Scandals of Lustful Ladies: A Historical Regency Romance Collection

by Meghan Sloan

“Oh.” Gabriel hadn’t realised the cards were still moving between his hands. He stopped and started to deal. “Doesn’t really matter who deals. We’re not playing for money. As long as we don’t cheat, it doesn’t matter who deals.”

  Norman grinned.

  “I suppose,” he sipped his drink. “How are you finding playing for fun, then?”

  “Surprisingly, it’s a lot more enjoyable.” Gabriel finished dealing and put the other cards aside. “It’s not as tense, worrying if your next hand is going to be your biggest win or the biggest loss. I think that’s why I played so badly; I was so concerned about losing all my money that I didn’t pay closer attention to the cards.”

  Norman burst out laughing.

  “That’s a novel excuse. I’ve not heard that one before.”

  “Well, it’s the one I’m sticking to.”

  Not too long ago, Gabriel had come to realise that he thought he was brilliant at card games, when in reality he was terrible. He just thought he was good because he didn’t care about the amount of money he lost. He was still being given plenty for his allowance and his father always bailed him out. If he had known that Derek was getting fed up with paying off Gabriel’s debts and was planning on cutting it down, he might have stopped or eased back enough that he knew when to stop.

  Who was he fooling? Of course he wouldn’t have stopped. Gabriel knew he would have got very angry and that would have resulted in an argument with his father.

  It was remarkable how philosophical you became when you were ruined and disowned with very little money to your name.

  “How’s your plan getting on?” Norman asked as he shuffled his hand around.

  Gabriel frowned.

  “Plan?”

  “The plan to pair your brother off with Miss Cassie Seton. I presume you’ve been working on that and kicking it into motion.”

  Oh. That. Gabriel bit back a sigh as he moved his cards in his hand until they looked right. He had hoped not to discuss the plan, but what else did he expect his friend to talk about? Norman would be asking about this ridiculous plan, something that Gabriel had been proud of for a while. Now he was beginning to regret doing it.

  God, why did emotions have to get involved now? They hadn’t before. Why was Cassandra Seton so different?

  “I’ve already got it into motion.” Gabriel put two cards down and picked up another. “They’ve met now. Percy finds Miss Seton sweet and gentle and Miss Seton says Percy’s kind and compassionate. They seem to be finding each other as attractive as you would expect in that situation.”

  “Miss Cassie is sweet and gentle?” Norman scoffed. “Those are not the two descriptions I would put next to her.”

  “You’ve never encountered that side of her?”

  “We know each other, Gabriel. We don’t converse every day,” Norman laid down three cards and picked up two. “Maybe she is sweet and gentle, but she doesn’t display it to me when we’re in the same room. Are you sure this is the same Cassandra Seton I know?”

  “It’s the same woman.” Gabriel shifted his cards about. “I think she was trying to tame her behaviour. The way she is naturally is not often accepted, and I don’t think that would have brought out a good first impression for Percy.”

  “Otherwise, someone’s hit her over the head and completely changed her,” Norman grunted. He picked up his glass again. “So, your brother seemed impressed, did he?”

  “Certainly. I see him falling quickly for her. Percy is a cautious man in the beginning but when he finally commits, he goes fully into it.”

  “To be honest, it would be difficult not to fall in love with Cassie Seton.”

  Difficult not to fall in love. Gabriel paused. Norman had hit a little too close to home. Anyone around Cassandra would be mad if they didn’t have any admiration for her. Falling in love with her didn’t seem such a big step beyond that. A big step downwards where you were aware of yourself falling. And Gabriel knew he had fallen. Hard.

  And that left him cold.

  “Gabriel?” Norman was looking at him strangely. “Are you all right?”

  “I...I’m fine.” Gabriel gritted his teeth and concentrated on his cards. He was meant to be playing gin rummy, not thinking about the beautiful woman he was trying to pass off onto his brother. “Are you in love with her, then?”

  “No, of course not. But I do admire her and I’ve seen other men fall over themselves to get her attention.” Norman shrugged, “She just walks away from it all.”

  “Sounds like a very serene way to deal with things.”

  Norman chuckled.

  “She can be serene when she wants to be. It’s only with certain people she decides that she’s going to be a complete and utter...well, even when not in mixed company it’s best not to say, but I’m sure you get the idea.”

  Gabriel did get the idea. The woman was enticing. Beautiful, fascinating, and even after she left Gabriel could feel her lingering. He could see her now, giving him one of those smiles that hadn’t yet been turned on him. It lit up her whole face and Gabriel felt his gut tightening. His trousers were beginning to feel a lot tighter than they had been a moment ago.

  How was it possible that he could get aroused just by the image of her? Beautiful women could arouse him, but not like this. Gabriel’s chest tightened. God, he was turning into such a sap. He had vowed that no woman would ever do that to him, and here he was thinking about a woman who was not for him.

  But you want her to be for him. You want her to be that so much.

  “What’s the matter with you?”

  “What?”

  Norman frowned and lowered his cards.

  “You’ve made a couple of mistakes with the game this evening already and your mind is not here. Even I can see that. What’s going on with you?”

  “Nothing.” Aware that his face was getting warm, Gabriel reached for his glass. “I’m just tired. It’s been a long day.”

  Normally, that would deter other people. People were polite and accepted the answer, even if they didn’t believe it. But Norman was not like other people.

  “Gabe. Tell me the truth. Is it about the deal?” The other man’s eyebrows rose as realisation dawned, “Or are you thinking about Cassandra Seton yourself? Are you actually finding her attractive like the rest of the male population of Ipswich?”

  Gabriel thought about denying it, but it would be pointless. His very red face was going to give him away, and Norman was not stupid. He sipped at his drink and stared at the table. Why did he feel ashamed about this?

  “I shouldn’t. I need to keep focused. But then I start thinking about her, and not in a way that’s part of the plan.”

  That was as much as he dared admit. Gabriel was not going to have the ins and outs of his innermost thoughts with his friend. Norman could probably fill in the gaps himself.

  “I see,” Norman sat back with a slight smile. “I didn’t think you would be immune to her. You’re nothing special, and Cassie is very special.”

  “Charming.”

  “Although I am surprised that you didn’t try to seduce her yourself. You’ve had success with it before.”

  Gabriel shifted in his chair. Now his trousers were feeling very tight. He was glad Norman couldn’t really see the state he was in.

  “I did consider it.” He cleared his throat, “But she’s too clever. She would see straight through me. Cassandra Seton is very suspicious and anything out of the norm is going to have her guardup. But to set her up with my brother…” he shrugged, “he’s in need of a wife, so I considered that a safer option.”

  At least, Gabriel thought that had been the safer option. It was a gamble to say to both Cassandra and Percy that the other found them attractive and that they should meet, but it looked like it was paying off. For now. Gabriel couldn’t just only hope that neither of them found out until after the wedding, or not at all.

  Wedding. Gabriel’s gut tightened even more. For some reason, thinking about his brother marry
ing Cassandra didn’t sit well with him at all. It just made him feel nauseous. He pushed that to one side, but how could he ignore it? That was his plan, after all, to have Cassandra married and then she would be distracted enough that she wouldn’t put as much, if any, energy into Seton’s. Percy probably wouldn’t appreciate what his new wife was doing, so Cassandra would be restricted. Then again, Cassandra was a force to be reckoned with.

  Now Gabriel was beginning to wonder what he had been drinking when he had come up with this plan. But it was too late to back out now. That and Gabriel would have to swallow his pride and admit the reason why. He couldn’t do that.

  “Don’t you think you’re doing a little too much for something that could be so simple?” Norman asked. “You could simply just take over Montgomery’s and work to get the money to pay me back. It might take a while, but at least you won’t have to interfere with anyone’s business but your own.”

  “But if I do that and do not take care of the rivals who have been in the business for much longer, I’ll be a step behind and I’ll never be able to catch up again. Even if it gets them on the back foot for a short period of time until I’m in a position to be ahead, so be it.”

  That had sounded reasonable at the beginning. Now it made Gabriel sound like a cad.

  “When Cassie finds out what you’re up to, she’s going to bring all kinds of fire and brimstone down on top of you.”

  “You’re not going to tell her about this, are you?”

  “I won’t. I’m curious to see how this plays out.” Norman smirked, “You’ve got a lot of gall to do this, Gabe. I’m curious to see how it ends.”

  That didn’t make Gabriel feel any better.

  #

  “Cassie?”

  Cassandra looked up. Alice was sitting across the table from her with a concerned frown. It took a moment for Cassandra to remember where she was. In Red’s Cafe around the corner from Seton’s, attempting to have tea and cake with her aunt. Aware that she was blushing, Cassandra managed a small smile and sat back, gently pushing away her plate.

  “Forgive me, Aunt Alice. I guess I wasn’t that hungry, after all.”

  “I can tell.” Her aunt frowned, “We can take it home for later, if you like. I’m sure Mrs. Redfield will allow it.”

  Cassandra hoped so. Mrs. Redfield made delicious cakes. Her daughters ran the cafe while their mother worked hard to bring out the gorgeous delicacies that everyone praised over and over again. Cassandra certainly loved the caramel cake, and she always looked out for it whenever she came in. Mrs. Redfield had even made a caramel cake for Cassandra’s last birthday, much to Cassandra’s surprise and delight.

  Now she felt ashamed for not being able to eat it.

  “She should allow it. I just…” Cassandra pressed a hand to her churning belly, “my stomach doesn’t want to have anything at the moment.”

  “It’s perfectly fine. We’re allowed to change our minds.” Alice looked concerned, “Are you sure you’re all right? You’ve looked very peaky all day. I am getting worried that you haven’t completely recovered from your illness.”

  She wasn’t ill in that sense, but Cassandra wasn’t about to confess that to her aunt. She meant well and Cassandra loved her dearly, but Alice would go straight to Ernest and tell him. Cassandra didn’t want her father to know about her feelings for a man who was most unsuitable for her.

  It was just a shame that her common sense wasn’t working with regards to Gabriel Tattershall.

  “I’m fine, Aunt Alice,” Cassandra managed a smile. “I just had a bad night’s sleep. Maybe I just need to go back home and rest.”

  “That sounds like a good idea. I don’t want you to collapse because you didn’t take care of yourself.”

  “I’m not going to collapse. I’m just...a bit flat, I suppose.” Cassandra leaned over and laid her hand over her aunt’s. “I’ll manage. You don’t need to worry about me.”

  “That’s the thing. I do worry.” Alice turned her hand over and linked her fingers with her niece’s. “Especially when you and I seemed to be well and healthy when we were in Hunstanton. Less than two weeks later, and you seem to be going back to how you were before. I know your father’s concerned about you.”

  “He barely saw me this morning.”

  “But it’s been a week since you started acting differently. We’ve both noticed.”

  Was it really a week since she’d changed? Cassandra hadn’t really noticed. She had been trying so hard to resist what her body was telling her to do that she had blocked everything else out. If her father had begun to notice, that was worrying.

  “I’m just distracted, Aunt Alice,” she said a little too brightly. “What with a death so close to the family, so to speak. Thomas Montgomery was a nice man, even if he drove Father mad.”

  Perhaps she should go over and give Norman her condolences. Cassandra had already written to him and was going to send flowers for the funeral the day after tomorrow, but maybe a face-to-face meeting would be appreciated. Cassandra was fond of Norman. He was a sweet, gentle soul. It was a shame she couldn’t accept his offer of courtship years before; he would be a good husband for someone.

  But then you would be bored. You like someone who makes you feel safe, but you don’t want that as a permanent thing.

  Cassandra pushed that aside. She wasn’t going to discuss it, even if it was to herself. Easing back, she rose to her feet.

  “Let’s see if Mrs. Redfield will allow me to take this cake home. I will certainly want it later.”

  Maybe if she got some sleep and rested enough, her appetite would improve along with her mood. Cassandra didn’t want to be in a low mood and have her relatives questioning it. They were like a dog with a bone when that happened, and Cassandra wasn’t about to divulge her secrets.

  If they knew what she was feeling about a certain man, then neither her father nor her aunt would be very pleased.

  Mrs. Redfield was happy to let Cassandra take a slice of cake home, putting it in a little box tied up with a bow. She did enquire after Cassandra’s health, but Cassandra assured her nothing was wrong. Nevertheless, the proprietress didn’t believe her. She was far too sharp for her own good. Cassandra had appreciated that before, but not when it was directed at her.

  She wasn’t sick. She was just confused. And it was difficult to get sorted in her head.

  They left the cafe and headed in the direction of home. Now she had mentioned going home and getting some sleep, Cassandra was now quite looking forward to putting her head down for a bit. She was beginning to feel extremely tired. It wasn’t like her to sleep during the day unless she was unwell, but there wasn’t anything she needed to do today.

  Visiting Seton’s tonight could wait, and Percy was taking her to the Duke and Duchess of Suffolk’s ball tomorrow night. Her dress was ready, and Cassandra was prepared. Sleeping seemed like the best thing to do.

  Providing she was able to fall into a deep sleep. That hadn’t happened much lately.

  Cassandra and Alice had crossed the street and were heading in the direction of the park - cutting through the park to get home was a lot quicker and certainly more enjoyable - when Cassandra heard someone calling her name. She turned and saw a dark-haired beauty her age striding towards her.

  A pale-haired girl carrying a parasol that matched the beauty’s dress and her eyes downcast hurried along behind her, almost tripping over to keep up. The dark-haired woman drew up in front of Cassandra and stopped, seeming to stop herself from going any further. Cassandra tensed. From the way the woman had moved, she had thought she was going to get slapped but then the girl remembered her manners.