all I have felt is not so,” Lord Elledge continued, firmly. “I did not tell you this before for I knew precisely the reaction you would have and I will not permit you to do so now.”

“I shall do nothing of the sort.” Samuel, who had a thousand questions on his mind in a single moment and wanted nothing more than to throw them at his friend one at a time, swept into a bow. “I assure you, I shall say nothing. It is entirely your own situation and circumstances and if you say that you have fallen in love with your wife, then I have no choice but to believe you.”

Lord Elledge lifted his chin. “Good.”

“Though I am sorry that she is not here in London,” Samuel continued, a tiny hint of a smile touching the edge of his mouth. “I should like to hear from her whether or not such feelings are returned.” He chuckled as Lord Elledge frowned heavily. “For who could think to fall in love with you ?”

This made Lord Elledge roar with something mixed between frustration and good humor, though Samuel only grinned. His friend rolled his eyes and then stepped back, looking all around the room.

“I think I could do with another drink.” He lifted his chin, gesturing behind Samuel. “There is Lord Sunderland.” A small frown pulled at his forehead. “Careful now, I think that he is approaching a young lady standing alone.”

Samuel turned quickly, seeing that what Lord Elledge had seen was indeed what was happening. “You go and find us a drink,” he said, beginning to step away. “I shall make sure Lord Sunderland does not behave poorly.” Quite why a young lady was standing alone, Samuel did not know but he certainly did not want Lord Sunderland to be anywhere near her. Though Lord Sunderland was someone he considered a friend, he did not think well of the gentleman when he was in his cups and thereafter, flirting outrageously with any lady he set his eyes on! And particularly debutants ought, to his mind, be left entirely alone – though Lord Sunderland did not have the same consideration.

“Sunderland! Come with me, if you please.” Taking the arm of his friend, he tried to pull him away from the young lady, who was standing against the wall but with huge, frightened eyes that were fixed entirely upon Lord Sunderland. “Come now, my friend. Lord Elledge is finding us the finest brandy.”

Lord Sunderland threw out one hand towards the young lady, settling it on her shoulder though she flinched instantly. “You cannot mean to drag me away from this beautiful creature, surely?”

“My – my sister will return in a moment, I am sure.” The young lady’s voice was quiet but her face was filled with fright. “She is gone only to fetch us both a drink.”

“Of course.”

“I – I should not like you to think that there was any sort of impropriety.” The young lady’s breath hitched as she looked into Samuel’s eyes and in an instant, he realized what it was that she feared. Instantly, he shook his head.

“No, of course not. I can assure you that no-one will say a word, for there has been no impropriety. Though Lord Sunderland ought to be behaving a good deal better than he is at present!” Relief flickered in her eyes, though her gaze quickly went back to Lord Sunderland. Samuel did not know what it was that Lord Sunderland had said to her in the few minutes before he had arrived but given her expression, he believed that it was not anything good. He was glad, at least, that he had been able to relieve her fears; the fear that someone might think her behaving improperly in entertaining a gentleman’s conversation when standing alone. She was doing nothing wrong, particularly if her sister was only just about to return.

“I have behaved perfectly well!” Lord Sunderland pulled his hand away from the lady and turned towards Samuel, who immediately began to wonder just how much his friend had imbibed in the short time between being in their company in the drawing room and thereafter, the ballroom. “I do not think – ”

“Ah, there is my sister.” The young lady glanced towards Samuel, bobbed a quick curtsy, and then stepped away. “Do excuse me.”

The moment she left, Samuel grabbed Lord Sunderland’s arm, yanking him a little closer. “Whatever is it that you think you are doing?”

Lord Sunderland’s frown was one of confusion. “I do not know what you mean.”

“Last Season, you almost ruined a debutante and it was only because the gentleman courting her wanted to marry her that you were not forced to step in.” Samuel gritted his teeth, a flash of upset crashing through him as he remembered all that his friend had done. It had not been a pleasant Season. “Why are you behaving so foolishly now?”

Lord Sunderland rolled his eyes and stepped back, forcing Samuel’s hand from him. “You worry too much, Thorne. Keep to your own affairs.”

“Brandy?” Lord Elledge broke into the conversation, a glass in either hand. Lord Sunderland, however, took one from him, leaving Samuel with nothing, and with a growing frustration, Samuel turned on his heel.

“I shall fetch another,” Lord Elledge said quickly. “My friend, I – ”

“I shall be quite all right,” Samuel answered, hurrying away from his friends, a dark cloud of frustration twisting around him. This was his first soiree of the Season and yet, somehow, Lord Sunderland had managed to almost ruin it entirely.

I shall not help him again, he told himself, suddenly desperate to be as far away from his friend as he could. No matter what happens, I shall stay far from whatever trouble Lord Sunderland puts himself in.