Page 14 of The Rake’s Convenient Bride

Every attendee followed Lady Gentry’s attention to fix on Elizabeth and Lord Darington.

Elizabeth stomach quivered, threatening to quake through her body and shatter her apart.

She did not want to be here, with so much attention feasting upon her. She did not want to look through the crowd to find the questioning looks of her friends, the shocked confusion of her parents, the enraptured expressions of her sisters, who would love nothing more than to believe such a romantic tale.

No, Elizabeth wished she were anywhere else in all of England other than Lady Gentry’s ballroom on the arm of a man with whom she was presumed to be engaged.

But she couldn’t run out now. Not with everyone watching.

Instead, she studied the tips of her velvet slippers peeking out from the hem of her gown and wished that the floor might open up and swallow her whole.

All at once the heat of a hand settled over hers where she held Lord Darington’s arm. She looked up to find his hand over hers, a show of encouragement that was echoed in the affectionate expression on his face. He nodded, as if to encourage her to do the same.

Her lips quivered into a smile, and she let herself tip headlong into the darkness of his deep brown eyes.

After letting the dramatic moment hang for far longer than was necessary, Lady Gentry continued, “Lord Darington and Lady Elizabeth Ashbrook are officially engaged.”

There was nothing at all official about the betrothal, and yet the oblivious attendees of the ball exploded into applause.

Fear and uncertainty and horror swirled in Elizabeth’s stomach, no longer able to deny the truth: she was officially engaged.

And to Lord Darington of all people.

Jasper was on his third serving of lemonade, the cloying sweetness mixed with the bite of brandy curdling with the scotch he’d already downed on an empty stomach.

“You finally found one to drag you down, eh, Darington?” An earl Jasper had only been passing acquaintances with until that moment slapped his shoulder as if they were lifelong friends.

What was it about people that made them flock to celebrations? As if the recipient of felicitations might somehow rub off their good fortune onto others.

Jasper set aside his irritation and glanced about. “Speaking of the lady in question, has anyone seen my fiancée?”

“Lost her already, have you?” The earl guffawed in Jasper’s face and the irritation flared once more.

Jasper gave the man a playful shove on his shoulder, intentionally setting the earl several inches away to reclaim his personal space. “I had best find her to remind her why she agreed to marry me in the first place.”

Several men milling around Jasper cheered, and the earl raised his cup. “Go on then!”

That was all Jasper had wanted to do since they were led out to the ballroom like one of the spectacles on display at Covent Garden. But rather than walking a tightrope with an umbrella or singing in a voice that radiated around the whole theater, Jasper had been publicly announced as engaged to a woman he had seldom interacted with.

A woman appeared in front of him, drawing Jasper to an abrupt halt. The dark-haired woman eyed him critically, her manner aggressive. How peculiar. But then, he knew her to be one of Lady Elizabeth’s friends.

“Ah, Miss Beauchamp,” he said as her name came to him.

She scowled at him. “If you’re looking for your fiancée, she’s on the veranda.” She stepped forward, hazel eyes flashing. “And if you hurt her, I tell you now, I don’t give a fig that you’re an earl or would care even if you were a king, I’ll kill y⁠—”

“That’s enough, Lucy.” A blonde woman—Miss Honeyfield—laughed breezily and pulled Miss Beauchamp back with a firm grip. “Don’t mind her.”

Miss Beauchamp’s scowl deepened. “Absolutely he should mind⁠—”

“Go on, go on,” Miss Honeyfield intoned in a singsong voice as she waved Jasper on with an overly bright smile.

And while Jasper loved a challenge, he would save putting Miss Beauchamp in her place for another day. Now was for speaking with Lady Elizabeth.

Dear God, his fiancée.

What the devil had he done?

He strode toward the doors to the patio with purpose and paused only to cast one last look behind him to seek out his grandmother. Likely Bess would be elated to learn of his engagement, especially after her show of announcing his intention to find a wife to every eligible young woman.