Ruin Me Please (16 page)

“By all means
, Durham, pour away
.”  Seymour inclined his head flippantly
before accep
t
ing his bumper of brandy.

“Durham, leave poor Dobbins alone.  You know he likes to feel useful.”  Parker
pointed out
, grinning at Dobbins.

Dobbins inclined his head with a twinkle in his eyes and shut the door.

“
Ahhh
…
Perry, I see you
have
decided to rusticate with us
decaying men.
”
Connor W
a
verly, Viscount
Durham
raised heavy brows
. 
“No
delicious
debaucheries planned in Kent for the summer?”
 
He was s
hockingly han
d
some with light brown hair and hazel eyes.

“Deadly dull to be sure, but I thought I would try to lighten up this get together
,
”
Peyton answered
, his tone filled with a hint of disgust.  He yawned
into his hand
for effect
.  “Maybe I will be able to weasel out some of your better tricks before you take your ride on the
R
iver
Styx
.”

“Well played, Perry.
” Declan chuckled.

Seymour
guffawed
looking about
the room
.
“
Well, I’ll be damned, is that you
Hawk
s
ley
?
”

“If
it isn’t the very devil himself
.
” 
Durham rushed across the room
to greet
him as well, c
lapping him on the back.  “The gang is back together at last
.
”
  Their chatty, easy camar
a
derie returned immed
i
ately at their
surprise
reunion.

Declan th
rew his head back and laughed.

“I hadn’t realized you were out
of hiding.”  Seymour studied
Declan
.

“
Just,”
Declan replied.  “
Now I know why you were so secretive
,
Ash
.
”  He
drained his glass
before continuing
.
 
“
You were planning an ambush.
”

Parker glanced towards Declan with a raised brow
.
 

“I’m the spare
, therefore I cannot stay in hiding forever
.”  Declan’s expression grew grim.  “If I don’t marry and produce an heir
,
the title, the land
,
and the money will go to some distant relation that I have
never
met
and probably do not want to. 
I have worked entirely too hard
over the past few years
for that to take place
.”
  He wasn’t going to admit, even to his clo
s
est friends that he had enjoyed every minute of the backbreaking labor.

“Well
,
it’s not as if we aren’t all in the same boat.”
  Durham grinned, studying the placement of the balls before he leaned over the table to l
ine up
his shot.

“You at least have a brother, Durham,” Seymour replied.
  “Who has seen fit to start populating the whole of England with his progeny?”

“Thankfully,” Durham muttered.

Parker shook his head and spoke for them all
, “Enough of this dreary talk.  We are su
p
posed to be taking a break from the
marriage mart for the su
m
mer.”

Seymour nodded.  “Let’s at least have a couple of weeks with no managing females.  I suggest we
leave behind all this marriage talk and
wager on a
rousing
game of
b
illiards
.”

Declan’s lips curved
as he slapped the table
.
“
Rack ’em up
,
boys.
”  He rubbed his hands together.
 
“
I’m about to become a richer man tonight
.
”

“You have been rusticating for too
long
,
if you believe we will be of no challenge to you
.  I believe I can take you.
”
 
Durham emptied his tumbler in one gulp.

“Durham, m
ind your brandy or you’ll owe him a
nother monkey.
” Seymour
chuckled
, watching the ball
as his rolled to a stop
.

Durham wi
nced. 
“Are you never going to allow me to live that
down?
”

“Are your pockets to let again
,
Durham?”  Declan inquired grinning.  “If you prefer we can start out slow, say a pony instead?” 
He inquired with
humor in his voice
.
“
I do l
ove to ride.
”

“Oh
,
aren’t
you
are a hoot.
”  Durham rolled his eyes dramatically.  “
I lose
, rather
exte
n
sively
,”
He flashed a sheepish look.  “
one
measly time, and you re
probates will not
let me fo
r
get.”  He gave a humorless laugh.
“S
ome friends you are.
”

“You are lucky that it was to a good friend
,
such as
m
e
.  At least I didn’t make you pay up.  I am still hanging on to your vowels though.
” 
He smirked
, leaning his cue against the side of the table.  “I’m saving it for a rainy day
, in case my luck should have a turn for the worse
.”

Seymour guffawed
loudly.

“Try not to have too much fun at my expense.
”  Durham made a rude noise
and gesture
.

Declan tapped his chin, then said,
“
Perhaps
I should send to London to have it framed?”  With a dastardly look in his
eye,
he chortled.  “Just in case I’m ever in need
you know
.” 
He rubbed
his hands together
once again
.  “I would hate to misplace such a valuable piece of p
a
per.” 
He looked
around thoughtfully.  “I do believe it would look
quite
smashing in
my
Bi
l
liards
room.  What
say you
,
Ash?”

Everyone
laughed
. 

E
veryone
except for Durham
, but the e
ffect was ruined when his lips twitched
.

“Speaking of riding,
” Durham
inquired, “I hear you have a new prime piece of hors
e
flesh.”

“
Quite
right
.
”
Declan
gr
inned.
“
Lucifer
.  I
just picked him up from Lord
Pickerel
.  He was short on funds.”

Seymour shook his head in disbelief.  “You have always
had the damndest luck, Hawk.”

Declan’s lips curved. 
“The best part is that I outbid
Rockwell.  He was
delightfully fur
i
ous
.”
  His smile deepen
ed
.

Durham turned
to Declan with a quirked brow. 
“Rockwell
already
owns the best stock in Eng
land,
I doubt he is upset over one
trifling
horse.”

“
Trifling? 
Tell that to my
wallet
.
”
H
e shook his head with a laugh
.
“
It took great skill to outbid him I’ll have you know.”  Declan snorted.  “
I outbid him just to make him mad.  It cost me a
very
pretty penny.”

“That is why you are harping on my vowels.”  Durham smirked.

Declan shot him a look, amusement lighting up his eyes.

“Oh by the bye,
” Peyton
mentioned,
“
I hate to put a damper on your mood, but
Poppy and Piper have invited friends
,
as we
ll
.  “S
o you
r
plans for no managing females is out of the question.  We are going to have about seven of them flittering about the house for the su
m
mer.
”

“Seven?”  Durham groaned.

“This is getting better and better.”  With a lecherous look Seymour asked
, “
Anyone t
hat I might find
interest
ing
?”

“I thought you said you were glad to have a couple of weeks without managing f
e
ma
les?”  Parker raised his brows.
  “And remember two of the managing females are my sisters and one is my aunt, so mind yourselves.”

The others nodded, exchanging glances.

Drolly Parker replied, “I did ask them to stay away from the
Haymarket ware
when they were posting their invitations.  Sorr
y to disappoint,
Seymour.”

“
That is
rather
dreadfully disappointing
,” Seymour
said
drearily with a mischievous grin.  “I am sure I will have no problem finding a willing maidservant or barmaid in the area
.” H
e
wi
g
gled his eyebrows suggestively. 
“I will just have to make due.” 
It was assumed by a majority of the
ton
that he was a reprobate and he
so
loved to cultivate th
at
image
whenever possible
.

“Can you attempt to control yourself for a few days
,
Seymour?”  Parker chuckled, kno
w
ing his friend
did not intend to importune
any of the
servants.

“Our fem
ale guests are to be Agnes Alde
bourne, Chloe Preston and Freya Sheffield
,” Peyton
continued as if
not
interrupted
by Seymour’s humorous rant
.

“Freya Sheffield?”  Durham
choked out
.  “She does
n’
t even speak, just sits quietly in the corner
,
”
Durham retorted irritably
, then proceeded
to miss his shot
.

A stilted hush fell over the room.

Durham turned slowly his gaze crashing with the subject
of his
caustic remark
s, her eyes
glaring
a hole
straight
through
him.
 

“For your information,
Lord Durham
, I do speak, q
uite well
in fact
.”  S
he
looked down her nose at him
as if
someone would an i
mpertinent child.  “
As the daughter of an
e
arl
I have received a first rate education
.
”
She
eye
d
him critically, her chin jut
ted
out defiantly.  “
Obv
i
ously something you are lacking in.”  She glared at Durham.  “
I
just
happen to be very discrim
i
nating with whom I choose to speak.” 
With her arms crossed over her chest, s
he l
eisurely
p
e
rus
ed
him
from head to toe
once more
.