Page 1 of A Duke for Stealing
CHAPTER ONE
“Drink up, gents!” Everett hollered.
Twenty-nine-year-old Everett Duskwell, the new Duke of Stapleton and illustrious rake, stood on his chair, nearly tumbled off, muttered a curse, and then raised his glass. Surrounding the table, he stood Everett’s friends Tristan Briarwood, Earl of Briarwood; Hugo Fenwick, Duke of Merrivale; Dominic Astorfield, Duke of Ellsworth; and Alistair Harleigh, Duke of Caldermere, all chortled, but raised their glasses to him.
“After years of avoiding the harrowing walk of matrimony. I, Everett Duskwell, theDukeof Stapleton-” he paused after emphasizing his new title- “I am sadly, obligingly, joining you lot of pitiful men and getting married!”
“God, I hope this is not his wedding speech,” Hugo muttered.
“Quiet, you,” Everett slurred, sloshing whiskey over the rim of his glass as he waved it around his friends. “Devil blast it, look what you made me do. I have lost precious drops of my drink!”
“Someone call the physician,” Dominic joked, “Everett lost a few droplets of whiskey. What a travesty!”
“To me it is!” Everett slurred.
“I must remind you thatIam still avoiding the- what did you call it?” Tristan asked, interrupting the jest, “The harrowing walk of matrimony.”
“Hush, you are all taking me off task and ruining my speech,” Everett muttered, only serving to make his friends laugh again.
“As I was saying, before I wasrudelyinterrupted,” he went on with an air of diplomacy, “I, sadly, will no longer be a bachelor as of next Sunday.”
“As if wedding vows would stop you,” Dominic mocked.
Everett frowned deeply and wobbled his knees, surely looking like a buffoon.
“So tonight we celebrate my final moments of unburdened life-”
“And give pity to your poor unsuspecting wife,” Hugo rhymed, causing another raucous of laughter to erupt from Everett’s friends.
“Bugger you all,” Everett slurred.
His speech ruined, Everett jumped down from his chair and flopped rather distastefully into the seat.
“Oh, come now, lad, we’re just giving ye a hard time,” Alistair said in his deep Scottish brogue, clapping Everett’s back. “Ye know we are here to celebrate with ye.”
“Turncoats, all of you,” Everett muttered, then swallowed his drink.
“Now, now, do not be so spiteful,” Dominic teased, refilling Everett’s glass.
“You all used to be just like me,” Everett pointed out, “Now you’re all simpering moonies for your siren wives. I am disappointed in the lot of you. Truly.”
Knowing he didn’t truly mean it, Everett’s four friends all chuckled as they shook their heads.
“And,you,good sir, have nothing to be disappointed in at all!” Tristan said. “You have snagged the season’s diamond! You have thrust every gentleman of our society into the deepest pits of jealousy.”
Everett’s head snapped up, a brow raised.
“Truly? You think so?” He asked.
“Miss Harriet Miller was deemed most precious by the queen herself,” Dominic pointed out. “Every eligible man- aside from Tristan here- tried to gain her affection.”
“I was too busy keeping our businesses thriving while you three went cavorting with your wives,” Tristan stated with a wide, slightly evil grin. “You are welcome.”
“Ugh, enough,” Everett groaned, rubbing his forehead, “Enough talk of wives, I am to be having fun tonight, not anticipating my doom.”
“God in heaven, I do hope your future wife is not lamenting as you are,” Hugo said.
“So what if she is?” Everett said with a shrug. “At least she would understand this will not be a marriage of love.”
