Page 2 of Taken By the Duke of Stone

Patrick, Lord Dillon shot him an amused look, "I will take a wild guess and say that you're escaping from the Duchess's marriage machinations."

"I knew there was a reason I always bet on you during card games," Victor replied, "What the bloody hell are you doing here anyway? Do not tell me you are jumping into the marriage mart."

Patrick made an irritated sound in his throat, "Trust me chap, the Carltons' stuffy ballroom is the last place I want to be. My aunt is making me do this.”

"I need a drink,” he glanced at the drink in his friend's hand, "Is there anything stronger than waterlogged lemonade here?"

"You know the answer to that," and then he tapped his breast pocket, "it's a good thing I came prepared."

Victor cursed under his breath, "Georgie had better get herself well on her way to the altar before the week ends. If I have to deal with more of this, I shall go insane."

Patrick slanted him a gaze, "I would not accept a sudden offer if I were you."

He knew that of course. His sister's large dowry and her relationship to a duke would make her an object of interest to fortune hunters and societal climbers. Which meant that no matter how much he wanted to foist her off to the first man who took an interest, he couldn't.

Damn it all to hell.

On the other side of the room, Miss Lavinia Proctor was trying her best not to fuss with her dress. Her lady's maid had cinched her corset too tight and she was beginning to feel a little lightheaded.

"I doubt anyone is going to approach you with you wearing that glower," her cousin's voice cut into her thoughts and she directed said glower at him.

"If you pulled us any further into the shadows," Noah continued, "we shall find ourselves standing outside the building."

"You say it like it's a bad thing," she said.

Lavinia couldn't think of anything better than finding her way out of here, locating their carriage and making their way back home.

He shot her a dry look, "at this rate, you are never going to make a match. Not even the footmen have managed to catch a glimpse of you."

"Good," she nodded, brown ringlets flying, "it means that I'm doing a good job."

His mouth curved up, "you are going to end up on the shelf."

"Again, I do not see the problem here," Lavinia told him. "It's actually quite ridiculous that at twenty and two years, I should be considered a spinster while men are allowed to sow their wild oats far into their dotage and are still considered very much eligible till the end of their lives. Take Lord Griffin, for instance."

As one, their heads turned to the dance floor where a balding man stood with a repulsed looking debutante in his arms.

Her cousin pressed his mouth into a thin line to bite back his laugh and she merely made a face at the couple.

"Lord Griffin still has about six years in him," he teased.

"Six years before his body turns into manure," she corrected. "The marriage mart is silly, Noah. Women are bartered off like meat at the butchers. How is one to decide they fancy someone if we are only meant to show a small percentage of ourselves? The rules are meant to turn us into exact replicas of each other. It is a bit like going to the modiste and trying to choose between several of the same dresses."

"Standing at the sidelines and bleeding my ear off about it is not going to do anything to change it," he said mildly.

Lavinia pursed her lips but didn't argue the point. "The fact is that women have everything to lose in a marriage and almost nothing to gain while men lose nothing at all and gain a broodmare."

"You cannot say things like that," he hushed her, glancing around wide eyed to make sure no one had overhead. With a groan, he dragged his palm down his face. "How about a compromise?"

She immediately perked up, "a compromise?"

"I'm here as not just your escort but to ensure you do not spend the whole evening hiding out in the Carltons' library."

The sheepish look she gave him told him quite clearly that he was on the mark.

Noah sighed, "eventually you shall have to speak to other people, so let me begin by introducing you to some of my friends."

She began to protest that his rascal friends were the last people she wanted to associate with, but he immediately cut her off.

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