Fate Is A Stranger: Regency Romance Read Free Page A

that was well hidden beneath a pearly complexion and shadowed blue eyes.
    She could hear the opening notes of the musicians as they prepared for the recital and knew that she must soon return.
    For weeks she had looked forward to the musicale and dance. This was the only social event that was held at Lord Kelly's during the whole year. She had little opportunity to attend a dance and it had now been ruined for her by the duke's attendance. She would now go through the evening without the unalloyed enjoyment she had looked forward to.
    She knew she must now be on her guard for any invitation that came from those well-formed lips and the arrogant moss green eyes. She did not fear, though. She was apt at rejection and the duke, after all, was a gentleman. No matter that the duke had made her gasp for air, something she had successfully masked. She would just have to strengthen her defenses.
    As a child she had lived in the uneasy comfort that her mother's occupation as “a kept whore” had provided. The tenseness that followed the ending of each of her mother's relationships was ingrained in her personality as a fear of the unknown.
    When her mother's last lover, Alex Shackel, discarding Sadie, had forced Violet into becoming his mistress, life had taken a turn toward the horrible and dangerous. She had felt as naked as if she had been living on the streets in Whitechapel.
    But life in the halls of society—even on its fringes—was hardly different as far as the lust of men. So it was in the brocade and silk rooms that she had perfected the art of rejection.
    For the first time in her life she enjoyed peace in her soul, the peace that had miraculously come about when fate had placed her in the path of the Earl of Arandale and his betrothed, Cecilia Sentennel. Becoming aware that Alex Shackel had plans to kidnap Miss Sentennel to force her to marriage, Violet had alerted the earl at great risk to herself.
    Her action had started the sequel of events that led to the earl's uncle, Lord Kelly, reuniting with his old mistress, Violet's mother. Lord Kelly had realized Sadie was the only woman he had ever truly loved and defying society had made her his wife, had adopted his illegitimate daughter, Violet and had given her his name.
    Violet smiled as she returned to the brightly-lit salon. The scent of burning wax and flowers, the din of voices and the music seemed suddenly heady and Violet knew in her heart that gentlemen, at least, would not force her, as Shackel had. And so long as she made it a point never to be alone with any man, she was safe.
    Experience at this sort of thing had made her an expert at evading male company. That was an armor in itself and she felt the security of her present life wrap suddenly around her like a warm, soft shawl. She felt her spirits soar and was again grateful to her father, for in acknowledging her, he had given her the armor only a lady possesses—the protection of a name.
    She need not ever marry. Her father had provided for her even should he die before she did. She was safe, as was her mother and brother . Violet prized this safety more than anything in the world. She had known what it was to be without it, to be in the midst of danger each and every day that went by, so she held her newfound life dear to her heart.
    Across the large room, the Duke of Hawkinston gazed at Violet and saw that she was lost in thought. He felt a sharp stirring that began at his loins and rippled throughout him. It was amazing that such a slip of a girl could cause such sudden longing in him. He had a sudden vision of himself stroking that silken skin, burying his head in that amazing hair, holding her fast to his body…
    He wondered what she was thinking. So lost in thought she was she might be in another room, another city—and so unaware of him that it dazzled his senses.
    No one in his life had been as unaware of him in the same room as this girl was of him. Was the girl ignoring him to awaken his