Chapter One

The Lyon's Den

Whitehall, England

January 1818

A sher Tyler, Earl of Rowley, lifted a crystal glass of brandy and took a long sip. He sighed in pleasure. If there was one thing he knew, it was that Mrs. Dove-Lyon provided only the best to her customers when it came to food, drink, and other gentlemanly pleasures. The sound of male laughter echoed through the main gambling room, filtering into the smoking room Asher sat in. Satisfied after a good meal, he was more than ready to try his hand at a game of cards.

"You appear like you're ready to head home instead of only beginning our evening," his friend Lucius, Earl of Blackthorn, drawled before setting down his own glass.

Asher gave a shrug. "A nice meal, a good drink, and the company of a good friend… I won't find that returning to my empty townhouse."

"We're two friends down now that Saxton and Wickes have married," Lucius grumbled looking around the room as if the two men might appear.

Asher chuckled. "You can forget about either of them showing up," he said as if he had read his friend's thoughts. "Marital bliss has both men held by their balls."

Lucius laughed. "Although I can certainly appreciate your humor, you make it sound as though they aren't perfectly happy. You know very well they are."

"At least we have each other," Asher laughed, again taking up his drink and downing the contents. "I managed to remain unhitched through the last Season and I'd like to remain a bachelor in this one, too."

A snort left Lucius's lips. "We can't remain single forever," he warned. "We have to marry and sire heirs to carry on the name and all."

"Don't remind me. It's as though I can hear my father's voice from the grave reminding me that I can't spend the rest of my life with a mistress," Asher said with a grimace. Even his mother had been demanding Asher settle down.

"It's inevitable, but as you said… we made it through another Season. Although you avoiding an arrangement with Lady Maribel Johnson had to be sheer luck."

Asher rubbed the back of his neck while visions of the brown-haired beauty flitted through his mind. "She was… determined. I'll give her that."

"Determined? Is that what you call her seeking you out at every event you attended?" Lucius roared in laughter. "Why, I'm surprised she didn't compromise your reputation just to see the two of you wed!"

His cravat felt suddenly tight, and he ran a finger over the neckline of his shirt. Lucius was right. The wedding noose had come close on more than one occasion where Lady Maribel was concerned. "I finally got rid of her," Asher muttered.

Lucius pointed a finger at him. "And yet here we are with another Season about to begin. I thought you might stay in the country a while longer until Parliament returned to session at the end of the month."

"I've been here a while now and need to see that my younger brother Gideon is settled," Asher replied knowing the weight of his responsibilities toward his sibling.

"Bad luck he was injured while serving our country," Lucius replied before continuing. "At least he's still alive."

Asher winced, feeling as though he could still hear his mother's wailing from that horrible day over two years ago when she'd received word that her youngest son had perished in the Battle of Waterloo. After that, then to have word that he yet lived had been a miracle, even if it had been coupled with the revelation that he'd been wounded severely enough to leave him with no memory, resulting in him spending those two years in a hospital in France with no notion of the family miles away that was grieving his loss.

When Gideon's memory had suddenly returned, allowing him to reach out to his family, he had been transported back to England and was now in residence at the home of a local doctor who took in wealthy patients. The arrangement was only temporary, of course. Asher was making arrangements at his own townhouse to convert one of the lower floor rooms for Gideon's use. Their mother had insisted his brother shouldn't be alone and needed to stay with Asher. For his own peace of mind, he had agreed to her wishes. It was clear to see that Gideon needed help and support beyond what any hired assistance could provide. The Gideon who left with stars in his eyes was not the same man who had returned home.

"Mother has had a hard time of it while visiting him at Dr. Thornberry's but yes… at least Gideon's alive," Asher replied while thinking of the young man who left for war thinking he was going to change the world, or at least his small part of it. Back then, Asher had thought his brother foolish and na?ve—but nowadays, he found himself missing that naivete. It would be better than the bleakness Gideon currently carried.

"Hopefully you will still have plenty of time to enjoy our clubs," Lucius said standing up. "In the meantime, I think we can find something better to do than mull over unpleasantries."

Unpleasantries ? His brother's welfare was certainly more than just unpleasantries. Gideon's health weighed heavily on Asher's mind. He had always felt as though Gideon enlisting had been Asher's fault—not for anything he had done, exactly, but just from the awkward fact of his existence as the elder brother. The heir. Gideon had argued persuasively that as a second son, it was his duty to make his own way in the world. Asher's protests that they could well afford Gideon's allowance and that he had no need for a soldier's pension had been ignored.

Asher tried to push those thoughts away as the two men went into the main gambling room. For a moment, Asher enjoyed the distraction of wondering which table might be safe. It was well known to everyone who entered this establishment that the bets carried stakes that could be far more…unusual than mere money. From slightly poisoned drinks to see who passed out first, to who could eat the most food without tossing the contents of your stomach soon after, and anything and everything in between. Sometimes men would come to find that they had gambled away their bachelorhood and that the loss of the game meant having a match arranged for them by the proprietress. But still Asher continued to come here. The risk was part of what made it so tempting. And anyway, he had no reason to fear that he'd been targeted for matrimony. He was hardly on the radar for the Widow of Whitehall. Why would he be when there were dukes and even several marquises in attendance with deeper purses than his?

He saw Simon, Earl of Rockliffe, sitting at a table and it appeared he had a fair number of coins piling up in front of him. Simon was the brother of Wickes's new wife and Asher had witnessed this man's downfall a time or two at the Widow's tables.

Asher made his way over to where Simon sat while Lucius went in another direction. He took the empty seat and waited until the round was over.

"Place your bets, my lords," the dealer, Cobweb, said as he shuffled the cards.

"A good night, Rockliffe?" Asher asked tossing in a coin.

"Fair enough," Simon answered before picking up the cards he had been dealt. His face showed nothing and Asher couldn't judge whether the hand the man had been dealt was good or bad.

So much for small talk , thought Asher as he gathered his own cards in his hands and began to play. Hours passed uneventfully, but then he began to feel as if someone were watching him. He gazed up from the game to see none other than Mrs. Dove-Lyon who raised a fluted champagne glass in a silent toast.

He gulped and folded his hand. God forbid! He could only hope this wasn't some kind of an omen that he was next on her list. The last thing he needed was the Widow of Whitehall meddling in his life. He had enough to worry about as it was.