Romancing an Alluring Lady: A Historical Regency Romance Book

by Lucy Langton

  Chapter 3

  Robert Christopher found the smaller parties more agreeable, with good reason. He had come to detest large gatherings because his intruding mother Mrs. Christopher had found a way to make gatherings for her five sons have a great deal of pressure on them.

  His mother had taken it upon herself to play matchmaker, and although most parents did this, she had taken it to the extreme. Because of his being the youngest of the five brothers, Robert had come to dislike assemblies, balls, and any sort of soirees. But smaller gatherings where he could simply play cards and mingle were much to his liking.

  Therefore when he received the invitation by General Matthews to attend such an event, he was inclined to accept. Though he lived south of London in Richmond, he would be staying in town for a few days on business. There were a lot of rare books that had been brought to his attention and he planned to go straight to the book seller in order to acquire them for his family’s library. They were very old books of maps and he found that knowledge of all sorts should be kept as well maintained as possible.

  Since Londoners had a penchant for bouts of rioting and fire, he took it upon himself to save valuable books of knowledge as often as he could by buying them up and giving them a safe place to live in the countryside. So since he would be in London already, he did not see why he could not spend an evening in the company of the best in the army.

  A smaller gathering also gave him ample opportunity to be introduced to new people, and tonight brought a curious person into his acquaintance. He had never met this woman before, and there was something about her. She wasn't the most attractive woman in the room, he knew that upon first looking upon her, but as he sat down with her to play cards she grew increasingly intriguing.

  Her name was Miss Evelynn James, and at the moment she was besting him at cards, and he considered himself quite a good player of hearts. For it took some intelligence and strategy to play this game, he was quite intrigued by the fact that she had won the first three rounds.

  “Tell me Miss James, what borough of London does your family reside?” He asked.

  “In Kensington sir,” she said.

  “Oh, is there a relation to the Royal Family?”

  “No, none at all sir. We are simply blessed with the luck of geography,” she said.

  Robert found her use of the word geography quite amusing and laughed. “My, you do have a way with words, do you not?”

  “I speak as I find sir, for I do quite a bit of reading. Using words in an amusing manner comes as a side effect of doing an enormous amount of reading, and one that gives me great pleasure.”

  “Yes, you seem to be a woman that is able to take great pleasure in many things,” he said. As soon as he said it his mind went elsewhere, to a very inappropriate place.

  Miss James cleared her throat. “I try my best, sir. Life is short as they say, and freedom to do as I please has a time frame upon it.”

  “A time frame? Whatever do you mean?” he asked.

  “I speak of marriage sir. Once a wife, you lose the freedom of life,” she said.

  Robert and Mr. Larson both erupted into laughter. Robert was very amused by her use of rhyme.

  “Well said, Miss James. Well said,” Mr. Larson said.

  Robert was incredibly charmed by this woman, for he had never met someone that spoke so freely and with such intelligence, wit, and charm, all wrapped in one. Where had she been hiding? He was also struck by the notion that she thought of marriage the same way that he did, as somewhat of a nuisance to freedom. It did not escape him at all that it was a much bigger nuisance for a woman and the idea of a husband must be torment for someone as vivacious as Miss James.

  The more that Mr. Christopher continued to speak with Evelynn, the more he began to like her. Suddenly he saw the beauty in her plain looks; her lips were quite full and flushed pink. Though her eyes were of no significant color, they were a beautiful color of light brown that caught the candlelight in them and created a sparkle.

  Her chestnut hair was smooth and curled delightfully around her face and the drop curls bounced around with every movement. Her pale cleavage was exposed to him every time she leaned over the table in order to set a card down between them, something that he had come to look forward to with every round of the game. Indeed a stirring within him had begun to take hold, who was this woman really? And how could he make sure that he saw her again?

  “There,” she said laying down her hand and showing that she had won again. Mr. Larson was all in an uproar and laughter.

  “My, you have won again,” he said. He was in good spirits, and her competitiveness had gathered a small crowd around her.

  Mr. Christopher noticed that she had a certain magnetism that drew people to her. To her left were two women overlooking her shoulder delighted by the show of strength by a lady. To her right was a man that he did not know, but would come to learn was named Mr. Edward Stevens and who was a close acquaintance of Miss James.

  Robert noticed that he had not had so much fun in a game of cards in a long time, and the fact that the lady at the table was winning made it very joyful. But he wanted to see how far he could push her limits.

  “I dare say that you shall win every round. What is the point of us playing?” Mr. Larson said in a joking manner.

  “Yes, Miss James plays very well, but would she play as well under pressure?” Robert said.

  The lady looked to him and raised an eyebrow. “And what pressure might that be sir?”

  “What about spicing things up slightly?” He said and noticed that her face flushed with his offer. It was perhaps inappropriate use of words, but he had enough sherry in him as well as those around the table to simply laugh at his playfulness.

  “You have my attention,” she said.

  “If I win the next hand, then you must promise me the first dance at the next ball where we are both in attendance,” he said.

  “That is quite a thing to bet considering I have never met you before tonight sir, so it is possible I may never see you again. Therefore I feel no pressure whatsoever in accepting that kind of bet that may never be seen through,” she said.

  “I will take that chance,” he said

  “Fine, then I accept as long as you accept my terms if I win.”

  “And what would that be lady?”

  “If I should win this next hand, then you must send me a small gift of your choosing, a surprise, and it will be a measure of what kind of man you are,” she said.

  There was commotion from the people standing around her who were quite enjoying this little bit of banter.

  “I accept the challenge ma'am,” he said. For now he had a dilemma; he did want to win because he wanted to have the chance to dance with her and have those moments, but he also did love a challenge and was already wondering what small token he would send her.

  “Very well then, the terms are set. Let us begin.” Mr. Larson said as he took the cards in hand and began to hand them out.

  The group around them grew quiet and it was very tense. But every time Robert looked to the lovely lady Evelynn, he felt a thick chemistry between them, a moment. He had to force himself to pull away from her eyes because she was becoming quite the distraction and he wondered if that was part of her way of playing. For a man that was distracted could not concentrate on the cards before him. So he looked away and began to take the game quite seriously.

  Then, to his amazement, he won. The small crowd around their table was in uproar, laughing and clapping in good humor. But as he looked at Evelynn, she slightly narrowed her eyes at him; something told him that she did not like losing, quite a competitive woman, something that they had in common.

  “Well then, it looks like I won. I expect that you will keep up your end of the bet,” he said to her.

  “I do not break promises sir, you can count on that.”

  Robert then noticed the man at her side shift his weight, and he seemed quite uncomfortable. Robert looked at him directl
y, and the man had quite discontented look upon his face. It was obvious that he was not pleased with the bet, and he began to wonder if this woman was promised to him. For he did not know anything about her, and this man was clinging to her side as though they were together.

  It however did not matter. Robert was not interested in finding a wife anytime soon. He valued his freedom, something that his mother was growing ever more annoyed of especially because he was about to turn five and twenty years of age during the summer.

  That was when all his brothers had become engaged, and his mother did not let that notion escape his mind. But he had in mind to fight tooth and nail in order to maintain his freedom as long as possible. Therefore if this woman was engaged, it did not bother him whatsoever, for he only wanted to have some fun with her, for now in an appropriate and respectable flirtation.

  He looked back to the lady. Her narrow eyes ceased their assault of him and she smiled into a brilliant smile.

  “I see you have got the best of me, sir. That is too bad for I do wonder what sort of token you would send my way,” she said.

  “That is easy, for I already know what you hold quite dear,” he said having figured it out during the hand.

  “You do? Am I that easy to read?” she said.

  “Yes and read is the key word there. For you mentioned earlier that you love to read and love words, therefore I would have chosen to send you a book.”

  He watched as the smile fell from her face. Was it because he had guessed wrong? Or because he had guessed right and this had shaken her?

  “Yes, that is true. I love reading very much and I love books. Then I guess I would have been able to measure you by what type of book you sent my way,” she said.

  “That would have to take me getting to know you more Miss James, something I look forward to in the future,” he said.

  The smile once again came upon her face and he wished that they were all alone in the room so that he might have the advantage of speaking to her more freely, for something in this woman brought out a wild and bolder side to him and he had never felt more flirtatious than in this moment.

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