Enticing An Earl

Part 7

When George finally started following Lord William, she saw that the third of their trio had finally arrived. He had Lady Emma’s hand on his elbow while she was laughing at something he said. Well, at least Lord William had a genuine reason to panic.

Brandon Steel was a bastard, literally and figuratively. Nobody knew who his father was. They just knew that his father was a powerful man who bought him a fleet of merchant ships when he was twenty two years old. Lord Maximillian became friends with him during school years, but it was later in life that they became best friends. The two were known rakes of the ton who shared an aversion to marriage. William was introduced to Brandon when he wanted to invest in something other than agriculture. Max recommended merchant ships and his other best friend. The two men soon realized that they shared the Midas touch and had similar interests. The three of them kept on solidifying their friendship with each success in trade or House of Lords and were soon inseparable.

At least they had been, before Brandon was introduced to Lord William's sister. His status as a rich Lord’s bastard made his presence at balls unacceptable to most of the ton. The fact that he was successful and rich as crocuses prompted people to look the other way most of the time but unfortunately others near him were ruined by association. Any woman standing next to him was not forgiven so easily and it was generally assumed she was a fallen woman. Judging from Lord William's reaction, he was not happy with the fact that his sister was talking to Brandon. The potential for a fist fight between two friends in the middle of the busiest ball of the season was huge. George knew that such an incident might end all chances of Lady Emma finding the perfect match and started pushing through the crowd.

George understood that Lord William would regret his actions later if he did something impulsive and his actions might have far reaching consequences for everyone involved. This gave her extraordinary strength and she was before Brandon in the blink of an eye. She wanted to sound excited when she called hiss name to get his attention but she knew her voice sounded panicked. She saw Max stiffen and search behind her for any trace of a threat and was surprised to see William storming towards their party. Quickly assessing the situation, he placed himself in his friend's path.

As George hugged Brandon, she heard Max talking calmly to Lord William and was relieved to see the storm in his blue eyes turn into calm waters.

"Brandon! It's such a surprise to see you here, when did you return to London?” George knew that she sounded like a hyper excited woman that needed laudanum to calm her down but she didn't care. A disaster had been averted.

"Hey horsey! I see you are still playing the peacemaker. William is a smart man, he won't destroy his sister's reputation by taking a swing at me. I am one of his most trusted friends after all." George was still not sure how she overtook William but she did get to her target before him. Brandon was obviously goading him, like a mischievous child. George thought that the only thing that would distract them both was a tantrum. During her years as a third wheel to Maximillian and Brandon, she had learned that men hated tantrums and tears. They were a women's most powerful weapon. She decided to go for the former.

“How dare you call me horsey? I'm just 5 years your junior Brandon, not a child that appreciates names like that. If my suitors hear you call me such names, they might decide to look at other women, with better pet names. Are you trying to make sure that I never marry? I'm a grown woman capable of bearing kids and running a household. I'm no longer a little girl who would follow you and Max everywhere. You have to treat me like one or else no one will." No one spoke at the end of her monologue, but for different reasons entirely.

Brandon was disgusted at the image of her married and pregnant. It was still hard for him to accept the fact that she was a grown woman of twenty five and way past the ideal age for marriage. William thought of how womanly she was with all her curves. Only a fool would mistake her for a child. He imagined her belly swollen with his child and he was filled with a longing so sharp that it surprised him. He wanted that image to be real. Lady Georgiana as his wife and mother of his children Emma was just admiring George for successfully distracting her brother, who had never been distracted from his goal by anything or anyone.

"You have to tell me how you did that, distracting William is an achievement. Come on, tell me all your tricks while we get something to eat. Almack's refreshments are reputed to be the worst but I'm famished. I was so afraid that I couldn't eat a thing this morning." A very surprised and rather hungry Lady Emma dragged George away. She knew that they would get along very well. As soon as the two ladies left, Brandon's questions started.

"Your sister is right, no one can distract you but little Georgie just did. You know she's like a sister to me and Max. If you are serious, make your intentions known now!" William was surprised to see Brandon so worried about a woman's honor. He could see that the roles were now reversed as his friend played the role of concerned sibling.

Guess that witch has everyone under her spell.

"Stop questioning me and tell me what you were saying to my sister? You know your reputation, you know she's never left the country seat, you know how vulnerable she'll be to charms of men like you and still you are spending so much time with her? What if she falls in love with you? What if it breaks her? I know that your intentions are nothing but honorable, I trust you. I just worry that you'll make her love you without even trying." William ended pathetically. He didn't want to offend his friend but he didn't want his sister to hurt.

"You give your sister no credit at all. As soon as I was introduced, she called me a rake. Your sister is a bold woman, she might have lived in the country all her life but she is not naive. She was pointing out all the woman who would welcome me in their beds. She recognized every woman in ton that has a loose character and she hasn't heard of them or seen them before now. She is a marvelous judge of character." Brandon said with a smile.

"She knows what goes on between a man and a woman behind closed doors? She recognized woman with less than perfect character? Oh my God! Where did she learn of such things? When did she learn of such things?" William's face had lost all color and he started walking towards refreshments table. He needed to know the answers to his questions.

"William, you will ask no such questions. Your sister will be mortified. Stop man!" Brandon forcefully stopped William with Max's help.

"William she has read too many novels. You don't control the content she reads and she reads everything she can, from atlases to romance. The first thing I asked her was how she knew such things, she said through books. William your sister didn't betray your trust, don't embarrass her and yourself by making any assumptions about her. You know her better, you raised her better." By the time Brandon stopped speaking, some color had returned to William's face. Before anything further could be added to the conversation, Emma and George's screams filled the assembly hall.

The three friends started running in the direction of the screams instinctively, everything else forgotten. When they saw Cooper among the men who started moving with them, William and Max exchanged confused looks but kept on running. They had to push people out of the way to get to where only Emma was screaming now. The scene that they met with when they reached the girls was confusing.

George must have fainted near the fountain in what looked like her vomit, a very pale Emma was pointing at the fountain and screaming at the top of her lungs. Max saw a man floating and jumped in the fountain to save the man. He realized that it was a body, a headless body. The hair on the back of his neck stood up as the body looked chillingly familiar. He quickly started searching for the head and found it floating on the other side of fountain. As he got closer, his suspicions were confirmed as he saw Lord Malcolm's features on it.