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Scandalising the Ton
Diane Gaston
Indulge your fantasies of delicious Regency Rakes, fierce Viking warriors and rugged Highlanders. Be swept away into a world of intense passion, lavish settings and romance that burns brightly through the centuriesWho is the father of her child? Lady Wexin, once the Ton’s foremost beauty, has been abandoned by her family and friends, and creditors hound her. Her husband’s scandalous death has left her impoverished, and the gossip-mongering press is whipped into a frenzy of speculation when it becomes clear the widow is with child.Who is the father? Only one man knows: Adrian Pomroy, Viscount Cavanley. He has cultivated the reputation of a rake, but in truth yearns for something useful to do. Delicate beauty Lydia Wexin could pose an intriguing – and stimulating – challenge…
‘Do you need money?’
His hand swept the room. ‘You light fi res only for show. You have no flowers. And there is the matter of your servants…’
Would he tell the creditors and reporters? If word of her true situation escaped, all of England would know the shocking state of her fi nances.
‘I don’t need money.’ Lydia felt her cheeks heat. ‘Would that not mean I was in your keeping? Do not mistresses accept money from their…patrons?’
‘I offer it without obligation.’
Adrian said this so sincerely she almost believed him. It made no sense that a near stranger, a known rake, would offer her money without expecting something in return.
For a moment he looked as if he would cross the room to her, but instead he turned and walked to the door. She twisted away, not wishing to watch him disappear out of her life.
His voice came from behind her. ‘I am your friend, Lydia. Remember that.’
She spun back around, but he had gone.
Praise for Diane GastonA TWELFTH NIGHT TALE
‘…pure pleasure…’
—Romantic TimesBOOKreviews
INNOCENCE AND IMPROPRIETY
‘Diane Gaston’s unconventional male and female heroes
give INNOCENCE AND IMPROPRIETY,
her latest elegantly written Regency historical,
a refreshingly different twist.’
—Chicago Tribune
‘If you are weary of aristocratic heroes and heroines
in Regency historical romances, then Diane Gaston’s
INNOCENCE AND IMPROPRIETY is just the book
for you. Well-written and entertaining…
provocative…highly recommended!’
—Romance Readers Connection
A REPUTABLE RAKE
‘…a delightful and thought-provoking look into
a side of London we don’t usually get to see.’
—Romance Junkies
THE WAGERING WIDOW
‘The protagonists are so deeply sculpted into
living-breathing individuals that the reader will immediately
be feeling their emotional turmoil…the entire tone of the
book is steeped in sensuality…reading of the highest order!’
—Historical Romance Writer
THE MYSTERIOUS MISS M
‘Wow… it’s a real emotional roller-coaster ride…
you simply cannot put [it] down—
absolutely mesmerising! …an unusual gritty
Regency packing such an emotional punch.’
—Historical Romance Writer
‘This is a Regency with the gutsiness of a Dickens novel.
It’s not always pretty, but it’s real and passionate. Gaston’s
strong, memorable debut provides new insights into the era
and characters that touch your heart and
draw you emotionally into her powerful story.’
—Romantic Times BOOKreviews
As a psychiatric social worker, Diane Gaston spent years helping others create real-life happy endings. Now Diane crafts fictional ones, writing the kind of historical romance she’s always loved to read. The youngest of three daughters of a US Army Colonel, Diane moved frequently during her childhood, even living for a year in Japan. It continues to amaze her that her own son and daughter grew up in one house in Northern Virginia. Diane still lives in that house, with her husband and three very ordinary housecats. SCANDALISING THE TON features characters you will have met in THE VANISHING VISCOUNTESS.
Visit Diane’s website at http://dianegaston.com
Previous novels by the same author:
THE MYSTERIOUS MISS M
THE WAGERING WIDOW A REPUTABLE RAKE
INNOCENCE AND
IMPROPRIETY
A TWELFTH NIGHT TALE
(in A Regency Christmas anthology) THE VANISHING VISCOUNTESS
SCANDALISING THE TON
Diane Gaston
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
To my sister Judy, my first and forever friend
Chapter One
Once the finest ornament of the beau monde, a beauty so astounding and sublime a man would kill to possess her hand in marriage, the notorious Lady W— mourns her murderous husband in secret. How much knowledge did she possess of her husband’s villainous acts?—The New Observer, November 12, 1818
“Leave me this instant!”
A woman’s voice.
Adrian Pomroy, the new Viscount Cavanley, barely heard her as he rounded the corner into John Street. Not even halfway down the road he saw the woman stride away from a man. The man hurried after her. They were mere silhouettes in the waning light of this November evening and they took no heed of him.
Adrian paused to make sense of this little drama. It was most likely a lovers’ quarrel, and, if so, he’d backtrack to avoid landing in the middle of it.
“One moment.” The man kept his voice down, as if fearing to be overheard. “Please!” He seized her arm.
“Release me!” The woman struggled frantically to pull away.
Lovers’ quarrel or not, Adrian could not allow a woman to be treated so roughly. He sprinted forwards. “Unhand her! What is this?”
The man released the woman so quickly she tripped on her long hooded cloak. Adrian clasped her arm before she fell, holding her until she regained her balance. From the mews nearby a horse whinnied, but otherwise it was quiet.
The man backed away. “This is not as it appears, sir. I intend no harm to the lady.” He raised his hands as if to prove his words.
The lady? Adrian assumed he’d rescued some maid from a stableman’s unwanted advances, but the woman’s cloak was made of fine cloth, and the man was dressed more like a tradesman than a stableman.
Adrian turned to the lady. “Did he harm you, ma’am?”
“No.” The hood of her cloak shrouded her face. “But I do not wish to speak to him.”
The man stepped forwards again. “I merely asked the lady a few questions—”
“I will not answer them,” she cried from beneath her hood.
Adrian had the advantage of size on the man. He straightened his spine to make certain the man knew it. “If the lady does not wish to speak to you, that is the end of it.”
“Let me explain, sir.” The man stuck a hand in his pocket and pulled out a card. He handed it to Adrian. “I am Samuel Reed from The New Observer.”
Adrian glanced at the card. “You are a newspaper reporter?” He had read the new London paper, quite recently, in fact.
The man nodded. “All England wishes to know Lady Wexin’s reaction to the events surrounding her villainous husband. I am merely requesting the information from her.”
“Lady Wexin?”
Adrian regarded the cloaked figure with new interest. Adrian had just called upon his friend, the Marquess of Tannerton. Tanner had shoved The New Observer article about Lady Wexin under Adrian’s nose not more than half an hour ago.
His friend, Tanner, had recently returned from Scotland with a new wife and news about Lord Wexin that had consumed the newspapers ever since. Truth to tell, Tanner’s marriage had shocked Adrian more than the tale of murder, betrayal and death that involved the Earl of Wexin.
Lady Wexin interrupted Adrian’s thoughts. “Do I take it by your silence that you agree with this man, sir?” She stood with one hand braced against a garden wall. “Do perfect strangers have a right to know my private matters?”
Adrian still could not see her face, but he recalled the ton beauty very well. What gentleman would not? Adrian had never been formally presented to Lady Wexin, but they had occasionally attended the same society gatherings. Years ago Tanner andAdrian had briefly included Wexin among their set, but that had been before Wexin’s marriage.
“You owe this man nothing, my lady.” Adrian gave her a reassuring smile. “He will trouble you no further.”
According to Tanner, Lady Wexin was an innocent party in the perfidy that had so titillated the gossip-lovers. The newspapers had indulged the public’s seemingly insatiable appetite for the scandal by speculating about Lady Wexin’s part in it. Wexin might be dead, but his wife was not.
Lady Wexin let go of the garden wall. “I shall be on my way, then.” She turned, her cloak swirling around her. She took one step, paused, then resumed walking.
Adrian frowned. She was limping.
Mr Reed’s gaze followed her as well. He appeared to be considering whether to pursue her with more questions.
Adrian clapped him on the shoulder. “Best you leave, Mr Reed.”
Mr Reed’s eyes flashed. “This is a public street, sir.”
Adrian smiled, but without friendliness. “Nonetheless, you do not wish to be in my bad graces.” He glanced at Lady Wexin, now fumbling with a key in the lock of a garden gate. “The lady looks as if she’s had enough to deal with today. Leave, sir.”
Reed hesitated, but eventually his gaze slid back to Adrian.
“Leave, Mr Reed.” Adrian repeated, quietly but firmly.
Reed bowed his head and nodded. He cast another look at Lady Wexin before strolling to the corner and disappearing from sight.
Adrian walked quickly over to where Lady Wexin still worked the lock. “Let me assist you.”
She waved him away. “I can manage.”
He gestured to her legs. “You are standing on one foot.”
