Viscount of Vanity, Tammy Andresen [top reads txt] 📗

She swallowed down a lump as she looked back at Ivinhart. Leaving with him meant she’d be ruined. Which didn’t bother her nearly as much as it ought. Her entire life she’d been a prisoner to her father’s anger and schemes.

The truth was, she had no intention of marrying. Ever.

She’d decided shortly after his death that she’d not be subjected to a man’s whims again.

Travelling with the Earl of Ivinhart was certainly one way to effectively ruin herself quickly and completely to ensure she never, ever, ever had to wed. “Do I have time to dress?”

His shoulders slumped in relief. “If you’re quick. We’ll pack only a few essentials. No trunk I’m afraid. I’ll buy you more clothing when we’ve reached our destination.”

“You’ll buy me clothes?” she asked as she passed him and made her way into the hall. Now that she’d made up her mind, she was eager to see the plan through. “And His Grace agrees with this?”

She was moving down the hall and he followed, the maid just behind both of them. “He does.”

She crinkled her brow, surprised and a bit perplexed. Avery had assumed that after her period of mourning, she’d have to come up with a way to support herself. Had her cousin-in-law already resigned himself to the fact that she’d be ruined and that he’d have to support her after she returned to London?

Because if he had, that would make her future plans a great deal easier.

Granted, she still needed to decide what she would do with herself. She couldn’t just sit in this house all day but that was a problem for another time, not the middle of the night as she attempted to steal away from London.

Then a new thought occurred to her. “Does His Grace intend to tell everyone that I travelled with him and Isabella rather than you?” She’d decided to go, and she would. It was clearly a case of safety. But the plan was made all the better if it involved her permanent removal from the marriage mart. And if the Duke of Devonshire had already made plans to secure her reputation…well, that would mean she might need to marry still. Or find another way out.

Silence met her question, but she kept moving, entering her room, and leaving him in the hall. She’d ask again after she’d dressed.

She turned to begin instructing the maid. Avery had fully expected Ivinhart to wait outside, but as she spun, she found him in her room. “My lord.” She stopped, freezing where she stood. “What are you doing in my room?”

He grimaced. “Helping you to pack a few essentials.”

“But I need to dress.”

He shrugged. “There’s a changing screen. Just step behind that.” And then he crossed over to her armoire and began pulling out articles of clothing.

The man had lost his mind. She was about to travel with a madman.

* * *

Noah Graves, the Earl of Ivinhart, could feel her eyes on his back as he opened the clothes press and pulled out stockings from one of the drawers.

“My lord,” she admonished behind him. “Are you touching my under—” She stopped short, not finishing the sentence.

The corner of his mouth twitched. She was too much a lady to say the rest, but he wished she had.

Avery Bright was strong and practical. She’d been a bit hardheaded at the start, but that was to be expected. Admired even. What sort would she be if she’d just agreed to leave with a stranger? He didn’t yet know if she was pretty or what her figure might look like under that dressing gown, but atleast she wasn’t foolish or silly, dimwitted, or prone to bouts of emotion.

All in all, her calm and intelligent demeanor was a relief.

It wasn’t every day that a man agreed to marry a woman sight unseen.

He winced at the idea. Because he’d yet to actually tell her that part of the arrangement he’d made with Bash, the Duke of Devonshire, was that he’d wed Miss Avery Bright once they arrived at his country estate.

On the one hand, telling her might explain a great deal. Why Bash had given his permission for the two of them to travel alone, why Noah would be furnishing her wardrobe. On the other, it would surely bring up a great many questions he wasn’t quite ready to answer.

Questions like, why would you agree to marry a woman you’ve never met?

He cleared his throat. The answer to that was…complicated.

Noah and Bash, along with a few other lords, owned a gaming hell together called the Den of Sins.

With the duke’s marriage, he’d lost interest in the club. He’d offered Noah his shares in the business if Noah married Avery.

How did one tell a woman her dowry was an illegal club?

Not to mention that her husband to be was such a known rake that even as an earl, he’d have a difficult time getting a woman of quality to marry him.

Or at least he thought he might have a hard time. To be fair, he hadn’t tried.

And he didn’t really want to.

He knew he needed a wife at some point. But a man with his past didn’t exactly rush into marriage. In fact, he’d looked at the state of matrimony with a fair amount of dread.

But Avery seemed the practical sort and he was certain she’d be willing to come to an agreement of sorts with him. He could continue on with the club and his life and she’d have the protection afforded a countess. They’d both benefit.

So why did he not wish to tell her?

He turned to see Avery still hadn’t moved. She stared at him through the veil.

“If you could begin changing… We really must go.”

She made a squeaking sound as though she’d tried to speak but then stopped. “You’re not going to leave the room?”

The maid covered her mouth with her hands, eying Avery with wide eyes. The women exchanged a look. He’d best stop them before they started putting up more barriers. He