The Valet Who Loved Me - Valerie Bowman Page 0,2

the most interested in ensuring Lady Emily knew that she’d inadvertently tossed over a future earl for a baron.

“Can we not discuss Lady Emily, please?” Kendall groaned and covered his face with a hand.

Worth’s good humor returned with the arrival of the barmaid who’d appeared with their drinks. “Keep ‘em coming, love,” he said to her, before turning back to Kendall and adding, “I’m merely pointing out that if you want a lady who loves you for yourself, the Season and its ridiculousness are the last place you should go.”

“Yes,” Kendall replied with a sigh, lifting his mug into the air in salute of Worth. “Didn’t I already say that? The Season and its fetes are the last place I should go, which is why I’ve avoided it like the pox for the last two Seasons.”

“Oh, is that why you haven’t attended the boring balls at Almack’s?” Worth replied, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “I thought it was the tepid tea and small talk. That’s why I steer clear of them.”

“You avoid them because they don’t serve brandy and we all know it,” Beau said, staring fixedly at Worth, his arms crossed tightly over his chest.

Worth winked at him. “That and they won’t give me the bank that Hollister’s will.”

Beau rolled his eyes. Hollister’s was the duke’s favorite gambling hell. Hollister’s had given Worth carte blanche and he won and lost small fortunes there regularly.

Kendall scratched his chin and stared blindly at his mug. “If only the ladies of the ton didn’t know I am an earl, I’d have a much better chance of finding a match.”

Worth’s laughter filled the air. “I’d pay to see that. An earl dressed up like a common man to find true love. Has a certain poetic ring to it, don’t it?”

Clayton laughed too and shook his head, but Beau merely narrowed his eyes further and said, “It’s not a completely outlandish idea.” He tilted his head to the side. Yes. The conversation was turning in the precise direction he’d wanted it to.

“What’s not?” Kendall had nearly forgotten what he’d said.

“The idea of pretending you’re a commoner to find a wife,” Beau replied.

Worth slapped Beau on the back again. “Are you mad, man? You’re not even drinking.”

Beau leaned forward to address his remarks directly to Kendall. “Given the right circumstances, it could work, you know?”

“Pretending I’m common?” Kendall replied, blinking. “I don’t see how.”

“Everyone in the ton knows him,” Clayton pointed out. “How would he ever manage it?”

“Are you suggesting he wear a mask or alter his appearance?” Worth asked. The duke stroked his chin. His eyes began to narrow, too, as if he were also taking the idea seriously.

Kendall glanced back and forth between Worth and Beau. “You cannot be serious, either of you. Clayton’s right. How would it ever work?”

“No, not a costume.” Beau addressed his remarks to Worth. “I was thinking something more like the right…situation.”

Worth leaned forward. “Such as?” he replied, drawing out both words.

“You two are frightening me, you know?” Kendall said. “You seem as if you’re actually trying to plot out a way this ludicrous idea might work.”

Ludicrous indeed. Beau forced himself not to smile. “Like a …house party,” Beau replied to Worth, stroking his chin and completely ignoring Kendall’s comment.

Worth inclined his head, his eyes still narrowed. “A house party, yes. I see what you mean.”

“But it couldn’t be just any house party, of course,” Beau continued. “It would have to be one given by someone who was in on the experiment.”

“Experiment?” Clayton sat up straight. “There are few things I enjoy more than an experiment, and I just so happen to be about to send the invitations to my annual country house party.”

Excellent. For his idea to work, Beau desperately needed Clayton’s help.

“Experiment?” Kendall repeated, blinking.

Beau snapped his fingers. “Your house party would be perfect, Clayton.”

“Wait. Wait. Wait. Wait. Wait.” Kendall sat between Beau and Worth and he pushed against their shoulders with both hands. “A house party isn’t going to change my identity. Ladies of the ton will still know who I am at a house party.”

“He makes a good point,” Clayton replied, taking another draught of ale.

“Not if you invite only the debutantes from this Season,” Beau replied with a confident smile. “And not if you create the right circumstances.”

Kendall sucked in a deep breath and pushed his mug out of reach. “The ladies may not know me, but some of their mothers do. More than one of them has already been to court with