Never Miss a Chance Read Free

kind.”
    Lizzie looked at three of the women dearest to her heart. 
How could they not understand how important these issues were to her?  She
suddenly wished her new sister-in-law were there.  Jane was well aware of the
limitations society placed on women, yet she worked as a surgeon in the village
of Marston Vale.  Surely she would understand what Lizzie had been trying to
do.
    “I guess Gunter’s is out of the question,” said Lizzie somewhat
petulantly, looking at the clock.  “I’d best get ready for tonight.”
    “Do you really think it’s wise to go?” asked Mariah.
    “Whatever else I am, I’m no coward,” said Lizzie.
    “No, my dear, you most certainly are not,” said Aunt Prue,
with admiration in her eyes.  “Now let’s get you dressed.
    *                    *                    *
    Riverton looked about him in some dismay.  The Tarlington
ballroom was overcrowded and rife with the pungent smell of sweat and cloying
perfume.  Worse yet, the marriage-minded mamas, little used to seeing him in
their midst, were already lining up their daughters for his perusal, while the
unhappily married matrons were sending him not-so-subtle glances.  Riverton
usually avoided evenings like this at all costs, preferring instead to stay
home and read, work on his speeches or engage in a chess match with either
Lynwood or Inspector Joseph Stapleton, a Bow Street Runner whose acquaintance
he’d made through the duke.
    But tonight, he came to lend his support to Lizzie.  Just hours
after her treatise had appeared, she was the talk of the ball.  Society’s
grandes dames were making their disapproval known and telling their sons and
daughters to give her a wide berth.  Lordlings hoping to make their fortune
through marriage weren’t dissuaded, of course, and, judging from conversations
he’d overheard in the card room, those who’d once thought themselves far
beneath her were pleased to see the playing field leveled.
    Worst of all were the scoundrels and rakes with no desire to
marry who now thought they had a shot at, as one had put it, “having a taste of
her.”  That same gentleman had quit the ball soon thereafter, once Riverton had
had a word with him in private, coupled with a few well-placed blows.
    It looked to be a long evening, but Riverton was prepared to
do whatever was necessary to protect Lady Elizabeth Kellington.  
    *                    *                    *
    Sometimes having older brothers was incredibly vexing,
thought Lizzie as she adjusted her gown once again.  It was her new favorite. 
It had a green underskirt with a delicate layer of gossamer lace, and cap
sleeves.  The bodice was rather daringly low-cut, but was certainly no more
revealing than the gowns of the many women who threw themselves at her brothers
with such tiresome regularity.  One could judge the amount of time spent at a
ball by the number of women who made advances on Lynwood, Arthur and Hal.
    Which was why it was so unfair that they’d reacted so
harshly to her own behavior.  Arthur even had the audacity to blame her for a
gaming loss.  He’d been on the verge of winning a rather large pot at White’s
when one of his friends had taken it upon himself to read the treatise aloud. 
It had discomposed Arthur so much that he’d lost count of the cards. 
    Hal took the treatise as a personal affront.  He deemed it
incomprehensible that anyone would doubt man’s inherent superiority to women.  He
intended to rectify the matter by finding two lightskirts after the ball and
spending the rest of the night not talking politics with either of them.  Of
course, he hadn’t said that to Lizzie.  But her brothers hadn’t exactly been
quiet while taking their brandy in the library when they were waiting for her
to come down.
    No one had wanted Lizzie to go to the ball, but once they’d
learned she wasn’t to be dissuaded, they’d