A Scandalous Portrait: Rose Room Rogues ~ Book One

by Hutton, Callie

  He elbowed a few of the men surrounding Lady Eunice and Diana, glaring when they neglected to move fast enough. “Good evening, ladies. You both look lovely.”

  Diana smiled and dipped a curtsey. Lady Eunice giggled and batted her eyelashes.

  Hunt reached for Diana’s dance card and filled in the first waltz. He wanted to fill all three of them, not wanting to watch her in another man’s arms. Which was foolish since he had no claim on her.

  He must keep reminding himself of that fact.

  Lady Eunice held out her dance card and dangled it in front of him. He took it and penciled in a cotillion. She looked at it and tried very hard not to appear annoyed. He had no intention of encouraging her further by another waltz.

  * * *

  Trying not to be obvious, Diana studied Hunt as he descended the stairs to the ballroom and could not help but admire the man. His tall, confident demeanor and arrogant stride drew the eyes of just about every woman in the room. Young girls with hope in their eyes, widows and bored matrons with blatant carnal invitations.

  He was dressed in all black except for his cravat and silver waistcoat. His light brown hair had been slicked back, but curls were already dropping onto his forehead. But more compelling were his deep brown eyes riveted on her as he made his way across the floor.

  “Isn’t he wonderful,” Lady Eunice sighed.

  She tried to hide a smile as Hunt jostled his way through the group of men surrounding her and Eunice. He looked like a warrior battling for his lady.

  He bowed. “Good evening, ladies. You both look lovely.” He reached for Diana’s dance card and wrote his name. She snuck a peek. A waltz. Could she handle being that close to him for twenty or so minutes?

  Lady Eunice immediately dangled her card in front of him and Hunt signed her dance card as well.

  They were immediately joined by numerous young ladies fidgeting with their dance cards until Hunt added his name to all. Lady Townsend, a young newly widowed countess, edged between him and one of the debutantes and leaned her impressive breast against his arm, glancing up at him in a way that made Diana quite annoyed.

  The contingent of adoring debutantes remained planted firmly in their spots until various gentlemen claimed them for the first dance.

  As Mr. Temple claimed Diana, Hunt leaned in, close to her ear. “I will be in the card room.”

  “Trying to escape your admirers?” She smirked.

  He winked. “Just so.”

  Within a couple of hours, Diana had danced most numbers and was growing quite overheated. She would love a stroll in the garden, but the only one she trusted was Hunt. However, the only time she saw him was when he was dancing with a young lady. True to his word, it appeared he spent his time between dances in the card room.

  Lady Eunice walked up to Diana and viewed her with concern. “Oh, heavens, Lady Diana, you look quite spent. Perhaps you will join me for a walk to the ladies retiring room. A maid there will give us a cool cloth, and we can remove our shoes and rest for a while.”

  Diana checked her dance card. She had two open dances and it would be a good time to take a break. “Yes, that sounds like a wonderful idea.”

  The two of them linked arms and headed upstairs to the room set aside for the ladies. Lady Eunice was quite chatty as they ascended the stairs. Unusually so.

  Several women rested on lounges with lavender scented cloths on their heads. Diana and Eunice found two next to each other and were immediately approached by a maid. She helped them remove their shoes, brought them cups of cool water and cloths for their foreheads.

  “This feels wonderful.” Diana sighed and closed her eyes. She drifted off to a peaceful place thinking about her upcoming waltz with Hunt. Why did the man plague her so? For years, she’d been comfortable in his presence and never thought of him as any more than a friend.

  When had that changed? Now she couldn’t seem to be within a few feet of him without her traitorous heart doing stupid things and her stomach swarming with butterflies. She removed her cloth and turned her head to look at Eunice.

  Her spot was empty.

  Diana frowned and leaned up on one elbow and looked around the room but didn’t see her anywhere. Strange. About ten minutes had passed since they’d arrived, but if Eunice had felt refreshed enough to leave, Diana was sure the woman would have let her know.

  She shrugged and laid back down. Maybe something came up that required her presence and she had to hurry away.

  She returned to her thoughts about Hunt. Suddenly her ruminations were stopped cold when she thought about the possible reason Eunice had left without telling her. A bit panicked, Diana whipped the cloth off her head and sat up to put on her shoes. She waved the maid over. “Did Lady Eunice say where she was going, or leave a message for me?”

  “No, my lady.” The maid quickly knelt to help Diana with her shoes.

  “Thank you,” Diana called over her shoulder as she left the room and hurried down the stairs. She thought of all the remarks Eunice had made during the party about Hunt and quickened her footsteps.

  She searched the ballroom and the card room. No Hunt and no Eunice. This was not good.

  So many couples had been caught together in libraries that Diana decided that was the best place to look. She stopped a footman to ask where the library was located.

  Following his directions, she arrived, took a deep breath, and scolded herself for being foolish.

  Until she opened the door.

  * * *

  Hunt stared at the note in his hand. He’d just been dealt a winning hand and was reluctant to leave the game. But the note from Diana specifically asked him to meet her in the library immediately.

  He sighed and threw his cards down. “I’m sorry, gentlemen, but I have been summoned.” He pushed back his chair and found a footman to direct him.

  If Diana was in some sort of trouble again, he would be hard pressed not to throttle her. But he could think of no other reason why she would ask to see him immediately.

  The library was down a long corridor from the ballroom. The farther he walked from the ballroom, the quieter it became. With a touch of apprehension, he reached the latch and opened the door.

  “Diana?” He walked farther into the room and closed the door, lest anyone walk by and see the two of them alone together. “Diana?”

  He turned as a rustle of skirts sounded behind him. “Lady Eunice? Is Lady Diana with you?”

  Lady Eunice sauntered up to him, and all his senses went on alert. “Where is Lady Diana?”

  Lady Eunice shrugged. “Upstairs in the ladies retiring room.”

  Feeling foolish since his brain seemed to have shut down, he held out the note. “I received this note to meet her here.”

  Lady Eunice grew closer until she placed her palms on his chest. “I sent the note.” She whispered as if sharing a great secret.

  Hunt backed up and walked around her. “If you will excuse me.”

  She grabbed his arm and pulled him back. “No.” She wrapped her arms around his neck and attempted to pull him in for a kiss, but he resisted.

  The library door opened, and Diana stepped in. “What the devil is going on in here?”

  Lady Eunice growled and turned to Diana. “Lord Huntington and I are having a private conversation. You may leave now.”

  “No, we’re not,” Hunt said, taking a deep breath of relief. Who knew Diana would be the one to rescue him this time? He finally pried Lady Eunice’s arms from around his neck. “I got a note supposedly from you asking me to meet you here.”

  Diana walked up to Lady Eunice and took her arm. “May I escort you back to the ballroom, dear? I am sure your guests are missing you.”

  “No.” She attempted to pull her arm free.

  “Um, actually, Eunice that was not a question or a request.” With a solid grip on her arm, Diana marched the girl firmly toward the door, opened it and pushed her through.

  Diana leaned against the closed door and grinned
. “Almost got caught, didn’t you?”

  Hunt walked toward her, and she joined him halfway. He wrapped her in his arms, delight from the near disaster flooding his body. “I can’t thank you enough. How did you even know we were here?”

  “Eunice invited me to join her in the ladies retiring room. After about ten minutes I noticed she was gone and hadn’t said anything to me. At first I didn’t think too much about it, but after a while her absence began to concern me.

  “When I didn’t see you or her in either the ballroom or the card room, I decided my suspicions were valid and since most ‘compromises’ take place in libraries, I made that my first stop.”

  Hunt stared down at her. Flushed skin, bright eyes, plump lips ready for kissing. Slowly he bent his head and took her mouth in scorching possession. He’d dreamt of this moment, as well as other more erotic encounters for weeks. Her body pressed against his felt perfect. She fit in all the right places.

  He cupped her head and turned it so he could take the kiss deeper, prodding her lips with his tongue. She opened, and he explored her warm, moist mouth. His tongue slid over her teeth and tongue, tasting, sucking. He must be crazy since this would only lead to places he didn’t want to go.

  Of course he did want to be in those interesting and scandalous places, but this was Diana. Lady Trouble.

  His hand seemed to slide up her body of its own volition. He cupped her breast, massaging gently and then slid his finger into the bodice to skim over her already turgid nipple.

  They sprang apart as the library door opened.

  “What is the meaning of this?” Lady Grafton’s loud voice faded, and she gasped when she saw Diana.

  Lord Grafton stood alongside her looking confused. “I thought—”

  “Never mind, Jasper,” Lady Grafton snapped.

  Within seconds, it seemed, three other people joined Lord and Lady Grafton at the door. More gasps and comments followed.

  Hunt pulled Diana back to his chest and rested his chin on her head. “Ah, so now it begins.”

  12

  Hunt stared at Lord Grafton who had apparently recovered from the shock of finding their selected victim with Diana in the library instead of their daughter. He now apparently decided to portray the insulted host who had to handle the apparent scandal.

  “Lady Diana, who is responsible for you with your father residing out in South Yorkshire?” Lord Grafton barely got the words out with his wife glaring at him as if the debacle was his fault.

  Lady Grafton turned her glare to Diana. Obviously she, her husband and Lady Eunice had all been involved in an attempt to trap him into wedlock. Although they’d failed, Hunt mused, he was still staring at the parson’s noose.

  With Diana.

  Lady Trouble.

  The woman he’d lusted after for weeks.

  He released Diana, and she turned to face Lord and Lady Grafton. She lifted her chin. “I am responsible for myself, my lord.”

  Lady Grafton waved her hand in dismissal. “Nonsense. Every woman must have a man responsible for her. It will be necessary for Lord Huntington to visit with your father, which would be quite a trip if there is no one closer.”

  “Again, Lady Grafton, I do not mean to be rude, but I am responsible for myself,” Diana responded, her voice laced with anger.

  Lord Denbigh, one of the men who had gathered at the doorway to view the current calamity, stepped into the room and looked condescendingly at Diana. “As a dear friend of your father, my lady, I am quite certain the Marquess of Rockingham would be pleased to have me step into his place and deal with Lord Huntington.”

  Diana closed her eyes and groaned. “May I please have a few moments to speak with Lord Huntington?”

  “You’ve already caused enough trouble, gel,” Lady Grafton said. “I will not allow this scandal to continue by allowing the two of you alone. Lord only knows what you are up to.”

  Hunt stepped away from Diana, the blood pounding in his chest at the insult to her. There must have been something in his expression that terrorized the woman because she moved behind her husband. As if he would strike a lady. But he would have no trouble taking out Lord Grafton.

  “I advise you to not speak to my fiancée in that manner, my lady.”

  “Fiancée!” Several people—including Diana—gasped.

  “Yes, sweetheart.” He directed his comments to a very pale Diana. “I know we wished to keep it a secret until we returned to London, but it seems the cat was let out of the bag.” Hunt turned to the group at the doorway, wrapping his arm around Diana’s shoulders. “Since Lady Diana has just now accepted my hand in marriage, I assume you will all wish us happy.”

  A few ‘best wishes’ and ‘wish you wells’ drifted over the group.

  Lady Grafton narrowed her eyes. “I don’t know what you are trying to pull off here, Lord Huntington, but I had better see a wedding in the near future or your so-called fiancée will be totally disgraced.”

  She had the nerve to wag her finger at Diana. “No running off to Italy this time to ward off a scandal, gel.”

  Hunt had had enough of the banter and nonsense that Lady Grafton herself had started. He cursed himself for not considering that if Lady Eunice had planned to have it look as though he’d compromised her, arrangements would have been made to have someone ‘find’ him and the young lady alone in the library.

  Although he would be eternally grateful he’d not been found with Lady Eunice, he still had a problem on his hands. Lady Grafton was correct. Diana had no choice this time. She had to marry or be forever banned from the ton.

  And that left him with a woman he dreamt many a night having in his bed, but never had he thought to have to deal with her as his wife.

  His wife.

  Blasted hell. Lady Trouble was all his.

  Diana turned to him and lowered her voice, which wasn’t entirely necessary since the crowd at the doorway had doubled in size and their voices would cover the sound of an uprising at Newgate. “Hunt, I have to get out of here. I can’t breathe.”

  “Come.” He moved her forward and the crowd began to divide. “My fiancée and I have had enough celebration for one evening. If you will excuse us.”

  Before anyone could recover enough to stop them, they made their way through the group. Hunt directed Diana past the ballroom, which amazingly enough still held quite a few people, and into a small drawing room that he’d noticed before had a French door to the patio.

  * * *

  Diana took a deep breath of the fresh air from the garden which helped to fade the black dots in her eyes. Then she began to shiver, the chill coming from deep inside. Hunt removed his jacket and placed it gently over her shoulders.

  “Thank you.” It warmed her both inside and out. The light scent of bay rum emanated from the jacket, reminding her that this time she was not alone in disaster. No, somehow she had managed to drag her life-long rescuer into her mess.

  She stared out over the shrubbery, her thoughts so convoluted she was starting to feel the beginning of a megrim. Best to get this over with before the headache hit her full force and she had to go to bed. She took a deep breath. “I appreciate you attempting to save me once again, Hunt, but you do realize we cannot marry. Not each other, anyway.”

  He studied her for a minute. “There is no choice here, Diana.”

  “There are always choices. Admit it. You would never marry me unless you were forced.”

  He ran his fingers through his hair. “That’s not true.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Please. I thought I could at least count on honesty from you.”

  “I am being honest.” He pulled her into his arms, his eyes boring into her, making parts of her body she generally ignored come to life. “I must admit I can’t stop thinking about taking you to my bed ever since I saw that portrait.”

  Despite the arousal his words were doing to her insides, Diana glared at him. “I will dismiss for now my request that you not look at the portrait and point
out that lust is not a reason for marriage.”

  He threw his head back and laughed. “Is that what you were taught in the schoolroom? Perhaps marriages of convenience or forced marriages might not be for lust only, but otherwise I am sure most grooms lust after their brides.”

  She pulled away from him, giving herself some space. She couldn’t think when he was close like that. “Hunt. This is a forced marriage. Or should I say it would be a forced marriage if we went through with it.”

  “Diana, we cannot not go through with it. You will be ruined.”

  She waved her hand. “I’ve been ruined like this before and survived.”

  “I would hardly call running off to Italy for a year surviving. If you refuse my offer of marriage it will be the second time that happened. There will be no recovering from it this time.”

  They both remained silent for several moments. Then Hunt said, “This is my fault anyway.”

  Diana’s brows rose. “How did you come to that conclusion since I followed you into the library? And it was a note supposedly from me that drew you there.”

  Hunt shook his head. “You saved me from potential hell. If you hadn’t followed me into the library, it would be Lady Eunice and me having this conversation right now.” He shuddered. “I can’t imagine the horror of being tied to her for the rest of my life.”

  Diana smirked. “Yet you can imagine being tied to Lady Trouble for the rest of your life?”

  He frowned. “Where did you hear that?”

  She walked away from him and wrapped her arms around herself trying to sort out this newest muddle. She couldn’t think when he was near. “Oh, come now, Hunt. Certainly you don’t think that such a moniker has slipped by me?” She waved him off. “I’ve known about that for ages.”

  Hunt drew himself up, a bit of arrogance and, surprisingly, a bit of uncertainty in his visage. “Perhaps you don’t wish to marry me.”

  Had he asked that question a few weeks ago she would have easily said, No I don’t want to marry you. We would never suit. He’d been no more than her friend, confidant and savior all her life.