Seduced by a Scoundrel - By Barbara Dawson Smith Page 0,31

and etiquette, finance and commerce. He had used his talent with numbers to amass a fortune at the gaming tables. Then he had lured Gerald, Lord Brockway, into a game of chance.

All so that Drake could claim the woman Hailstock wanted.

Now Lady Alicia Pemberton might thwart him at the altar.

The notion filled him with unholy rage. Before God, he would never again permit any member of the aristocracy to humiliate him.

Never again.

The clergyman cleared his throat, and Drake cast an aggravated glance at the Reverend Lord Raymond Jeffries, who leaned on the ivory knob of his cane. While arranging the nuptials, the haughty cleric had made it clear he was the brother of a marquess.

If only the snob knew how much they had in common.

But Drake wasn’t yet ready to proclaim his parentage. First, he must secure a position in Hailstock’s world. If Alicia dared to play him for a fool by canceling their wedding …

A brown curl dipping onto his brow, the cleric leaned closer and whispered, “Your bride, Mr. Wilder.”

Drake snapped his gaze down the aisle. Mrs. Philpot assisted Lady Eleanor into a pew near the front, Mrs. Molesworth trotting behind them. Then his attention flashed to the couple who waited at the rear of the church.

Holding her brother’s arm, Lady Alicia Pemberton stood half hidden in the shadows of the double doorway. Drake’s anxiety dissipated in a surge of unmanly relief. In his mind, he muttered a prayer of triumphant thanksgiving.

As if by divine answer, the clouds parted and a ray of sunlight gilded her in splendor. A halo of white rosebuds crowned her golden hair, and the pale blue gown skimmed the form of an angel. Her hands were folded around a bouquet of white flowers. He spared only a glance at those outer trappings; her purity and beauty struck him breathless. He could hardly believe her chaste perfection soon would be his.

At Gerald’s side, she glided down the aisle. Her eyes were cool and steady, her face pale and composed. She might have been a martyr on her way to the scaffold. Instead of pleasing him, her passivity scorched a path to his gut. He didn’t want her to be resigned to her fate, as if he were her executioner. Damn it, he wanted her to fight him, to show her spirit.

Cold sweat broke out on his palms; he resisted the urge to rub them on his dark blue frock coat. What the devil was wrong with him? She was no more to him than an instrument of revenge.

Brother and sister reached the altar railing. Lord Brockway paused, his gaze fierce on Drake. Despite his boyish features and scrawny physique, he looked every inch the earl in his finely tailored coat and buff knee breeches. The aggressive tilt of his jaw said that he would defend his sister if the need arose. Drake nodded sardonically. A pity the tadpole hadn’t been more protective when he’d risked all at the gaming table.

Then Gerald gave Alicia to him, and Drake drew her close, tucking her gloved fingers in the crook of his arm. With her other hand, she held the bouquet of lilies at her slender waist. Her subtle feminine scent cast a veil of bewitchment over him, and even here in church, he felt himself tighten with lust. Keeping his hand firmly over hers, he drew her a few steps closer to the altar.

The clergyman opened his leather-bound prayer book. “Dearly beloved, we are gathered together here in the sight of God…”

The commencement of the marriage service barely penetrated Drake’s keen awareness of his bride. He felt a grudging admiration that this small and dainty woman could possess such flawless self-control. Her fine, alabaster profile displayed no trace of emotion. She gazed straight ahead as if pledging her life to a bastard gambler were nothing out of the ordinary.

He’d half expected her to shun his gifts, the gown and the necklace. The diamonds matched the luster of her skin, the teardrop sapphire nestling in the shadowed valley between her breasts. He wanted to put his mouth there … and elsewhere. He wanted to peel off her gown and lay seige to her composure.

The explicit fantasy seared straight to his groin.

“If any man can show just cause why they may not lawfully be joined together, let him now speak, or else hereafter forever hold his peace.”

The Reverend Lord Raymond Jeffries paused. His squirrelly eyes darted left and right as if he fully expected someone to step forth