Page 7 of The Rogue’s Countess

“I don’t know. She wouldn’t tell me,” Gideon ground out his reply between clenched teeth as his gaze continued to search the room. “But there was something different about her voice.”

“Something different? If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were beyond enamored with this mysterious woman.” There was a touch of amusement in his friend’s voice, and Gideon shot a fierce glance in Sebastian’s direction. The moment their gazes met, a somber look darkened his friend’s face.

“What does she look like?” Sebastian asked quietly. “I’ll help you find her.”

Gideon quickly described his elusive enchantress, and with a nod, Sebastian joined him in the search. The two of them studied the room in silence for several moments before a soft feminine laugh floated through the air toward them.

“The two of you look as though you were searching for something that impossible to see.” At the light-hearted teasing in the Countess of Melton’s voice, Gideon turned to greet Sebastian’s wife. Forcing a smile to his lips, he carried the hand Helen offered him to his mouth to politely kiss her hand.

“Good evening, Helen. How are you?”

“Quite well, thank you.” The countess tipped her head to one side and eyed him with curiosity as his gaze darted back to the crowd. “Are you looking for someone?”

Gideon didn’t answer Helen as his gaze found the woman he was so desperately searching for. Indecision barreled through him. He’d found her. Now, what was he to do? She was moving toward the exit on the arm of a man he vaguely recognized. Gideon jerked his head in the couple’s direction.

“There, Sebastian. At the main entrance to the ballroom. Do you know her?”

“No, I’m afraid not.” The earl turned his head toward his wife. “Helen, are you familiar with the lady standing close to Lady Montjoy?.”

“The pretty woman in the midnight blue gown?” Helen asked quietly. A quick glance in her direction showed a perplexed expression on the countess’s features. Gideon jerked his gaze back to the man and woman at the ballroom exit.

“Yes,” he said in a tight voice.

“That’s Viscountess Helstone.”

“The woman just about to go out the door?” Gideon bit out as he watched his enchantress.

“Yes,” Helen said with a nod. “She’s one of the American heiresses that took London by storm last year. I believe she married the viscount a few months after she arrived.”

“Are you certain?” Gideon asked with a growl as his gut suddenly tightened. “She sounds as if she’s from the Continent and grew up with an English governess.”

“That is most likely the result of her attending Le Manoir. I imagine they did their best to remove any trace of her American accent,” Helen said with a sympathetic note in her voice. “The school is renowned for their students marrying well.”

Gideon grew rigid at Helen’s explanation, but his gaze never left Lady Helstone. It wasn’t simply his failure to recognize the faint hint of an American accent beneath the aristocratic notes of the viscountess’s sultry voice that angered him. What enraged him the most was that she’d married a title. The anger crashing through him made his muscles knot painfully throughout his body. For a second time, he’d played the fool to a woman who’d married for social position.

“I’ve heard that it’s a very unhappy marriage,” Helen said with a note of sympathy in her voice.

“No doubt.” Gideon turned away from the woman he’d broken his own rules for and met Sebastian’s puzzled gaze. With a shake of his head, Gideon’s jaw locked with tension as he bowed in Helen’s direction.

“Helen. Sebastian. If you’ll excuse me, I’ll bid you goodnight.”

Before his friends could say a word, Gideon turned away and made his way to the exit. There was a brawl with his name on it somewhere in town.

Chapter 3

Five years later

April 1900

“You look lovely, dearest.”

Constance Rockwood Blakemore, Countess of Lyndham, forced a smile to her lips as she met her baby sister’s gaze in the full-length mirror. Louisa’s dismay was obvious as she stared at her reflection in the cheval glass inside Madame Sabine’s shop.

“Doesn’t she look lovely, Helen? Patience?” At Constance’s silent urging, Helen Rockwood, the Countess of Melton, quickly nodded her head.

“You look beautiful as always, Louisa,” Helen said with a smile despite the hesitant note in her voice.

Standing to the left of her sister-in-law, Patience released a small noise, and Constance wasn’t sure whether it was suppressed laughter or a sound of disagreement. Louisa tipped her head slightly to see the reflection of the Mistress of Cairnlarich in the mirror. The hat Patience wore had a netted veil, and it covered her face making it difficult for any of them to read her expression. When their middle sister didn’t say anything, Louisa whirled around to face her sister.