Partially discomfited by the warnings of the handsome Earl, Harriet went back to the ballroom, intent on seeking Lord Dawson. Lily had not arrived, and Harriet was content to wait for her friend while seeking the object of her affection.
While perusing the room, the Earl’s eyes—blue, or brown—she had not deciphered, sprang up in her mind. He was unquestionably handsome, but of a dark, brooding sort. Tall, broad-shouldered with dark hair that merged with the night around him, his hooded eyes and dark stare. But what sent shivers down her spine was his deep, raspy seductive, voice.
He was handsome, a bit brazen in warning her off from Lord Dawson—whom, after two passes through the people gathered around her, she still could not find. Disheartened, she retreated to the ladies’ room to compose herself.
Perhaps he stepped out to get some air.
Despite that, the ball was hardly a crush, and no one was stifled for air; the reasoning made sense to Harriet as she went back—and immediately got swept up in Lord Barkley’s arms.
“Alors!” she gasped, as he swept her to the floor.
“You need to listen to me,” the Earl said boldly as the strains of the waltz were in the air. “Lord Dawson is not good for you.”
Now, Harriet got annoyed, “And I told you, provide me with proof.”
“After this dance, I’ll show you,” the Earl said, his brown eyes dark in the light, while he bowed. “Benjamin is my best friend and ally. I cannot, in good conscience, allow you to ruin yourself with him; to seduce him, he is the worst scoundrel possible.”
An icy chill settled into Harriet’s stomach as she curtsied, “How do you know that?”
“When you left, you dropped something,” the Earl said, taking her hands. “A letter to Miss Matthews.”
“You…” she faltered for words, as outrage sparked in her chest, “how dare you! That was not for your eyes!” After a spin, Harriet held unto him and glared. “Give it over, now.”
“I will not,” he said, “as I am going to dissuade you from this. You will make the worst mistake of your life if you are entangled with him.”
Why is this man so adamant in stopping me? It is not even his business.
“This is none of your—”
“On the contrary,” Lord Barkley interrupted smoothly. “It is. No true gentleman would let you ruin yourself when you can have a respectable life with a good lord.”
“But what if I don’t want a respectable lord?” Harriet snapped.
“You want to be wicked,” he said, rhetorically.
“I want to be wicked,” Harriet replied.
His brows lowered, “Any particular reason for such a desire?”
Harriet kept quiet as she was not sure how he would react to telling her that her tendencies to speak her mind and act on impulse had landed her firmly in the company of the permanent wallflowers of the season. Only the gracious patronage of her brother-in-law had been given her more seasons.
“From what I’ve seen, wicked women have the most fun and pay little for it,” Harriet said as she was dipped.
With him hovering over her for the eternal seconds it took for him to pull her up, Harriet felt overwhelmed at the fierce look in his eyes and how his hair flopped over his crown.
Back on her feet, she let out a breath, “The other lords are all staid stuff-shirts anyway with no inkling of eroticism, excitement, or spontaneity. What if I want to have some passion, real desire before I’m saddled with a boring man who only cares about horses or his friends or—dash it all—cards.”
“Is that what you think respectable Lords are?” Brown eyes dug into hers, “A bore?”
“I have no references to think otherwise,” Harriet said staunchly. “Even my brother-in-law, Lord Carrington, is holed up in his study, and when he does go out, it is to see his steward or to a gentlemen’s club.”
Lord Barkley laughed. “Oh, you poor, naïveingénue. You have no inkling how easy it is for men to make women look the other way when they need to be indiscreet.”
Just as she was going to ask him how he knew all this, Harriet remembered him saying that he was far from innocent.
“For curiosity sake,” Harriet murmured. “What are the ways men deceive women?”
His lips flattened, “They are more than we have time to discuss here.”
