The Decadent Duke Read Free Page B

exchanging pleasantries. She strived valiantly to keep a straight face. It vastly amused her that George, Earl of Jersey, was the Prince of Wales’s lord of the bedchamber, while at the moment Frances, Countess of Jersey, was mistress of Prinny’s bedchamber.
    The countess lifted her lorgnette. "You’re the young one, if I’m not mistaken. Such a pretty little thing.’’
    "Why, thank you, Lady Jersey.’’ You’re the current one, if I’m not mistaken.
    Frances Jersey’s eyes narrowed as she watched Georgina greet the prime minister and Henry Dundas, the home secretary, with casual familiarity. The young one stood on tiptoe to bestow a kiss on each gentleman. "I still haven’t fathomed whether Jane Gordon is sleeping with William Pitt or Henry Dundas. What do you think, George?’’
    "I think people who live in glass houses shouldn’t speculate.’’
    "Rubbish! Risqué speculation is the spice of a woman’s life.’’
    Georgina spied her brother speaking with a fashionably dressed male who affected an air of haughty superiority. "Hello, George. Promise you’ll partner me in the first strathspey?’’
    "My pleasure, sweetheart,’’ Lord Huntly assured her.
    Francis Russell glanced down at the exquisite female whose shiny black curls were piled atop her head and adorned with rosebuds. She wore an elegant white empire gown that displayed her lush upthrust breasts to perfection. His arrogant indifference rapidly dissolved as his cock began to harden, and he experienced a throbbing erection.
    "Huntly, I demand an introduction to this lovely young goddess you have been keeping to yourself.’’
    "She is my sister and strictly off-limits to you, Bedford. She hasn’t even come out yet.’’
    Georgina gave the Duke of Bedford a saucy smile. "When I do come out, I shall be delighted to make your acquaintance, m’lord.’’
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The buffet tables in the two supper rooms were laden with every delicacy known to fashionable society, as well as a goodly supply of more hearty fare that would appeal to males with healthy appetites and the royal princes who overindulged in the deadly sin of gluttony every day of their lives.
    The Duchess of Gordon’s liveried servants plied the guests with champagne and her famous whiskey punch, inducing them to lose their inhibitions for when the musicians began to play.
    After a couple of hours, the elegant contradances and cotillions gave way to more lively country dances, and the crowded ballroom rang with the joyous laughter of people who were truly beginning to enjoy themselves.
    At midnight, the bride and groom cut the wedding cake and were feted with toasts wishing them happiness and fruitfulness. All the guests trooped outside to wave the newlyweds off on their honeymoon. Then, en masse, they hurried back to the ballroom to indulge in the raucous and decidedly scandalous Scottish reels and strathspeys, where arms and legs became entangled, breasts bounced indecently and threatened to escape their confines, while skirts and kilts swung high to display frilly undergarments and the occasional bare buttock.
    The festivities did not end until six o’clock in the morning. The Gordon sisters linked arms with their mother as they bade their exhausted guests good-bye.
    Georgina watched the Prince of Wales sway precariously as he made his way down the front steps and murmured to her mother, "I warrant he’s had one sip too many of that which is fermented!’’

Chapter 2
    Georgina’s lashes fluttered and her eyes flew open. What the devil was that? She heard a crash, followed by raised voices. Damn and blast—they’re at it again! Her heart sank at the realization that her parents were having one of their vicious rows. Their tempers were so volatile that neither Jane nor Alexander Gordon spared a thought for either family members or servants who might