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Here is your preview of
A Vixen for a Viscount
A Duke’s Daughters –
The Elbury Bouquet - Book 2
Clean Regency Romance
Arietta Richmond
Chapter One
Lord Kevin Loughbridge leant casually against the wall of the ballroom, watching the swirl of people move about the room. He had been cultivating an air of what he thought of as ‘stylish ennui’ of late – as if the entire world was rather dull, and hardly worth his consideration. Young women seemed to find it both attractive and daunting – which made them less likely to pursue him.
Not that he objected to being found attractive, but he did object to insipid conversation – which was all that most of the young ladies seemed able to offer. In the face of the strong characters of both of his sisters, and of his brother-in-law’s sisters, all of the fluttering hopefuls seemed faded, pale imitations of real people. Well, not quite all of them.
His eyes fell on a group of people who had just arrived, and were making their way across the ballroom towards, if he was not mistaken, his sister Nerissa, where she stood with her husband, the Duke of Melton. It was the Duke and Duchess of Elbury, and their seven daughters, and their son.
None of that family were as faded and insipid as most. His gaze went to one in particular of the daughters. Lady Hyacinth Gardenbrook was tall, her hair a dark blonde shade that was almost brown, like the pale rich tone of the caramels that their cook had made when he was a boy. On the surface, she was everything that a young woman of the ton should be – immaculately presented, dressed in a stunning gown of a blue that was an echo of her name, with pearls and tiny blue flowers twined into her uplifted hair.
But what made her interesting was her reputation. At one and twenty, this was her third Season, and she was, like the rest of her sisters, as yet unmarried. The whispered wisdom amongst the gentlemen laid that fact squarely upon the sharpness of her tongue. She was renowned for having a frighteningly acid wit, and the ability to crush a gentleman with a few words, all whilst still being exquisitely polite.
That was, he thought, about as far from the insipid faded conversation of most women as he could imagine getting. As a result, most of the men he knew avoided any significant conversation with her – they danced with her, still half tempted by the size of her dowry, but none lasted long as a suitor. Thus, she intrigued him. So he had studied her, whenever he had seen her, since the start of this Season. Tonight, he rather thought that he was ready to put himself into the path of danger – to ask her to dance, and to see if he could survive the resultant conversation unscathed.
He thought that he could – although that may be a delusion – for he had learned much of her, by observation. No matter what was whispered of her, he was quite certain that she was kind at heart, and ferocious in defence of those she cared about.
In an odd way, she reminded him of his brother-in-law’s mother – the Dowager Duchess of Melton – who did her best to be autocratic and overbearing, but loved her children and friends dearly, and always let them have their way, in the end. He had never met another young woman who took such an attitude to life – and he suspected that he might never do so.
With a deep breath, he straightened from his indolent pose against the wall, and set off across the ballroom towards her.
<<<< O >>>>
Lady Hyacinth Gardenbrook smiled at no-one in particular, her face set in what she thought of as her ‘social event mask’. As they crossed the ballroom, towards the group of people around the Duke and Duchess of Melton, she watched her sister out of the corner of her eye. Lily was gazing directly at Lord Canterford, as if no-one else existed. It had been that way for a month or so now. Hyacinth wished her well of it, but was a little disappointed in her sister – she had never expected Lily to succumb to the doe eyed adoration of a gentleman – not like all of the other ninnies that populated society Balls. But it seemed that she had.
Really, she should have expected it – Lily had been surrounded by hopeful suitors for three years now – it had to happen eventually. Around them, people moved and circulated – many greeting their family as they crossed the room. The gentlemen all paid attention to one or another of her sisters, but not really to Hyacinth. She repressed a sigh. She knew why they barely attended to her – she had a reputation as something of a shrew, a reputation that she had, mostly, earned. Why were so many men afraid of hearing the truth of things?
She did not know. But she had discovered, very soon after coming out into society, that they were, that speaking what seemed obvious truth to her was seen as sharp, and rude, by most of them. Especially if it pricked the bubble of their own conceit. She had tried, at least at first, to temper her comments, to phrase them more politely, even to hold her tongue. It had not worked. Her comments had become, if anything, sharper, just more politely packaged, so that it was harder for people to take offence, directly.
Two years ago, she had found it amusing, in a rather dark fashion. Now, she was beginning to find it a cause for secret despair. She did not, she had realised, wish to spend her life as an eccentric spinster, like their great-aunt Petunia. But that seemed more and more likely as time passed, for unless she could find a man who was not driven away by her pointed observations of the world, there was no other way that she could end.
For a moment, even in the midst of the busy ballroom, she allowed herself to daydream, to imagine what a man might be like, who found her sharpness of wit and observation interesting, rather than threatening – a man who might see who she was, as a whole person, rather than just an astringent voice, with an eye to his failings. She repressed a snort of self-deprecating laughter – that would never do at a Ball – for surely she imagined a paragon, who did not exist. She really must try again, to seem less dragonish, and more demure. She nearly snorted again – for that was an impossible thing to ask of her – she had already tried and failed so many times.
As they arrived at the group near the Duke of Melton, another man joined the party. A man she did not remember seeing before.
He seemed unexceptionable – quite tall, well put together, with dark reddish-brown hair and rich brown eyes. For a moment, she met those eyes, and shivered – he did not look away. After a moment, she did, cursing herself for the weakness, even as she excused herself with the fact that to stare would be rude – especially with a man she had not been introduced to. Now that she thought on it, perhaps she had seen him before – but he had always held himself aloof, speaking to few people, and mainly watching what went on around him.
Hyacinth found herself wanting to know more of him.
She started as the Duchess spoke.
“Ladies, may I make known to you my brother, Lord Kevin Loughbridge? Kevin, this is Lady Lily, Lady Hyacinth, Lady Rose, Lady Camellia, Lady Primrose, Lady Violet and Lady Iris Gardenbrook.”
Lord Kevin bowed
to each in turn, and spoke to all of them.
“I am delighted to meet you all. My sister has mentioned you, and I can now confirm that you are quite as beautiful as she reported.”
The younger girls giggled a little, and Hyacinth glared at them, causing them to subside, then brought her eyes back to Lord Kevin. He was watching her. And his expression was not at all what she expected. He had seen her glare at the others, that much was obvious, yet he seemed amused, more than anything else. She was not used to being regarded as amusing. Did he know nothing of her reputation? Instinctively, she spoke, without prior thought.
“You flatter outrageously, Lord Kevin.”
Internally she winced. This was not a good beginning, if she was trying to be more socially astute. Beside her, Rose looked a little shocked at her bald statement. Let her be shocked. It was said now, and Hyacinth could not but be herself, no matter how hard she tried to be otherwise.
“But surely, stating the truth cannot be truly remarked as flattery. Flattery, by its nature, involves some exaggeration, or even falsehood, and neither was present in my words.”
The world spun. He was debating her contention, not being offended by it. No man had ever done that before.
“I concede that your definition is, perhaps, correct, Lord Kevin – but surely you cannot believe us to all be equally beautiful, to permit such a broad generalisation?”
Her sisters were now all watching her as if she was mad – all except Lily, who was lost in Lord Canterford’s gaze. She did not care, perhaps she was mad, but if so, it was a madness she did not wish to be free of.
“Perhaps, but, if you examine my words, you will discover that I have left myself with an escape clause. For I said ‘that you are quite as beautiful as my sister reported’ – and you do not know, at this point, what Nerissa actually said to me…”
He was right. Hyacinth felt the foundations of her world spin again. Not only was he debating her contentions, he was winning. It was insupportable, and utterly delightful at the same time.
“You are, I begin to perceive, a most devious man, Lord Kevin. And this is a most unusual, and refreshing, conversation, if I may say so.”
“I might, perhaps, admit that you have the right of it. And it is indeed.” His eyes were laughing at her! She was, for the first time in her adult life, at a loss for what to say. He saved her from an embarrassing silence. “Lady Hyacinth, I believe that the dancing is about to begin – will you grant me the honour of this dance?”
She blinked, stunned. After that conversation, he wanted to dance with her? Every other man she had ever met would have fled by now, sure that she was an irredeemable shrew, with far too many opinions for a woman. There were no words, but she found herself placing her hand on his proffered arm, in concert with a regal inclination of her head. She was quite sure that he stifled a laugh, as he led her to the dance floor, in the wake of Lily and Lord Canterford.
<<<< O >>>>
Kevin was enjoying himself – far more than he had expected to. She was a delight – utterly different from the pale faded flutterers, and so confident in her approach to the world. He had rarely met a woman so willing to speak her mind. And he was discovering that he liked that, that the removal of all need to analyse each word for hidden meanings and implications was restful, allowing conversation to simply be a process of two minds dissecting an idea, or a point of contention.
In the back of his mind he wondered if he was mad, to think so – most of his friends would say that he was, that no good could come of a woman having opinions, and being self-determining – but he rather thought that his sisters disproved that idea. Lady Hyacinth simply confirmed for him that it was actually possible to have a real conversation with a woman not of his family.
He was particularly pleased when his request that she dance with him produced stunned silence – he suspected that was a rare occurrence for Lady Hyacinth. But she allowed him to lead her to the floor, and he stifled his laughter – truly, he had no wish to mock her – challenge her, perhaps, but never mock.
They stepped into place in the line, and the dance began, the turning about other couples in intricate steps leaving little room for conversation. So he simply watched her instead, enjoying the surety of her movements, the unconscious elegance of her, as she flowed through the dance. Apparently, she found his silence unnerving, for as the dance brought them back together, she spoke. And she surprised him again.
“I perceive, Lord Kevin, that I must ask you a question, for my own piece of mind. I am quite, quite certain that you have heard my reputation, as rather a shrew, spoken of by various gentlemen. Yet here you are, dancing with me, after that conversation. So – are you doing this because a friend dared you to beard the dragon? Or actually because you want to?”
Read the rest of ‘A Vixen for a Viscount’ as soon as its released! Sign up for Arietta’s newsletter at https://www.ariettarichmond.com to be the first to know.
Books in the ‘His Majesty’s Hounds’ Series
Claiming the Heart of a Duke
Intriguing the Viscount
Giving a Heart of Lace
Being Lady Harriet’s Hero
Enchanting the Duke
Redeeming the Marquess
Finding the Duke’s Heir
Winning the Merchant Earl
Healing Lord Barton
Kissing the Duke of Hearts
Loving the Bitter Baron
Falling for the Earl
Rescuing the Countess
Betting on a Lady’s Heart
Attracting the Spymaster
Courting a Spinster for Christmas
Restoring the Earl’s Honour
Books in ‘The Derbyshire Set’
The Earl’s Unexpected Bride
The Captain’s Compromised Heiress
The Viscount’s Unsuitable Affair
The Count’s Impetuous Seduction
The Rake’s Unlikely Redemption
The Marquess’ Scandalous Mistress
The Marchioness’ Second Chance
Lady Theodora’s Christmas Wish
The Derbyshire Set Omnibus Edition Vol. 1 (the first three books all in one)
The Derbyshire Set Omnibus Edition Vol. 2 (the second three books all in one)
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A Spinster for a Spy: Book 1: Lily - Clean Regency Romance (A Duke's Daughters: The Elbury Bouquet) Page 12
