Chapter 12

Ashton Hyde, the fifteenth Duke of Vermont was observing the latest potential trouble his reckless cousin would throw himself into.

Of all the young women of nobility across the country, even some foreign princesses, Magnus chose this one. An infamous, scandalous chit known as an offspring of the Duke of Livingston and his mistress. So typically him, to be such irresponsible and senseless.

Once again, it was his duty to stop his cousin before everything went too far.

He knew this woman. He had seen her in London before. One evening in a soiree, he was sitting in the corner in a weary mood, surrounded by some gentlemen fellows. The dull conversation was getting tedious when a vision caught his eye.

It was her, walking down the grand spiral staircase in a perfect grace, dressed and bejeweled as fine as a princess. She was such a vision. A sight to tempt the most jaded appetite. The next thing he knew was Roger Irving took her hand and swept her away to the dancefloor. Now that she dressed humbly like some lady's companion, Ashton could still recognize her perfectly. Hers was not a face a man would soon forget.

At that time he had heard about this woman. Her recent engagement with Roger Irving had been talk of the town in London. People rattled on and on about her beauty, and as soon as he saw her, he knew it wasn't exaggerated. But to fall into blind attraction based on physical beauty was intolerably stupid.

Apart of her indecent lineage and her family's disgraceful name, she had gained her own reputation as well. A trusted source said that she ran off from Irving for unknown reasons and stole his family's heirloom.

Her betrothal to Irving was already a shocking scandal, rumour had it Irving was in a terrible financial straits as a result of his gambling habit, and the Duke of Livingston offered him a solution that came with terms and conditions. So the betrothal was simply a bargain. Whatever made this chit broke the deal and ran away was none of his concern.

Looking down at her from the balcony, Ashton could not deny her innocent beauty. From all the stories he heard, at first he envisioned her as a seductress with blatant sexuality. Instead, she was all the opposite. Her expression, her gestures showed no signs of wickedness. She looked like a young girl freshly graduated from women's boarding school.

But he won't be deceived by illusion of innocence. He had seen many of her likes before, face like an angel, yet they were the most cunning, beguiling females existed. She was no different from them. With his credulous nature, Magnus had been easily taken in by her convincing look.

She was walking alone in the garden, gazing around like she was looking for somebody. Suddenly she looked up at him, her eyes met his. She looked even more enchanting. It evoked a surge of anger within him. How a woman of her sort, the worst kind of woman, was generously endowed with such great beauty and charm. How easily she could allure any men without even trying to. She was a perfect manifestation of the unfairness of life.

A moment seemed eternity before distant noises interrupted, awakened Ava from her trance. The guests started to flow into the garden. The moon flowers started to open their white, trumpetlike flowers. It was the end of the twilight, the sky was getting dark.

Ava forced herself to turn away from the duke's spellbinding gaze. She walked away with an odd feeling of uncertainty, careless about her direction. Her unsteady legs led her into a maze, safe from the curious eyes that attracted to her beauty. Unable to get her mind off the master of the house, she tried to unravel the bizarre feeling that suddenly rushed over her. His Grace Duke of Vermont was a very handsome young man indeed. To be particularly impressed by a man like him was natural. Any other woman of her age would have the same reaction. Nothing was wrong with it. It was pure admiration.

All of a sudden, somebody arose at the junction, she startled and gasped. Magnus stood before her, hiding his right hand behind his back.

"Magnus! You startled me!"

He smiled "That's exactly what I intended to do. To surprise you."

He brought his hand out, surprised her with a bouquet of beautiful wild flowers.

"I hope you like it."

"Very much. Thank you." She took the bouquet and brought it to her face, breathing the intoxicating fragrance.

"Magnus, where have you been? Why did you leave me by the fountain?"

"I don't believe the silly story at all, darling. Not even a bit. So I decided to do something more interesting, like this..." he picked a pink rose from the bouquet, smelled it for a moment before slipped it to her hair, right above her ear.

"It looks great on you..." his voice became low and husky, his gaze lingered on hers. Abruptly, he dragged her by her waist until her body pressed hard against his. Without warning, he settled his mouth on hers. His silken tongue slid through her parted lips, twisting with hers, sucking hers impatiently. She felt a sudden rush of blood to her loin as he licked her palate. Warm, intoxicating pleasure dwelled down below, in her most intimate place. Closing her eyes, she indulged her pleasure in his sweet little invasion. She wanted to savor every second, she wanted to taste every drop.

In the meantime, Magnus' rough hand brushed the bare skin above her decolletage and travelled lower. She opened her eyes abruptly and pushed him away. God, why? Men tended to do to her more than it was appropriate. The intimate touch reminded her of Roger instantly, the way his filthy hands trailed across her body.

Magnus was startled by her sudden reaction. He ran his hand in his hair, breathing hard as he smirked awkwardly.

"Sorry, love. I hope I didn't scare you... I got carried away..."

She looked into his eyes and saw honest regret. Feeling a little remorse that she had been too harsh to him, she nodded, then rested her hand on his elbow.

"Let's get back into the ballroom. I think some refreshment would be nice."

Magnus had no difficulty leading her out of the maze. Soon they were strolling in the garden, among the other guests. Some curious eyes began to follow them. Ava sighed desperately. With a man as handsome as Magnus in her arm, she could never be unnoticeable.

Suddenly Magnus took a halting step.

"Excuse me, my dear. I have just seen an acquaintance I would like to greet. Do you mind if I leave for a second?"

Getting a chance to get rid of undesirable attention, she nodded quickly.

"I'll be waiting for you at the ballroom."

A second later, she walked in to the ballroom alone, blending with the guests, she looked around to find Polly and Lady Byrne.

"Excuse me, girl" said a voice behind her. She turned around to see an old lady with a cane.

"Could you please fetch me a drink?"

Apparently the old lady had mistaken her as a servant girl. Possibly because of her dress had a very similar look with the maids here. After a moment's thinking, she moved to the nearest servant. Feeling a slight embarrasment, she took a glass from the tray and handed it to the lady. To give a little help to a thirsty old woman would do no harm.

"Thank you."

The lady gave her an appreciative smile. Such a nice lady.

"You're welcome, my lady"

"Girl" Suddenly a cold masculine voice startled her. The haughty tone in the voice was awfully irritating. She had a bad feeling that it was addressed to her.

Slowly she turned around to see the man that called her with such impudent manner. She froze instantly as she met a pair of blue eyes. So cold and piercing she felt like she was looking into a frozen lake. To her horror, she was standing before His Grace, Duke of Vermont.