Lady Allerton's Wager
Chapter One
The Cyprians' Ball was scarcely an event that featured on the social calendar of
any of the debutantes of the ton, although more than one bitter chaperon had
observed that it was the only place outside the clubs where all the eligible
bachelors could be found. The most unobtainable of gentlemen, who would scorn to
step inside the doors of Almack's Assembly Rooms for fear of ambush, showed far
greater alacrity in striking up an intimate acquaintance of quite another sort,
and a masquerade was ripe with all sorts of possibilities.
It was late in the evening when Marcus, sixth Earl of Trevithick, joined the
crowds of revellers milling in the Argyle Rooms. Being neither a callow youth
nor particularly requiring an inamorata, he had seen no need to hurry to be
first through the door.
The room, with its elegant pillars and lavish decoration, seemed as gaudy as the
birds of paradise that flocked there. Marcus knew that he was already drawing
their attention. With his height, stature and wicked dark good looks it was
inevitable, but he felt little pride in the fact. Once his ... read full excerpt from: Lady Allerton's Wager ebook
