Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

THREE YEARS LATER

“A nd then, Lord Rainhard lost his hat!”

“No! Whatever happened to it?”

“Who can say for sure? All I can say is the next thing we knew, it was floating down the river never to be seen again! And that’s the last time I will ever go to York!”

Amber forced out a polite laugh at Lord Darnly’s lackluster story. His stories were always so horribly dull, but she couldn’t let him know she thought that. It would be rude, and if she was rude, Simon would give her an earful. She didn’t have time to worry about that. She needed to focus. Amber turned her attention to the rest of the room as discreetly as she could, eyes still raking over the crowd, still turning up short. This would have been easier if she were at a larger gathering, but since Simon had yet to bring her into society, all Amber was able to attend were small house parties like this one.

There couldn’t have been more than fifteen or twenty guests. It would be almost impossible to find someone here who had even the slightest chance of working let alone agreeing to?—

“Have you had a bit too much to drink?” Mary, the Duchess of Wilton, the wife of one of Simon’s close friends, said, cutting off Amber’s thoughts. “That has to be at least the third time you’ve told that story tonight.”

The man scoffed, rolling his eyes, a good-natured smile on his rum flushed face. “I haven’t had more than a glass or two!”

Mary gave him a look.

“Perhaps I might have told that story once or twice, but it couldn’t possibly have been more than that. Besides, it is a great story. Can you blame me for wanting to tell it?”

“I haven’t said anything to blame you. I simply wanted to ascertain that you are still with us. I’d hate for you to get sick in your guest room again!”

His face turned red as everyone laughed. He stepped away from the group. “I need to step away for a moment.”

Mary grabbed Amber’s arm, tugging her from the remainder of the group as they started to disperse into the rest of the crowd.

Amber frowned, crossing her arms. “What is it? Why are you looking at me like that?”

“How are you doing, my dear?” she asked, rather than answering Amber.

“I’m fine. Why wouldn’t I be?”

Mary looked away. “Oh, Amber, you don’t need to lie to me. I know what Lord Heathfield is planning. How are you feeling about all of it?”

Blood drained from Amber’s face. “Did he tell you? Has he already made the announcement?”

She shook her head.

Amber let out a sigh of relief. There was still hope.

“He hasn’t said anything to me or my husband as far as I know, but, at least to me, he didn’t have to. I remember when I was in your position. I know how to see the signs.”

Amber looked away. “My apologies, but I don’t have the slightest idea what you’re talking about.”

“I hate to break it to you, but you already admitted there was something. It’s a bit late to back track now.”

Amber chewed her lip. “I can’t. Please don’t make me say it.”

“I won’t push you right now, but even if you can’t say it, you can tell me how you feel about it.”

“I just can’t.”

She sighed. “Amber, you need to talk to someone about how you’re feeling. There isn’t much you can do to change your situations, but that doesn’t mean it wouldn’t make you feel better to commiserate with someone.”

Amber crossed her arms. “No, it wouldn’t, especially because, like I already told you, there’s nothing to commiserate about.” She looked away. She didn’t want to meet Mary’s eyes. She couldn’t handle seeing the pity she knew would be there.

“All right,” Mary sighed. “I won’t push you, but you should consider talking with someone. It would do you a lot of good.”

“And what would you know?” Amber crossed her arms.

“I think we both know the answer to that.”

Amber looked away.

“Have I ever told you how Jonathan and I met?”

“You have.”

“And looking at us now, do you think we’re happy?”

“From what you’ve told me, it sounds like it.”

“So try not to worry.”

“But it isn’t the same.”

“I know it isn’t, but my point is, you are going to be all right. You aren’t the first woman in this position. Most of the time, it turns out just fine.”

“But not every time.”

She sighed. “No, not every time.”

“So then, there’s no reason to assume it would go well.”

“But you can’t do anything to change it, so you have to find a way to hold onto hope.”

“Just say whatever it is you’re trying to say.”

“I only wanted to tell you that I know things feel rough now, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel, and I am here to talk if you need any help adjusting to what comes next.”

Amber stared at the floor, pushing back the urge to let her despair flood out. “I’ll remember that. Can we get back to the party now?”

“Of course, whatever you like.”

They joined another small cluster of people, and the conversation began to flow once again, Mary’s concern playing in her mind.

Still, she couldn’t afford to get distracted now. She was on a mission this night. Every few minutes, she scanned over the guests to see if there was anyone she thought might agree to her slightly crazy plan.

So far though, she hadn’t had any luck.

“Amber, dear,” Mary said, pulling her out of her thoughts, “is everything all right? Do you want me to walk you back to your room? Maybe you need a lie down.”

“There’s no need for that. Of course, I’m all right. Why wouldn’t I be?”

Mary frowned, clearly not completely convinced. She opened her mouth to continue talking, but one of the men cut her off.

“She’s probably just hungry. Don’t worry, Lady Amber. Dinner will be ready soon, I’m sure.”

“Thank you for your concern.”

“Of course. What kind of man would I be to not show concern for a lady.”

Then the conversation turned to other topics, leaving her to return to scanning the room for anyone who could help.

Amber was starting to give up hope when the door suddenly swung open, revealing the two final guests, late to the party as they were. The first was a petite young woman with auburn hair swept back from her face, a jeweled turquoise pin, and large hazel eyes, looking over the party with visible glee. Her elegant mint green gown had lovely embroidery along the hem, but that wasn’t who had caught Amber’s eyes. No, she was focused on someone she’d only heard of, someone who from everything she could tell had no place with her cousin Simon or any of his friends.

The Duke of Easton, Christopher Garvey.

She couldn’t help but wonder what he was doing here.

He cut an imposing figure. He was tall, muscular, with dark brown hair and sparkling hazel eyes. While she had never met him, she knew his reputation. The Duke was known to be less than sociable. He usually only came to outings when his sister wanted to go places. He had never had any kind of serious courtship with anyone, but his name had been associated with a few scandals.

Amber lit up; he was perfect.

She waited until there was an appropriate moment. Finally, she saw her opening. His sister had run off, leaving him on his own. She knew she had to act fast before his sister came back and roped him in to conversation.

Amber turned to Mary. “If you’d all excuse me for a moment.”

Mary caught her eye, but Amber just smiled, walking away. She tried not to be too obvious, making her way along the edge of the room as though she didn’t have any destination in mind before finally walking over to him.

“Duke of Easton, I believe,” Amber said.

Immediately when he saw her, his demeanor shifted. “Do I know you?”

“No, I don’t believe we have met before. I’m Lady Amber Parr. Could I speak with you for a moment?”

“I see.” He glanced around with a grimace. “If you are trying to make the best of your available prospects for the evening, then you are going to be sorely disappointed.”

“Excuse me?”

“I said if you are trying to?—”

She bristled. “I heard what you said. I’m just confused as to why you said it. I will have you know I have no interest in trying to court you!”

“Oh? Is that right? Is there someone better here? Hiding away in the study perhaps?”

“How full of yourself can you be? Based on this interaction, I can’t help but assume most people would be a better choice than you.”

“Is that right?” Something strange seemed to sparkle in his eyes. For some reason, he even seemed to relax. “Then what do you want?”

Amber took a deep breath, casting a glance around, both to make sure no one was listening and in a last-ditch effort to see if there were any better options.

She didn’t have enough time to try and find someone else. A few other people began trickling over, led by the woman he had come in with.

“Come find me after dinner. I’ll explain everything,” she whispered as the others sat down.

“Chris, who’s your new friend?” the woman asked, eyes flickering between them with a mischievous look on her small, heart shaped face.

“Felicity, this is Lady Amber. Lady Amber, this is my little sister, Lady Felicity.”

“Please, if you are a friend of my brother, then you are a friend to me. You can just call me Felicity.”

“Friend is a stronger word than I would use,” Christopher grimaced.

Amber had a quip on the tip of her tongue, but before she could get a word out, Felicity laughed. “I’m not surprised. You always have been so stingy with that word.”

“I think you are too generous with it.”

“There’s no such thing. You just need to learn to be more friendly.”

“I’m plenty friendly.”

One of the people laughed. “Come now, Your Grace. I remember when we first met. You spent three hours glaring at me from across the room.”

“Only because you were wearing that ridiculous suit.”

“Oh, come now. It wasn’t that bad.”

“It was bright blue!”

“My betrothed had it made for me!”

“Your betrothed is severely color blind!”

“She’s only mildly colorblind.”

“Lord Denson, I’ve had the displeasure of seeing her paintings.”

“I think you mean the honor of seeing her paintings.”

“No, frankly I was being kind by calling them a displeasure.”

One of the women started to laugh. “He isn’t wrong, darling. You are the only person who has ever had anything nice to say about them.”

“That is because other people lack taste.”

“Somehow I doubt that.”

Felicity turned back to Amber. “It is lovely to meet you. I just know we are going to be the best of friends.”

“That’s very kind of you to say, but you hardly know the first thing about me.”

“As I said, I don’t need to. If you are a friend of my brother, then I just know you must be pretty great.”

Amber opened her mouth to reply, but before she could, a footman entered the room.

“Dinner has been served. Please follow me to the dining room.”

As they walked, Amber felt a hand clamp down around her arm, yanking her away.