Surrender (3 page)

determined not to be cooperative, that I

shall be left to discover the details on my

own. But never fear, I am very good at

games of strategy." stone vale inclined his

head briefly over Victoria's hand.
 
Until

later, Miss Huntington."

 
I shall pray you find something more

entertaining to do with your time tonight

than to accompany us."

 
Not likely." The earl's faint smile flared

into a brief, wicked grin that momentarily

displayed his strong white teeth.

Victoria turned away from him with

an elegant swirl of her golden yellow

silk skirts, refusing to give the man the

satisfaction of a backward glance. This

man was not only potentially dangerous,

he was insufferable.

Victoria stifled a small groan as she

swept through the crowd. She ought to

have known better than to have allowed

the earl to entice her into the card room

tonight. It was, after all, not quite the

thing for a lady to play cards with a man

at an affair such as this. But she'd always

had a hard time resisting adventure and

the damnable man had seemed to sense

that almost at once. Sensed it and used the

weakness. She must remember that.

It was not as if she'd had any warning.

stone vale had, after all, been properly

introduced to her by Jessica Atherton,

no less.

Everyone knew Lady Atherton was

entirely above reproach, a paragon, in

fact. Slender, dark-haired, and blue-eyed,

the viscountess was not only young,

delicate, and quite lovely, she was also

becomingly modest, unfailingly gracious,

eminently respectable, and a stickler for

the proprieties. In other words, she would

certainly never have introduced a known

rake or fortune hunter to one of her

guests.

 
Vicky, I've been looking everywhere for

you." Annabella Lyndwood hurried over to

her friend's side. She flicked open her fan

and proceeded to use it to shield her lips as

she spoke in a whisper.
 
Were you actually

playing cards with stone vale? How very

naughty of you. Who won?"

Victoria sighed.
 
I did, for all the good

it did me."

 
Did he tell you Bertie has invited him

to accompany us tonight? I was furious

about that, but Bertie insists we should

have another man along for protection."

 
So I was given to understand."

 
Oh, dear, you are angry. I am so sorry,

truly I am, Vicky, but there was no help for

it. Bertie promised he would say nothing

about our plans, but apparently stone vale

tricked him into revealing all."

 
Yes, I can see how that might happen.

Probably poured hock down Bertie's throat

until the truth emerged. It is certainly a

pity your brother could not keep his mouth

shut, but don't fret, Bella. I am determined

we shall enjoy ourselves regardless."

Annabella's sky blue eyes gleamed in

obvious relief Her fair curls bounced

enticingly as she nodded her head and

smiled. Annabella Lyndwood was held

by certain high sticklers to be just the

slightest bit too well rounded for fashion.

But that tendency toward a full figure had

certainly not put off her many suitors.

She had recently turned twenty-one and

had confided to Victoria that she would

undoubtedly be obliged to accept one

of the several offers she had received

this Season. Annabella had gotten a late

start in the marriage mart because of the

untimely death of her father, but she had

proven enormously popular when she had

finally made her appearance in London.

 
What do you know of him, Bella?"

Victoria asked quietly.

 
Who? stone vale? Not much, to be

perfectly truthful. Bertie says he's respected

in the clubs. He just recently acceded to

the title, I believe. The previous earl was

a distant relative of some sort. An uncle

or something. Bertie mentioned estates in

Yorkshire."

 
Did Bertie have anything else to say

about him?"

 
Let me think. According to Bertie, the

family line has almost died out. It came

close to dying out entirely, I gather, when

Lucas Colebrook was badly wounded on

the Peninsula a year or so ago."

Victoria felt her stomach tighten in an

odd manner.
 
The limp?"

 
Yes. It was the end of his career in the

military, apparently. Still, that career would

have ended regardless once he inherited.

His first duty is to his title and estates

now, of course."

 
Of course." Victoria did not want to ask

the next question, but she could not resist.

 
How did it happen?"

 
The injury to his leg? I don't know the

details. Bertie says stone vale never talks

about it. But according to my brother,

Wellington, himself, mentioned the earl

in several of the dispatches. The story is

that during the battle in which he was

wounded, stone vale managed to stay in

the saddle and lead his men on to take

their objective before he collapsed and was

left for dead on the field."

Left for dead. Victoria felt sick. She

pushed the queasy sensation aside, remind

ing herself that Lucas Colebrook was not

the sort of man for whom she could afford

pity. Furthermore, she seriously doubted

 
that he would welcome it. Unless, of

course, he could figure out some way to

use it to his advantage.

It occurred to her to wonder if stone vale

had suggested the card game earlier so that

he would not be obliged to endure a set of

country dances. The limp probably kept

him off the floor.

 
What do you think of him, Vicky? I

have seen the Perfect Miss Pilkington

eyeing him all evening and so have several

other ladies in the room. Not to mention

their mamas. Nothing like a little fresh

blood on the scene to whet the appetite,

is there?" Annabella teased lightly.

 
What a perfectly disgusting image." But

Victoria laughed in spite of herself.
 
I

wonder if stone vale knows he's being

looked over like a prize stallion?"

 
I don't know, but thus far you are the

only one he is looking over in return. No

one could help but notice that it was you

he coaxed into the card room."

 
I suppose he's hanging out for a

fortune," Victoria said.

 
Really, Vicky, you always believe men

are after your inheritance. You are positively

single-minded to the point of idiocy

on the subject. Is it not possible that some

of your admirers are seriously interested in

you, not your money?"

 
Bella, I'm nearly twenty-five years old.

We are both aware that men of the ton do

not make offers to women of my advanced

years unless they are lured by practical

reasons. My fortune is a very practical

reason."

 
You speak as if you are on the shelf,

and that is simply not true."

 
Of course it's true, and to be honest, I

prefer it that way," Victoria said evenly.

Annabella shook her head.
 
But, why?"

 
It makes everything so much simpler,"

Victoria explained vaguely, unconsciously

scanning the crowd in search of stone vale.

She spotted him at last talking to his

hostess near the door that opened onto

the vast Atherton gardens. She studied

the intimate manner in which he stood

towering over the angelic Lady Atherton,

who was a vision in pink.

 
If it makes you feel any better, Bertie

has said absolutely nothing to imply that

stone vale is a fortune hunter," Annabella

said.
 
Quite the contrary. It's rumored the

old earl was an eccentric who hoarded his

wealth until the day he died. Now it all

belongs to our new earl. And you know

Bertie. He would not dream of inviting

anyone to accompany us tonight unless

he approved of him."

That much was true, Victoria conceded.

Lord Lyndwood, only two years older

than his sister, took the duties of his

recently inherited title quite seriously. He

was highly protective of his flirtatious,

exuberant sibling and he was always

pleasant to Victoria. He would not expose

either woman to a man whose background

or reputation was questionable. Perhaps

Annabella was right, Victoria thought,

perhaps she was a bit overanxious on

the subject of wily fortune hunters.

Then she recalled stone vale's eyes. Even

if he were not a fortune hunter, he was

still more dangerous than any man she

had ever met with the possible exception

of her stepfather.

Victoria sucked in her breath at the

thought and then discarded it angrily. No,

she told herself with sudden fierceness,

regardless of how dangerous stone vale

might be in his own right, she would

not put him into the same category as

the brutal man who had married her

mother. Something deep within her was

very certain the two men were not of the

same mold.

 
Well, congratulations, Victoria, my dear.

I see you have captured the attention of

our new earl. stone vale is an interesting

specimen, is he not?"

Startled out of her thoughts by the

familiar, throaty voice, Victoria glanced

to her left and saw Isabel Rycott standing

nearby. She forced herself to smile. The

truth was, she did not particularly care for

the woman, but she did feel a trace of envy

when she was around her.

Isabel Rycott always reminded Victoria

of an exotic jewel. She was in her early

thirties and had about her an air of

lush, feminine mystery that seemed to

attract men the way honey enticed bees.

The sense of exoticism was enhanced by