The Rake's Vow Page 8

  He nodded. “It’s not really a secret. Everyone wants to think that what they do and say matters. Once you find out what that is, you tell them what they want to hear, and the rest is easy.”

  “I should learn that technique. It seems very useful.”

  “It is only if you need to get something from them, but it is manipulative. London is full of insincere people. I find it refreshing when someone comes to me and tells me exactly what they want. Like you did with the marriage.”

  “I doubted I would have secured a marriage to you any other way.”

  “You’re right. You wouldn’t have.” He took her hand and stopped when they reached the other couples who were waiting for the next dance. “I hope you’ll always be direct and honest with me.”

  “I will,” she promised.

  “Good.”

  The music began, and he led her in the first step.

  ***

  Loretta thought once the dance was over, her heart would stop beating so frantically in her chest, but it didn’t. She was acutely aware of how Lady Eloise kept glancing her and Tad’s way. Every so often, Lady Eloise turned to one of the group members to say something. Thankfully, Celia had chosen to stay with them, which meant Celia could tell her what Lady Eloise was saying.

  “Are you worried?” Tad asked her as he led her over to her brother once the dance ended.

  “No. I’m just wondering when Celia will tell me what Lady Eloise was saying to the others while we were dancing,” she confided. “Celia is the one wearing the purple gown.”

  He glanced over at the group. “She’s the one with the brother you were betrothed to?”

  “Yes. Needless to say, it didn’t work out.” Though it pained her to admit it to him, she added, “He married someone else.”

  “I know it’s not easy to be rejected, but believe me, it’s better he jilted you before you married instead of taking a mistress afterwards.”

  Yes, she supposed that was true. If she’d married Anthony under the delusion that he loved her and found out he’d taken a mistress when he was sharing a bed with her, she would have felt worse.

  “I hear you’re going to take a wife,” a gentleman called out.

  Loretta and Tad turned their attention to Lord Edon and Mr. Robinson.

  Tad groaned. “Not this again,” he muttered under his breath.

  Eyebrows furrowed, she studied Tad’s exasperated expression. She only knew of Lord Edon and Mr. Robinson. Lord Edon had been notorious for his rakish lifestyle until he married the Duke of Rumsey’s daughter. From what she understood, the Duke of Rumsey was the one who made it clear to Lord Edon that he would never engage in another scandal again. And for all she knew, Lord Edon had led a squeaky clean life ever since.

  “Is it true?” Lord Edon asked, glancing from Tad to Loretta. “Are you really getting married?”

  “Yes, we are,” Tad replied.

  “So you’re going to make an honest gentleman of him?” Mr. Robinson asked, looking at her.

  She wasn’t sure how to respond, and fortunately, another gentleman came over to them before she had to think of something.

  He offered a greeting, and she learned he was Mr. Jasper.

  “Your Grace,” Mr. Jasper told Tad, “I hope you don’t mind the intrusion, but my friends and I are getting ready to discuss a couple of investment options with the Duke of Silverton. He has some influential ties. It might be prudent for you to meet him.”

  Tad would get the opportunity to meet Lady Eloise’s father? Loretta was so excited that she almost cheered. First, she got the pleasure of announcing her engagement to Tad right in front of Lady Eloise, and now Tad was going to meet Lady Eloise’s father! She didn’t know how the evening could get any better.

  Tad glanced her way, a silent question in his eyes, and she said, “The Duke of Silverton is one of the shrewdest gentlemen in London. Lady Eloise doesn’t boast of him in vain.”

  “I think it could be profitable, Your Grace,” Mr. Jasper added. “I know you worried over the risky venture of Captain Egan’s expedition. The Duke of Silverton’s ventures are safer.”

  “In that case, I should go,” Tad said. “I shall return to you soon, my love,” he told her.

  Ignoring Lord Edon and Mr. Robinson as they chuckled, Loretta smiled at Tad.

  As Tad and Mr. Jasper turned to leave, Lord Edon asked, “May we join you? I’ve never seen the Duke of Silverton in person.”

  Mr. Jasper paused then shook his head. “I’m afraid you and your friend wouldn’t be welcome. His Grace is very selective when it comes to the people he’ll see.”

  “But he’s going,” Lord Edon gestured to Tad, “and he was a much bigger rake than I ever was.”

  “His Grace’s daughter approves of him,” Mr. Jasper replied. “That makes him acceptable.”

  Without another word, Mr. Jasper led Tad away. Lord Edon looked at his friend as if he couldn’t believe what he’d heard. “What’s so wonderful about the Duke of Lambeth that Lady Eloise approves of him?”

  He and Mr. Robinson turned their attention to Loretta, as if they expected her to answer his question.

  “I need to see a friend,” Loretta said.

  She had enough to contend with. She didn’t need to get involved in a petty matter. Excusing herself, she went to find Celia.

  Chapter Nine

  Before Loretta could get to Celia, Anthony intercepted her. She came to an abrupt stop, which almost caused her to lose her balance. After all the time he’d been avoiding her, the last thing she expected was for him to approach her.

  “I was wondering if we could talk,” he said and gestured to the dancing area.

  She didn’t really want to dance with him. Just being close to him brought back all the heartache he’d put her through since his return to London. But if she said no, would she look weak? Would he think he still had her wrapped around his finger?

  Realizing the best thing she could do was to save what little pride she had left, she accepted his hand and let him take her to the dance floor. He waited until the music started and then spoke.

  “I owe you an apology,” he said. “I was wrong in the way I handled things. When I returned to London, I should have paid you a visit and explained the situation between me and Damara. You were hurting, and it was only fair that I did what I could to ease your grief.”

  Forcing out a laugh, she said, “I wasn’t hurt at all.” There was no way, under any circumstance, that she was going to let him think she’d been curled up in bed, crying her heart out…even if it was the truth. “In fact, I was relieved.”

  His eyebrows furrowed. “You were?”

  “Yes. I was only willing to marry you because you were Celia’s brother. The truth was, I had been secretly in love with the Duke of Lambeth.” Might as well keep up the same lie she and Tad had just given Lady Eloise. “I was afraid I’d hurt you if I followed my heart and married him instead.”

  “Then we both didn’t want to marry each other?”

  He didn’t want to marry her at all? Ever? Not even a tiny part of him had been attracted to her? Swallowing the lump in her throat, she smiled, praying he didn’t notice how much his words stung. “No, I suppose neither one of us wanted the marriage.”

  He visibly relaxed. “I’m so glad to hear that. Lately, all I could worry about was how I ruined your life.”

  Ruined her life? She wasn’t sure she liked the way he said that. As if her very happiness depended on whether or not he married her.

  “You didn’t ruin my life,” she was quick to tell him. Goodness. Never would she let anyone—regardless of who they were—think they had that much power over her. “Like I said, I was relieved. I think we were only going to marry each other because of our mutual care for Celia.”

  “Yes, I think you’re right.”

  “I wanted to wish you and Damara congratulations on your marriage, but I was wrapped up with Lady Eloise’s social engagements and, of course, trying to decide when to l
et others know about my betrothal to the Duke of Lambeth. The time slipped away from me.”

  “Well, for what it’s worth, I’m glad you and the duke are going to be together. You two make a handsome couple, and there’s no doubt he’s in love with you.”

  That was because Tad was a good actor. Instead of saying so, she laughed. “He’s wonderful. I’ve never been happier.”

  “Good. I want you to have a love match.” The music came to an end, and he bowed. “Thank you for taking the time to talk to me. You’ve been far more gracious to me than I deserve.”

  She curtsied then waited for him to start walking away before she hurried off to a corner of the room so she could get a moment to herself. That had taken all of her willpower to get through without crying. Maybe she should have felt better. He did apologize, and he wanted her to be happy. She had no doubt he was sincere, and it was obvious he had felt bad about the way he’d handled things. But the whole encounter still hurt.

  She plopped down in a chair and quickly wiped away a tear before anyone could notice how upset she was. It wasn’t fair. Just when she had started to feel better about the broken engagement, Anthony had to show up and talk to her. It didn’t do anything to help her in her progress to move on with her life. All it’d done was set her back to how she’d felt the day Celia had told her he was married to Damara.

  She scanned the room, wondering where Brad was. Maybe she’d feign a headache and ask him to take her back home once Tad was done talking with the gentlemen. It didn’t matter if she left early. All she’d wanted was to let Lady Eloise know she was going to marry Tad, and she’d already done that. There was no other purpose for tonight.

  She sniffed back the other tears and focused on the floral arrangement nearby. If she could just get her mind off of Anthony, then she would be able to suppress her emotions.

  “I finally found you!” Celia called out.

  Looking away from the flowers, Loretta breathed a sigh of relief when she saw her friend coming her way. She stood up and met her halfway. “I was on my way to talk to you when your brother asked to talk to me.” She cleared her throat. “He wanted to apologize for the way he handled things after he married Damara.”

  “It’s about time,” Celia said. “I told him exactly what I thought of him for that.”

  Loretta bit her lower lip. Had Celia also told him that Loretta had been devastated when she found out he had married Damara? Did she really want to know? No. She didn’t. She’d rather think he believed her lie.

  “I must admit that I was wrong about the Duke of Lambeth,” Celia continued, breaking Loretta out of her thoughts. “He did a marvelous job of convincing everyone he’s in love with you. I would have believed it myself if I didn’t know better. You made a good choice, and I’m sorry I doubted you.”

  Loretta smiled. “Thank you, Celia. It helped that you said you knew all along that I wasn’t truly interested in your brother.”

  “We’re friends, and we’re going to support each other no matter what.”

  “I can’t think of anyone else in London who has always been there for me.”

  “You’ve been there for me, too.” Celia’s gaze went to the room where everyone was having a good time. “Where is your husband-to-be?”

  “He went with Mr. Jasper to talk to Lady Eloise’s father.”

  Celia’s eyes lit up. “He did?”

  Feeling some of her enthusiasm returning, she said, “It sounds like they wanted to discuss potential investment opportunities.”

  “Oh, that is marvelous, isn’t it? Even my brother can’t secure an invite to talk to her father.”

  “Well, Mr. Jasper was the one who was on his way to see him. He invited Tad to go with him.”

  “Who cares how Tad got in there? The point is, he’s talking to him right now.” Celia tapped Loretta’s arm and shot her a pointed look. “Don’t doubt how important this is. Tad just went from invisible to highly valued in one evening.”

  “He was already highly valued.”

  “By Lady Eloise, yes. But to the rest of the Ton, he had become invisible. That won’t be the case after this evening.” Celia let out an excited gasp. “Loretta, after you and Tad marry, would you have a dinner party and invite me, Corin, and Lady Eloise, and her father to it? Corin won’t say no if he can have a chance to talk to the Duke of Silverton. Then I would get a chance to talk to Corin without my brother pestering us.”

  “Celia, I’m not sure if Lady Eloise’s father would be willing to come to such a dinner party. Her father is only meeting Tad for the first time. What if the meeting doesn’t go well?”

  “But it must go well. I saw the way Tad handled himself in front of Lady Eloise. No one would have suspected you two were pretending to be in love. It truly looked as if you were. Tad has a way with people. It’s no wonder he was successful as a rake. Any lady would have to be made of stone to resist him.”

  “I know he has a way with ladies, but that doesn’t mean he has a way with gentlemen. Business dealings are different from romance.”

  “Certainly, they can’t be all that different. Gentlemen are emotionally invested in their money, just as ladies are emotionally invested in love. I think since emotions play a part in both that the two are equally compelling.”

  Maybe Celia had a point. Brad did obsess an awful lot over money, and money was all it took to convince Tad to marry her, even though he had been reluctant when she first brought it up.

  “I’ll mention it to Tad after we marry and see what he says,” Loretta finally said. “But I can’t promise anything. If this is the favor you want me to do for you, I might not be able to do it.”

  “Oh, this isn’t the favor,” Celia replied. “The favor is going to be something you definitely can do.”

  “Do you know what it is yet?”

  “I do, but I haven’t figured out the best way to go about it. Don’t worry. I’ll let you know when the time is right.”

  Loretta hid her disappointment. She was hoping to find out so she could reassure her brother that his apprehension was for nothing.

  “Corin’s finally done dancing with Miss Webb,” Celia said. “I’m going to get the next one with him. We’ll talk later!”

  As Celia ran off into the crowded room, Loretta released her breath and slowly made her way back into the center of activity. Now that she’d had sufficient time to get over her shock of talking to Anthony, she could face the room full of people.

  Brad came over to her. “I was wondering where you ran off to.”

  “Oh, I just needed a moment to myself.” When his eyebrows furrowed, she added, “I did nothing to risk a scandal. I was over there.” She gestured to the chairs that were within eyesight. “Celia and I were talking for a while, too.”

  He looked relieved. “Good.” After a moment, he asked, “Is this evening going as you hoped?”

  “Tad has done a wonderful job,” she replied. “Right now, he’s with Mr. Jasper and the Duke of Silverton. I don’t know who else is in the den with them.”

  Her brother’s jaw dropped. “Tad secured a conversation with the Duke of Silverton?”

  She nodded. “He’s really impressive, isn’t he? I can’t think of anyone else in London who can bring the kind of fortune he does.”

  “There’s no denying fortune seems to follow him around. I suppose it’s to your benefit you’ll be his wife. Perhaps the same fortune will follow you, too.”

  She hoped so. She’d like to think that her luck was finally going to change.

  “I see him,” Brad told her. “I don’t know about you, but I’m eager to find out how the conversation went.”

  By the looks of it, Brad was far more interested in how things went with Tad and the Duke of Silverton than she was.

  She followed her brother’s gaze and found Tad as he walked through the ballroom. She couldn’t help but notice how many people stopped to look at him. Most of them whispered to each other, and a few of the ladies blushed in a way that
indicated they were attracted to him. The gentlemen, it seemed, envied him. Well, not all. There were a couple who shook their heads as if they wouldn’t be caught dead associating with him.

  “Your betrothed certainly knows how to get attention,” Brad commented. “I wonder if he realizes it.”

  That was a good question. Since no one ever seemed to notice her, she had been acutely aware of the looks she’d gotten when she had been standing next to Tad. But he had a personality that fit his appearance. Dynamic. Powerful. Exciting.

  “People are drawn to people like Tad,” she said.

  “I wonder what his secret is?”

  “I don’t think there is one. I think it’s just who he is.”

  Tad reached them. “I hope I didn’t keep you waiting too long,” he told her.

  “No, you didn’t,” she assured him. “I took a moment to talk to a friend, and then my brother and I couldn’t help but notice how most of the people in this room are watching you. We were debating whether or not you were aware of it.”

  Her brother gave her a glance that indicated he hadn’t expected her to come out and say that directly to Tad. She shrugged in reply. She’d been forthright in everything with Tad up to this point. She saw no reason to stop now.

  Tad chuckled. “People have been looking at you, too.” He touched the small of her back. “Your dress brings out your best features. But, yes, I have noticed that some have looked in my direction, and it’s not as exciting to be the center of attention as one would think. You can get away with a lot more if no one’s watching you all the time.”

  “Yes, I suppose that’s true,” her brother replied, seeming to take comfort in that.

  “There’s nothing wrong with you, Brad,” she told him. “You have a quiet and gentle quality that appeals to those who are smart enough to notice it.”

  Brad examined her. “You sound like you mean that.”

  “I do mean it,” she replied. “You should know by now that I don’t say something unless I mean it, which is why not many people like me.”

  “That’s only because they don’t know how to handle the truth,” Tad said. “I happen to find it refreshing. In London, it’s hard to tell your friends from your enemies.”