Page 3 of A Gentleman Never Surrenders
“Shall we go down to dinner?” she asked.
“Yes.” Rowena raised her chin, a self-confidant smile replacing the girlish eagerness as though she’d become a different woman in an instant.
They departed her room, which lay in the east wing of Hampton House, where most of the guests were staying for the dinner party. A group of gentlemen and a few ladies were waiting at the bottom of the grand staircase for the other guests to come down. All eyes turned to Milly and Rowena as they came into view. Milly paused, letting Rowena have her moment to collect the admiration of the room.
Enjoy it, little sister. Someday you will have to choose your path—wife or spinster. Until she did, Rowena could enjoy her first dinner party. Milly glanced at the faces below and froze. There was one man down there she had no intention of interacting with unless forced. He hadn’t been on the formal guest list but had to have been a last-minute addition. His presence wouldn’t have stopped her from coming, but lord she so hated to be around men like him…After the last house party at Hampton House, she’d been determined to avoid him if possible.
Mr. Owen Hadley was a fortune hunter. A man like that was dangerous. They cared little or not at all for the women they seduced in an attempt to find suitable heiresses. She stared hard at the man’s face for a moment longer, wishing she could will him to disappear. But he stayed right where he was, his presence mocking her for her inability to make him vanish.
His scandalous reputation preceded him, and he left a trail of broken hearts and unmarried ladies who lacked the wealth it was rumored he was seeking behind him. She’d heard far too much about Hadley’s history with women. How he’d worked his way into many beds, but the widowed ladies knew better than to marry him. A rich widow had the world at her fingertips, and very rarely did those ladies remarry, because it meant turning over their freedom and money to their new husbands. Milly had to applaud those widows for turning the fortune hunter away. Mr. Hadley was a temptation to sin for any woman.
Even Milly had to admit that as he stood there in his evening suit, dark hair long enough to look a tad too roguish to be fashionable, and that grin that melted a woman’s resistance, he looked good. He was tall, too tall, but perfect for her, not that she liked that—she didn’t, of course. She preferred to be an equal height to men, and given that she possessed a little more height than many young ladies, most men of her acquaintance weren’t taller than her. Hadley, however, was too tall, almost a head above Milly. It made her feel…vulnerable.
Hadley laughed at something the Earl of Hampton said and then glanced up the stairs. His eyes flicked over her briefly, a hint of a frown touching his sensual lips; then his focus turned to Rowena and damn him, the man’s hazel eyes lit up with a piercing fire.
Milly’s stomach clenched and she froze on the stairs, one gloved hand clasped to her breast.
Rowena. Not her sweet Rowena. The man could seduce any lady, but not her little sister. Rowena needed a good match. Scandal would ruin her beyond redemption and she would be forced out of polite society.
I will have to distract him, even if it will be most distasteful.
Squaring her shoulders, Milly walked down the last two steps and greeted her hosts. The Dowager Countess of Hampton; her soon-to-be-husband, Mr. Leighton; and his daughter, Ivy, along with Leo Graham, the Earl of Hampton.
“You look splendid,” Ivy said as she took Milly’s arm.
Milly never failed to be surprised at Ivy Leighton’s friendliness. The young woman was half Gypsy by her father, and her mother had been a lady’s maid. It was in every instinct Milly possessed to treat Ivy coolly given her status as nouveau riche, which happened to be below Milly’s own long-generation titled lineage. The first time they’d been introduced, Milly had certainly acted unpleasant. She regretted that. Immensely. Her frustration with Leo’s intent to propose to her had put a damper on her mood. Milly had been so focused on convincing the earl that she wasn’t a good match for him that she’d acted rather callously and arrogantly with regard to everyone around her. Ivy had been a victim of her behavior, and in the last few weeks Milly had made every effort to be deserving of the friendship that Ivy offered.
Ivy had been persistent, and Milly had found herself unable to dislike the young woman once they’d spent a few afternoon teas together discussing literature and politics. They had much in common in their views with regard to women and the rights they unfairly lacked in society.
Milly tilted her head close to Ivy to whisper, “What is Mr. Hadley doing here? As I understood it, he and Lord Hampton had a falling out at the last house party.” It had been quite a scandal. Mr. Hadley had left during the middle of a shooting party with a black eye and a sour temper.
Milly allowed Ivy to guide her away from the other guests into an alcove where they could have a small amount of privacy. Ivy’s bright caramel eyes darkened a little.
“I’m not sure, but Leo insists they are still friends and that Mr. Hadley no longer has intentions of trying to steal me from Leo.”
Milly huffed in reply. “Of course he doesn’t, because he’s eyeing my sister like a fine glass of sherry he wants to taste.” She glowered at the accused seducer, hoping that he could feel the sting of her gaze. He turned and raised one brow in challenge at her from across the room.
“Milly,” Ivy gasped, but it soon turned to a giggle as she followed Milly’s fixed attention.
“He does look a little too interested. It’s a good thing the seating arrangement at dinner keeps him away from Rowena.”
Milly touched her throat as she readjusted the diamond necklace that lay against her collarbone. “Who’s the unfortunate party guest that must endure his conversation?”
Ivy shot her a sideways glance. “Why you, Milly dear.”
For a moment, Milly simply couldn’t process what her friend had just told her. She’d been resolved to distract him from Rowena but that didn’t include seating next to the odious man at dinner.
“Absolutely no—” Milly was silenced as the butler announced dinner was prepared. “Ivy, I’m not sitting next to that man,” she hissed in her friend’s ear.
Ivy merely laughed. “Someone has to and who better than you? I think you’re a perfect match in ill tempers.” The teasing comment made Milly frown deeply. Even though she’d been seemingly ill-tempered on purpose, it wasn’t who she really was. Deep down, she was a woman who wanted love and laughter in her life. But a man like Hadley would never see the real her, nor would a man like him want a real partner in life. He only wanted a wife for money. He embodied everything she hated.
Chapter 2
The ladies went from the drawing room to the lavish dining room first. Milly blanched as she went to her seat. A footman stepped out of the shadows, pulled her chair back, and seated her. She felt like a man doomed to die by hanging, waiting on the scaffold for the quick drop and the final stop. She had to deal with Mr. Hadley. There was something unsettling about being too close to him, the scent of sandalwood and pine that she caught as she stood only a few feet away from him, and the way his lips curved up in a wry smile as she came closer. It made her knees buckle and her pulse pound. Nothing about Mr. Hadley made her feel stable and in control.
Still, it was better that she do it than Rowena. Her younger sister might fall for the dark-haired seducer with his devilish smiles and hearty laughter. Yes, it was a good thing Rowena was seated closer to the quiet and handsome Scottish Earl of Forres. He was a much safer dinner companion than a fortune hunter like Hadley.
“Miss Pepperwirth,” Mr. Hadley greeted coldly as he took a seat beside her once all the ladies and remaining gentlemen had taken their seats.
