Two Beaux and a Promise Collection Read Free Page A

joined the receiving line.
    “Finishing up at the church.”
    Jacob raised an aristocratic brow, but said nothing as he turned to greet Lady Debenham, another of London’s most ferocious gossips.
    An hour passed before arrivals dwindled to a trickle. As usual, many more people attended the wedding breakfast than had witnessed the actual wedding.
    When Emily finally headed for the drawing room, Richard held Jacob back. “I need your help. Let me know when you can get free.”
    “Can’t Charles—”
    “Not this time.”  Though the three had been friends for twenty years, Charles supported the rights of guardians, even when doing so was not in the ward’s best interests. Jacob had no such reservations.
    “Very well, but why now?”
    “I didn’t choose the time. The problem arose without warning.”
    “Is this why you were late?” Jacob asked as they entered the drawing room.
    Richard nodded, then flashed a practiced smile at Lady Beatrice as Jacob moved to his wife’s side.
    Lady Beatrice glared at Jacob’s retreating back and snorted. “I know the Beaux share everything, but passing around a fiancée is beyond enough.”  She transferred her scowl to Emily.
    “My sister would object to that charge,” he said lightly, though this was exactly what he’d feared. Jilting a gentleman always raised brows, but the Beaux’ reputations made it worse.
    He, Jacob, and Charles had acquired the sobriquet The Three Beaux ten years earlier, in part because of their closeness, but mostly because all three were rakes – though not as incorrigible as rumor claimed; he knew of only one female who’d actually lain with all three of them, and he knew about her only because she’d thrown a public fit when Jacob turned down a second encounter. The incident had tarred them with an unwarranted reputation for sharing conquests, adding to the scandal when Emily jilted Charles to wed Jacob.
    Richard met Lady Beatrice’s stare. “Emily and Lord Charles mistook friendship for something deeper. I find it commendable that they addressed the problem as soon as they recognized it. That marriage would have made all three of them miserable. Since the decision occurred only a few days ago, it was easier to change grooms than to cancel the wedding arrangements.”
    “Perhaps.”  She raised a lorgnette to study the new Countess of Hawthorne. “I must admit I’ve rarely seen two people so pleased with each other.”
    “Exactly. This was meant to be.”  He stifled a spurt of envy as he watched the pair move through the room. Even as they spoke with guests, they were enclosed in a bubble of mutual awareness that excluded those around them. Their joy shone brightly enough to cast all others in the shade.
    “She has done very well for herself,” Lady Beatrice continued. “Impoverished girls have sought Hawthorne’s eye for years. No one else has his combination of title, wealth, and good looks. The connection will serve you well, too. Better than the other would have done.”
    Richard nearly ground his teeth. Why did she insist that Emily was a fortune hunter?  Not only had the pair been close since childhood, but Em had a decent dowry. And why did she think Em’s marriage could help him?  Jacob was his closest friend. They didn’t need weddings to further that bond.
    But he refused to vent his frustration aloud and even managed several more exchanges before moving on, though his mood remained black. He was tired of her relentless suspicion and very tired of how she pounced on every sign that he might need money.
    This wedding breakfast was yet another thorn in his side, for it was far more elaborate than they had originally planned – thanks to Lady Inslip’s handling the arrangements and tapping Jacob’s bottomless coffers. His own marriage would not be celebrated in such style. His family couldn’t afford it, and he was determined that his wife would never overshadow him, financially or otherwise.
    Long practice stifled