Pleasures of the Night by Heather Boyd

Chapter 6

Teddy thought of any gathering of his closest friends, consisting of five lords—Hurlston, Pinner, Scarsdale, Wallingham, and Brandestock—and two wealthy misters, Luther Newington and himself, as The Company of Distinguished Rogues. When they were gathered together in Town at the same time, Teddy sometimes had to pinch himself to remember that he belonged among them.

Each man had a connection to an exalted title and years to wait before taking up that mantle, just as he did.

Of all of them, though, his eventual elevation to the title of duke would be the most unexpected rise of all. The rest had been groomed for the job since birth and had the advantage of knowing everyone important to know. However, none teased him for his ignorance. He stood up from his chair at the dining table in Exeter House, where he’d been entertaining his friends for the last hour, and called for order. “Thank you, one and all, for your help last night.”

“Our pleasure,” most murmured.

“It wasn’t all bad,” Lord Pinner joked. “None of us ended up married.”

“That is a good thing. Quite a flattering reaction, I must say, from what I heard,” Lord Hurlston claimed. “I had no idea you’d create such a stir or gain so much praise with your little scheme.”

“The idea was not to flatter ourselves but them, Hurlston,” Teddy clarified.

Lord Hurlston had not participated in the wider scheme, being already committed to a betrothal of longstanding.

“Yes, of course, but still. One cannot help but reflect that certain ladies have taken our attention for granted in the past months. That was not the case last night when you were all dancing with your wallflowers. I found your efforts to look beyond the diamonds deeply satisfying from where I stood, too. The sour and confused looks upon the faces of the heiresses were utterly priceless,” he said, laughing.

Teddy poured himself a drink. “How does everyone feel about continuing?”

“I’m all for it.” Pinner cast his smile around the table. “I’m sure I speak for everyone gathered here tonight.”

“Not for me,” Scarsdale protested. “I’ve better use for my time than having wallflowers stomp on my toes.”

“Perhaps if you didn’t drink so much, you could prevent yourself from offending women with every word out of your mouth,” Hurlston suggested in an uncharacteristically firm tone as he glowered at Scarsdale.

“Women who wear low-cut gowns should not complain when a man notices she’s about to fall out of it.” Scarsdale folded his arms over his chest, defiantly glaring at Hurlston.

Hurlston cleared his throat. “Any woman who’s been on the marriage mart on and off for three years deserves your kindness. The low level of the neckline is no doubt a deliberate decision to hurry things along.”

Teddy had a feeling they were discussing Miss Waters and her ample charms.

Scarsdale shrugged. “Makes sense for her to be a bit reckless, but she can’t complain if it is noticed.”

“Women don’t want to remain wallflowers all their lives. They know any marriage is better than none.”

Teddy disagreed with that. He wouldn’t like Miss Waters to settle for a poor marriage if there was a better one to be made.

“All too true,” Luther Newington murmured and then winced. “As much as I would like to join you again, I have a situation I must not set aside indefinitely.”

The man had been hunting a bride for a while, long before Teddy had hatched his scheme to alleviate their boredom. It wouldn’t do for him to become distracted by another woman when he almost had the heiress he desperately needed to restore his family fortunes on the hook.

“That is understandable.” Teddy addressed the others. “Perhaps the simplest way to go is to pass your current list to the man standing next to you who wants to participate. We don’t want to give rise to any false expectations among the ladies you’re partnering by paying them too much attention.”

His suggestion was met with agreement, and everyone exchanged lists, except for Scarsdale.

“It’s too late to attend the Fellowship ball at short notice. But I hope to see you all at Somerton’s in a few days after that.”

Scarsdale handed him his list. “All yours, my friend.”

“Thank you.” Teddy looked down at his two lists. That was probably more women than he could handle in one night.

Lord Hurlston drew close and plucked Scarsdale’s list from his hand. “I’ll take care of these ladies for you, shall I?”

That relieved Teddy, but… “What about your betrothed? I thought you said your dancing days were behind you because of her.”

“At this point in our betrothal, I highly doubt my Elizabeth will care if I’m seen escorting other women about on the dance floor. There’s no danger she will cry off if I appear to be enjoying the season without her.”

“Not when one day she’ll become a duchess.”

“Precisely. She knows what’s good for her family and what can be overlooked. If I have too much fun without her, it’s entirely her own fault. She promised to spend the season in London and hasn’t come.” Hurlston suddenly laughed. “Besides, I’ve missed dancing with pretty ladies in low-cut bodices. Though I’m not foolish like Scarsdale to say anything about it and risk a set down.”

“Or the bruised toes.” Teddy chuckled and slapped his friend on the back. “Thank you.”

Teddy’s friends fell to discussing their wallflower lists, but a tap at the door drew his attention. “Forgive the intrusion, Mr. Berringer, but His Grace seeks a moment of your time in his study.”

Teddy quickly got to his feet. “Hurlston, if you’d be so kind as to look after everyone in my absence. I will return as soon as I can.”

“It would be an honor,” Hurlston promised. “Now, whose glass needs tending and who wants a cigar,” he called, taking charge of refreshments. “Berringer is always too slow at this business, isn’t he, but he’s young, and he’ll learn one day,” Hurlston teased, likely knowing Teddy was still in earshot.

Teddy made his way through the dimly lit and empty public rooms to the smaller chamber the duke used as his study. He knocked before entering, but still found the duke and duchess in each other’s arms as they stood before the fire.

“Forgive the interruption, cousins,” he murmured, bowing to give them a moment more of privacy. “They said you wanted to see me.”

The duke and duchess parted with a laugh. “Good evening, Teddy. Sorry to have dragged you away from your dinner companions.”

“Think nothing of it.”

“Kitty and I need to make a trip and wondered if you wished to join us.”

“Is something the matter?”

“Lord Baxter and his wife have invited us to spend a few days in the country.”

Teddy thought about it. “Fishing?”

“Among other things,” Sinclair said evasively.

Teddy peered at him. “Doesn’t he have a daughter?”

“A pair. Only one twin is in need of a husband,” the duchess murmured.

“That is beside the point. Baxter is one of my oldest friends,” Sinclair explained. “I think it was very kind of him to invite you, too. You can have no complaints about the daughters not being pretty enough. They take after their mother, and both have pretty manners.”

“If that is all you can say to recommend them, then my answer is I’d rather not go,” Teddy replied, exasperated by his cousin’s determination to pair him off. “I’d truly rather not spend a few days in a strange manor house trying not to be surprised by two young women with pretty manners, who may be so desperate for a husband that they might jump out of a closet or find a way into my guest room…like the last time we stayed at one of your oldest friends’ estates.”

“He has a point, Sinclair,” the duchess murmured. “He was looking very ragged indeed before we left that last house party.”

The duke’s face fell. “They’re not at all like those other girls.”

“They’re all that way, Sinclair,” the duchess said, laughing. “How many times did you tell me you found unexpected visitors in your chambers during the years before you married me?”

“Too many to count,” he said, looking sour at being reminded. “I just want to help him find someone suitable to love.”

“Admirable,” Teddy promised, “but I think I’d prefer to manage that on my own.”

The duchess laughed softly. “I tried to warn you he likely wouldn’t come.”

“I know,” Sinclair said with a sigh and then reached for his duchess’ hand. “You’re far more practical than I.”

“It’s not hard to be more, my love,” she teased.

The duke laughed, too, and then turned to Teddy. “What will you do while we’re away?”

Teddy thought of his scheme, and of Eugenia, too. He was even more reluctant to leave London just at the moment things were starting to get interesting. “I’ll find something.”

“Very well,” the duke said, approaching him. “We’re leaving in the morning. Do try to have fun while we’re away.”

“I’ll do my best,” Teddy promised, embracing his cousin briefly. He would miss Sinclair and Kitty, but they’d be back before he knew it. He turned for the duchess and kissed the back of her hand. “Keep him out of trouble for me.”

“I always try,” she promised as she turned for the door.

Exeter put his arm over Teddy’s shoulders as soon as she was gone. “So, tell me, how goes the bride hunt, really?”

Teddy groaned. “It’s not. You know that.”

“You can’t blame me for hoping someone has caught your eye this season,” the duke said. “Love is the best thing that ever happened to me.”

The duke, not yet a year married, gushed about the benefits of a wife nonstop. It might have something to do with being parted from Kitty for so many years before they found each other again. Sinclair was happy and insisted Teddy be the same.

“And I’m sure it will be for me, too. Eventually. One day. But not today. Not tomorrow and likely not next month, either.” Teddy laughed. “Maybe I’ll fall in love, and maybe I won’t. It’s out of my hands, and yours too, I might add.”

Teddy had no aversion to love or marriage, so long it was with the right woman, and she was his choice, not a duty he owed to the family.

“It would be a nice surprise if you did. I’d rest easier knowing you had someone to look after you.”

Teddy quickly changed the subject before the duke became maudlin about his age again. It had gotten worse since he started wearing glasses for reading. “When will you return?”

“Not for two weeks, I imagine. I thought since you’re not coming with us that I might see if I can convince Kitty to visit Hastings for a few days.”

“I’ll have the servants organize a welcome home dinner after you return.”

The duke smiled. “Don’t spend all your time thinking about us. You should be out there dazzling the ladies.”

Dazzling one, perhaps. Eugenia Hillcrest intrigued him. A mix of proper and wanton, rolled up in one elegant, underrated package. Scarsdale had been right about the Hillcrests; there was something different about them.

And with the duke out of Town for two weeks, Teddy would have quite a bit more time to devote to exploring the other curves of Eugenia’s body…and perhaps kissing those tempting and wise lips, too. But the first order of business was deciding how best to get her alone so he could ask if he might touch her again—repeatedly, if she was agreeable. He was fairly confident she would be, but it was never a good idea to assume anything when it came to a woman’s desires.

“Enjoy your trip together,” he murmured to his cousin before he was released to head back to his friends. Wallingham, Newington and Brandestock had left to attend an entertainment together, and the remaining three had decided, as luck would have it, to go out together.

Their destination—the Marquess of Wharton’s Cavendish Square home, where Eugenia just happened to live now.

Teddy climbed into Hurlston’s carriage and sat beside Scarsdale.

“I’m surprised you could join us,” Scarsdale muttered. “Doesn’t the duke need you?”

“Not tonight,” he admitted. He would keep the news about Sinclair departing London to himself for a while. The last time he announced the duke’s departure, he ended up hosting a three-day dinner for his new friends. He had other plans for his time than drinking.

“Oh, well, that suits us very well indeed,” Hurlston claimed. “Four is always better company than three.”

“But the three rogues rolls off the tongue better,” Scarsdale argued.

Teddy reached for the latch on the door and started to rise from his seat, despite the fact that the carriage had already started moving. “I can get out here,” he offered.

Pinner pushed him back to his seat. “You’re one of us now.”

“Never to escape,” Hurlston warned. “Besides, it’s eight rogues, if you count Sullivan and I think we must. He’s not as buttoned up as he first seemed.”

Teddy did not mind their insistence on adding Sullivan. He did not know him at all well yet, but he would eventually, if he spent more time with the man. There were worse companions to be found in London, or a man might have none at all and be an outcast.

It had surprised him how quickly these three fellows, in particular, had rallied around when he’d become known as Exeter’s heir. He was fairly sure his cousin might have had something to do with their initial approach, though he had no doubts of the sincerity of their continued goodwill and wise counsel since.

They were honest men, struggling like himself with challenges in life that few others had to consider. They watched each other’s backs but always with an eye to protecting their dukes, too. Like him, most were fond of the one who currently held the title they would eventually inherit. Only Pinner was on the outs with his duke—and all because of a woman.

They reached Wharton’s home quicker than he’d expected, and he was rushed along and through the front door before he had time to even consider what he might say when he saw Eugenia tonight.

And she was the first person he saw, coming down the stairs in response to their noisy arrival.

A hot flush of color swept up his face. Lust. She looked rather fetching tonight in a dark blue gown, her hair swept back in a loose chignon.

“Gentlemen, to what do we owe the pleasure,” she called out, laughing.

“Boredom, Miss Hillcrest. We come in search of amusement and to amuse,” Hurlston promised.

Her gaze collided with Teddy’s, and she seemed to wink. Though, from this distance, he couldn’t be sure it had been meant just for him alone. “I’ll let the others know,” she promised before grabbing hold of her skirts and rushing back upstairs, flashing him a tiny bit of slender, stocking-clad ankle and calf.

But it was enough to make him eagerly desire her swift return.

Teddy fought to curb his anticipation as he followed his friends into Wharton’s library and found a chair for himself to sit upon with a good view of the door. The others helped themselves to spirits and then spread out around the room, waiting for the family to join them.

Wharton appeared first, flustered. “Don’t you have better things to do than make so much noise?”

“Our apologies,” Pinner said. “Our intentions were pure of heart. We came to keep you company for the evening.”

Wharton tossed the evening paper at Pinner and then poured himself a drink. “How generous of you.”

Teddy shifted uncomfortably in his chair. “Have we interrupted a tête-à-tête with your betrothed?”

Wharton’s smile was smug as he swung about to sit in his usual chair. “You’re too late arriving for that.”

Pinner chuckled and looked at them all. “Perhaps there’s some merit to settling down, like our friend is about to do.”

“I cannot see why anyone should delay,” Wharton began, then stopped and cocked his head to one side as his betrothed and her two cousins waltzed into the room, followed by a footman.

Teddy stood and bowed, as did the others in the room.

“Gentlemen, such pretty manners,” Sylvia Hillcrest said in praise of them. “The marchioness sends her warmest welcome but regrets that she cannot come down to keep you all under control.”

Hurlston placed his hand over his heart. “Please convey our hope that Lady Wharton will be well enough to join us in the near future. We are bereft without her familiar and frequent gentle scolding’s.”

Wharton gave up his chair to Sylvia, and her cousins sat side by side on the chaise opposite Teddy. Eugenia smiled at everyone, then her eyes finally met his again.

There was such a keen light to them tonight—as much anticipation as he felt or hoped to see in her. A secret thrill that he felt to the depths of his soul stirred just because they sat in the same room again.

From that one look from her, he decided she would want to see him in private. But in this setting, he couldn’t hope to broach such a scandalous invitation. He would have to bide his time until it was safe to speak of his desires.

Aurora Hillcrest was pressed to play the pianoforte, previously hidden behind a set of sliding doors at the far end of the chamber behind him. Teddy decided to move to sit on the chaise beside Eugenia, so he would have a better view of the performance and be nearer to her.

Eugenia, alas, abruptly followed Aurora to the instrument to help select music, just as he was sitting down.

Pinner went to join them at the pianoforte and offered to turn the pages for Aurora.

Eugenia returned, and as she passed him, her skirts dragged heavily across his legs before she claimed the empty seat at his side and Aurora began to play.

After checking no one was really paying attention to anything but the beginning performance, he set his hand down on the seat between them. His pleasure in the night soared when Eugenia’s small hand fluttered above his. He heard her sigh as he captured her fingers to squeeze them. But she withdrew from him almost immediately.

No one in the room was looking at anyone but Aurora Hillcrest now.

“Their graces will leave Town tomorrow,” he confided in a whisper. “I don’t expect them back for a while.”

“I’m sure you’ll miss them,” she murmured.

“I will, and I won’t,” he confessed. “I will have a lot more time on my hands.”

“However will you fill the hours?”

Teddy checked to see that the occupants were still preoccupied with Aurora’s performance. “With you, if you will allow.”

“I would.”

Teddy allowed himself a small smile of triumph. “Did you hear that the duke gifted me a house not far from your old abode?”

A frown marred her brow. “I do recall hearing that, but I’m afraid I don’t remember exactly where it is.”

“Clifford Street. Number seven.”

“I know the street but not well. Does your home, by chance, have a blue front door?”

“Indeed, it does. It stands empty, but it’s high time I considered doing something with it.”

“Will you live there?”

“That is an option,” he confessed. “The duke has preferred me to live with him, and I prefer to know what he’s up to too. But soon, I should think about setting up my own household.”

“Do you have servants?”

“Not anymore. But never fear, the house is guarded by kindly neighbors’ servants, so it is safe from squatters and the like. There’s nothing there worth stealing other than the woodwork staircase and glass windowpanes.”

“A fortune indeed in certain circles,” she reminded him. “It sounds like a house in desperate need of visiting.”

“Yes, and I suspect now is a perfect time. Perhaps I’ll go there tomorrow.”

“At what time?”

“In the morning.”

She shook her head. “Mornings are all well and good, but it is the afternoon’s light that should be considered first before any redecoration begins.”

They were not really discussing any renovation plans but a time for a meeting and perhaps a tryst. He wet his lips. “From luncheon on then. I shall arrive around noon with a picnic basket for my lunch and survey the house from top to bottom as the light changes. I should be there for hours, I imagine.”

Eugenia’s fingers stole back to tangle with his. “Would the front door be locked?”

“Not after I enter. I’ll leave it closed but unlatched in anticipation of my very first visitor.”

Eugenia withdrew her hand as the music died away, and everyone started talking and looking around. They clapped along with everyone else, and then Eugenia laughed quietly. “Oh, tomorrow seems like an eternity away.”

“I hope tomorrow, when it arrives, can fulfill your heart’s every desire,” he whispered.

For an answer, she only smiled before she was drawn away again by her cousins.

Teddy sat back, watching with satisfaction as she moved about from guest to guest for the remainder of the evening, smiling and partaking of wine and good company. Mingling as easily as if she’d always been part of society.

And every now and then, her gaze met his, and his anticipation for tomorrow only grew.

But he’d done it. He’d arranged a tryst with a spinster as unwilling to marry as he, and it had been easier than he’d ever dreamed. All that was left to do was get himself ready for tomorrow, secure a picnic basket, and wait for as long as it took so he could spend an afternoon with a willing and perhaps wanton lady with no fear of interruption.