Courting Miss Vallois. Gail Whitiker

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СКАЧАТЬ pausing to flick a remnant of charred crust from the bread. ‘Still, I’d give a year’s allowance to have her in my bed for one night.’

      ‘It seems to me your money would be better spent on the pursuit of a respectable bride,’ Robert said, sitting back in his chair. ‘Was that not a requirement of your continuing to receive the exceedingly generous allowance your father doles out to you twice a year?’

      ‘Damned if it wasn’t,” Oberon muttered. ‘The old codger knows me too well. I cannot afford to live without the allowance, so I am forced to legshackle myself to some simpering heiress or some horse-faced widow long past her prime in order to assure its continuation.’

      Robert smiled, aware that even under the most dire of circumstances, Oberon would never settle for anything less than a diamond of the first water. ‘I’m sure such desperate measures will not be called for. No doubt you’ll find at least one young lady amongst this year’s crop of blushing débutantes to tempt you.’

      ‘Tempt us, don’t you mean?’

      ‘No. I’ve had my brush with marriage, thank you,’ Robert said. ‘My only goal is to settle my sister in marriage and I intend to devote all of my energies to that.’

      Oberon frowned. ‘You may have a difficult task there, Silver. Jane’s a delightful girl, but there is her affliction to consider.’

      ‘I wouldn’t call a misshapen foot an affliction, and I certainly don’t consider it an impediment to her making a good marriage.’

      ‘Of course not. You’re her brother and honour bound to defend her. But what man would not wish his wife to be the most beautiful woman of his acquaintance?’

      Robert raised his glass and studied his companion over the rim. The remark came as no surprise. It was exactly what he expected from a man who valued physical perfection above all and saw anything less as flawed. ‘Jane is an acknowledged beauty.’

      ‘But she limps, Silver. She cannot walk without the use of a cane and is hard pressed even to ride as well as other young ladies her age.’

      ‘But she rides nevertheless.’

      ‘Only when in the country where no one can see her. Be reasonable, old man. Jane’s chances of making a good match in London are about as remote as ours of finding a man of wit and intelligence amongst the rabble out there,’ Oberon said bluntly. ‘Perhaps if you left her in the country, introduced her to the local clergyman—’

      ‘Jane’s chances of making a good match in London are no better or worse than any one else’s,’ Robert said mildly. ‘Love enables one to overlook what others see as faults.’

      ‘Blinds one to them, you mean. It sets up ridiculous expectations and does nothing more than pave the way for marital strife. I don’t expect the woman I marry to love me, any more than I expect to love her.’

      ‘Then what do you expect?’

      ‘Loyalty, obedience and good breeding skills. I expect her to sit at my table and entertain my guests, manage my households to make sure the servants don’t rob us blind and provide me with an heir at the earliest opportunity so I can go off and indulge my other interests.’

      ‘Those being?’

      ‘To find myself in bed with a different woman every night.’

      Robert snorted. ‘If that’s all you require, you may as well marry your housekeeper and spend your nights at a brothel.’

      ‘And pay for the pleasure of bedding a woman? I’d rather eat bad oysters for breakfast,’ Oberon said. ‘I could give you the names of a dozen young ladies happy to warm my bed for nothing more than the pleasure they receive in return.’

      ‘Then why not marry one of them?’ ‘Because I want a flower of rare perfection. A woman as virginal as Hestia, as amusing as Thalia, as—’ ‘As exquisite as Aphrodite?’ ‘That would be my first choice, though if she is not, I shall simply snuff the candles and do the deed as quickly as possible.’ Oberon shrugged. ‘London is full of tempting young chits only too happy to do what a man likes. Take that stunning young woman we just met. I’d wager even you wouldn’t mind a tumble with her, despite your stated aversion to all things French.’

      ‘That has nothing to do with it,’ Robert said, aware that it wasn’t entirely true, but wishing he’d never told Oberon of his antipathy. ‘As a result of what happened between Lady Mary Kelsey and myself, I have no intention of involving myself with any woman, whether she be well born or otherwise.’

      ‘Ah, yes, the broken engagement. Pity about that,’ Oberon reflected. ‘Unlike you, Lady Mary is not keeping quiet about her feelings. Last week she called you a heartless bastard for breaking things off without a word of explanation.’

      ‘Trust me, it is better I do not vouchsafe the reasons,’ Robert murmured.

      ‘Be that as it may, she is threatening to sue you for breach of promise and society has taken her side. You have been cast out, my friend. Abandoned. Thrown to the murderous hordes. Which means you may as well find yourself a nice little mistress to keep you warm at night—in fact, what say you to a little wager? Whoever establishes the most beautiful woman in London as his mistress before the end of the Season shall be declared the winner.’

      ‘I’d say that apart from it being a totally iniquitous undertaking, it makes absolutely no sense. Have you any idea how many beautiful women there are in London?’

      ‘Ah, but I said the most beautiful.’

      ‘By whose standards? Jane is considered a beauty, yet you are offended by her handicap and label her unattractive as a result.’

      The viscount’s son had the decency to blush. ‘I did not say she offended me—’

      ‘Not in so many words, but we both know that is what you meant.’

      ‘Then we shall let a panel of our peers make the decision. And the stakes of the wager will show that he who loses must give the other that which he desires most. I’m willing to put up my stallion,’ Oberon said, stabbing the last piece of beef with his fork. ‘I recall you once saying that were I to offer you a chance to buy him, you’d take it without second thought. Now you can have him for free.’

      Robert sighed. ‘Let it go, Oberon. You know this is a complete waste of time.’

      ‘On the contrary, it could be very interesting. We just have to come up with something of equal value for you to put forward.’ Oberon tapped his finger against his chin. ‘I have it! Your sapphire ring. I’ve always been partial to it and that is what I claim as my prize.’

      Robert stared. ‘You think I would risk a priceless family heirloom on something as feeble as this?’

      ‘Why not? A wager must always have a prize and a consequence or it is not worth the trouble. So what do you say? Are you in?’

      There were times, Robert reflected, when it was impossible to find the words that would adequately describe how he felt about some of the things Oberon did. Just as it was equally hard to imagine that one day, the man sitting opposite him would wear a viscount’s coronet and own a veritable fortune in property and wealth. Robert picked up his glass and shook СКАЧАТЬ