“Mr. Taylor does seem to be quite amenable.” Louisa gave their retreating backs a thoughtful look. “I have not seen him before this Season. Do we know anything about him?”
“Alasdair said he owns a small shipping line.”
“He is in trade then and not an aristocrat.”
Lorelei gave her a quick look. “I do not think that matters to Fiona. Do you think it that important?”
“Not personally. I hope you know me better than that by now,” Louisa answered. “It is just that someone who is not an aristocrat is hardly ever invited to an Almack’s ball.” She half smiled. “The debutantes—or at least their mothers—are here to grab a title, remember.”
“Well, with a lot of second and third sons purchasing commissions and going to far-off lands, perhaps the matrons made exceptions to fill the ballroom,” Lorelei said. “Alasdair is not an aristocrat, either.”
“But he is sponsored by my brother, Mount Stuart. However, you do have a point.” Louisa looked around the ballroom and then turned back to Lorelei. “Speaking of the man, I believe Mr. MacGregor has just arrived.”
Speaking of the devil might be more accurate, Lorelei thought as she turned her attention toward the entrance. He’d barely gotten through the door when half a dozen young ladies surrounded him, twittering and waving fans. She’d heard stories the past few days that two of them had found him entwined in holly bushes looking for a lost cuff link. He’d been most grateful for their help, the rumor went, especially when told that holly berries were poisonous and that they’d probably saved his life.
Lorelei snorted indelicately. Alasdair wasn’t that daft, which just meant he’d turned on the charm as was so easy for him to do. And, after the fanciful flight of imagining him walking with her along the paths at Vauxhall the day he’d escorted them shopping, she’d do well to remember that.
…
Erik Taylor watched as his target, Fiona MacGregor, rejoined her friends, and understood why his cousin, Neal Cameron, had contacted him, requesting a small “favor”—revenge, really, for her brother stealing Neal’s prospective bride away. Now that he’d met Fiona, he was more than happy to oblige.
She reminded him of Belle, whose soul had been as black as her hair. He’d been a fool five years ago when he’d been stationed at Calais and thought the beauty was captivated by the fact that he was a ship’s master in the Royal Navy. Even now, he ground his teeth at her treachery. She’d been enthralled all right, but not because she cared about him. She’d turned out to be a spy, intent on luring unwary British soldiers into impressment aboard French ships headed for the West Indies. A ship’s master was quite a catch. If it hadn’t been for Jean and Pierre, two seamen he’d met in a tavern, who’d gotten wind of the plot and warned him, he’d now be enslaved on a sugar cane plantation.
Women were vile creatures whom he’d never trust again. He especially detested women who didn’t know their place. Fiona MacGregor had more than demonstrated she had no idea what that meant. Instead, she acted as though she wereequalto a man. It was a good thing he wasn’t drinking any more of that foul, un-spiked punch or he would have spit it out.
Erik moved to a less conspicuous spot near the terrace where he could observe not only Fiona but also her friends. He needed to decide what role to play.
MacGregors and Camerons had been tussling with one another for decades. Just recently, Rory MacGregor, Fiona’s brother, had stolen Neal’s intended bride—Lorelei’s sister Juliana—and had made a laughingstock of Neal for the way Rory had done it. No man should have to be humiliated like that.
Now it was time for revenge. The MacGregors had taken something from his cousin. Now Erik would put that wrong to right.
He paused as he studied Lorelei Caldwell. Her sister had married the oldest brother, Ian. Not only that, but the chit’sothersister had been the one Neal had intended to marry. A smile slowly started to form. Why not seekdoublerevenge?
Abducting two women would require careful planning, but once they were both aboard one of his ships, his crew would make sure they were never heard from again.
Chapter Nine
Alasdair could hardly believe his luck…first, that he’d caught his sister and Lorelei at the house and that now at the Pot and Pineapple, Louisa had drawn Fiona away to introduce her to a friend. Which meant he had some time alone with Lorelei, even if it was in a public setting. He’d been thwarted—again—at Almack’s, since word of his obvious stupidity about poisonous berries had spread among the debutantes and a number of them had suggested they’d be happy to accompany him on nature walks and point out any other dangerous plants. Those conversations, along with his having to take the time to politely decline each offer, had taken up most of the evening.
But now, for a moment anyway, he had Lorelei to himself. Today she was wearing a gown that, while the bodice had a proper neckline that didn’t show any cleavage, did hug her body, accentuating the swell of her breasts. The pale pink color blended with her skin and made her appear almost nude. His cock hardened at the thought, and he narrowed his eyes to glance around to see if any men were staring at her.
“Good heavens, why are you scowling?” Lorelei asked.
He smoothed his expression, easier to do now that he realized he was the only man in the shop. “’Tis nothing.” He couldn’t very well tell her what an image she created in that color. Instead he replied, “Your gown is quite…striking.”
“Thank you.” She smiled. “Don’t you just love the color?”
He almost choked on his ice.Is she doing that innocently seductive thing again? Do I like the color? What the hell had she been thinking to purchase it?“I…’Tis unusual.”
“I know. The modiste had only a few yards left.” Lorelei giggled. “She told me she’d ordered the material especially for Charlotte Hayes.”
Luckily, his ice was sitting on the table or he would have choked on it for certain. Charlotte Hayes was an extremely successful courtesan and brothel owner. “Ye ken of Miss Hayes?”
“Madame DuBois explained who she is.”
Why would the modiste tell Lorelei that? “And this persuaded ye to buy the material?” He kept his voice as evenly pitched as he could.
Lorelei nodded. “I thought it unique. No one else will have this color.”
