To Seduce a Bride (Courtship Wars)

When she drove up in the open barouche with her sisters, her laughter had been warm and tender. Later, at the wedding breakfast, it was lilting and musical during her animated conversation with her friends, Fanny Irwin and Miss Tess Blanchard. And then a short while ago, husky and delighted when she was talking to the kittens.

Laughter was important to him. It had been a big part of his childhood-an essential part, the best part-before his mother died when he was ten. His friends, Marcus and Drew, had supplied the laughter since then, all during his boyhood when they’d attended Eton and then Oxford together, and for the past decade as adults. But now that Marcus had taken a wife, that would change to a significant extent-

Cutting off that dark thought, Heath returned to ruminating about Lily Loring as he crossed the terrace. It was only natural that he enjoyed her laughter. But he also liked her forthrightness.

In his experience such honesty was unusual when dealing with females of any stamp. After all the mincing and coy flirtations he’d been subjected to from grasping debutantes over the years, her frankness was profoundly refreshing.

Lily’s resistance to him, however, was wholly unexpected. He was not at all accustomed to female indifference. Bold seductions and relentless pursuit were the usual mode. As one of London’s most eligible aristocrats, Heath had been the target of countless scheming husband-hunters for well over a decade.

Surprisingly, his disinterest in marriage hadn’t stopped women from falling in love with him. Instead, they flocked to him, in large part because he knew how to satisfy their desires…

Of necessity Heath’s musings were brought to a halt when he entered the ballroom through one of the rear French doors, the same one he’d exited a half hour before. Almost at once a feminine voice called his name.

To his surprise, he saw Fanny Irwin approaching, as if she had been waiting for his reappearance.

Her expression did not look happy. “My Lord Claybourne,” Fanny said in a low voice that held a note of urgency. “Perhaps you would be so kind as to give me a moment of your time?”

“Of course, Miss Irwin-” he started to say when she cut him off.

“In private, my lord, if you don’t mind.”

Although puzzled by her request, Heath had no objection to following her behind a bank of potted palms. He knew from Marcus that Fanny had been the Loring sisters’ close neighbor and dearest friend in Hampshire during their childhood. He also knew that she was once a respectable young lady who had left home at sixteen to become one of London’s most renowned courtesans. Her success now even rivaled the most fashionable Cyprian of them all, Harriet Wilson. Heath had never patronized Fanny, although he’d seen her at various entertainments they both attended.

The raven-haired, lush-figured Fanny was witty, beautiful, stimulating, and perceptive, and reportedly expert at satisfying her lovers in bed. In short, the ideal mistress.

At the moment, however, there was no sign of her usual sultry affability. Instead, she was surveying him with grave concern.

“I saw you follow Lily from the ballroom, my lord. You cannot deny it.”

His brows drew together as he contemplated what he should say in answer. “Very well, I won’t deny it, Miss Irwin. But is that a crime?”

“It would be if you seduced her.”

Heath felt his gaze sharpen defensively. “My encounter with Miss Loring is a private affair, but you may be assured, I did not seduce her.”

“No?” Fanny said acerbically. “It is obvious that you have been employing your usual seductive methods on someone. Your hair is tousled and flaked with straw, as if you’ve just been enjoying a roll in the hay with a farm milkmaid.”

She reached up to pluck at a stray wisp from his hair. “Ordinarily I wouldn’t dream of interfering with your conquests, Lord Claybourne, but I am Lily’s friend, and I cannot sit idly by while you exploit her for your sport.”

Heath took a slow breath, controlling his impatience. “I admire your concern for your friend, Miss Irwin, but you have nothing to worry about from me.”

“How can I possibly trust your assurances?”

It rankled that she would question his word, yet realizing that Fanny was genuinely troubled, Heath decided to make allowances.

“What would you say if I told you I had just promised Danvers to keep an eye on Miss Loring while he was away on his wedding trip for the next month?”

That much was certainly true, Heath thought. A short while ago, when he and Drew had said farewell to Marcus and reluctantly drunk a toast to the demise of his bachelorhood, Marcus had coerced them into agreeing to look after the two younger sisters while he was gone.

But Fanny did not seem reassured. “This is how you keep an eye on her?” she responded, her tone a bit caustic. “Trysting with Lily in a stable?”

“We weren’t seen together, if it is any consolation.”

“But someone could have discovered you. With your reputation, just being alone with Lily could give rise to gossip. Given their family history, she is more vulnerable than the usual lady of quality. She and her sisters are finally moving beyond the past scandals now that Lord Danvers has made such a concerted effort to reinstate them into society. But you could so easily ruin her.”

“I certainly don’t intend to ruin her.”

“Then what are your intentions toward Lily, my lord?”