Secrets of a Perfect Night
Chapter One
New Year's Day 1823
After the Cavendish-Mayhews' New Year's Eve ball, Adrian Andrew Hawsley, sixth Viscount Dere, swore off women, He had had enough-figuratively and literally.
Slowing his blacks for a turn, Adrian drew in the chill air, then exhaled; his breath misted instantly.
"There 'tis." From his perch behind him, his tiger, Bolt, a grizzled veteran, pointed to a sign.
Adrian nodded. Although it was past midday, the grip of the early morning freeze had yet to slacken; he kept his horses to a wary trot as he set the curricle down the road to the southwest.
Despite the weather, he was determined to press on. With every mile that passed he felt better, as if a vise locked about his lungs for so long he'd forgotten it was there were finally easing open, as if a weight he'd forgotten he was carrying on his shoulders were lifting away.
By the end of last night's ball, he'd been fed up--overwhelmingly bored and not a little disgusted. If a crown existed for the premier lover in the ton, he could probably legitimately claim it--indeed, it would very ... read full excerpt from: Secrets of a Perfect Night ebook
