An Invitation to Seduction by Lorraine Heath Read Free Book Online Page A

at the top of the stairway. She looked as though she not only belonged, but as though she owned the ballroom and every heart within it.
    Even from his place on the opposite side of the room, near the French doors that led on to the terrace, Richard could see the sparkle in her green eyes—although the shade was but a memory—and the soft smile she bestowed on her host and hostess, the Earl and Countess of Ravenleigh.
    Her upswept hair was wreathed with pale pink roses. He would have thought the color would have clashed with her red hair, but she had the ability to appear at home in whatever she wore—even when it was nothing except that in which she’d been born.
    The sight of her caused him to wonder if Anne’s babblings about love might contain a thread of truth, because he swore his chest expanded with Kitty’s radiance.
    And just as quickly it collapsed.
    I’m soon to be married , she’d said.
    Yet, he’d read no announcement of her betrothal in The Times . Not for a Miss Kitty anything.
    Although the announcement could have been made months before he was searching for her name, months before he knew she existed, before she’d stumbled into his life. He’d taken a chance coming to London, hoping if she was an American there for the Season that she would travel in the same social circles as he. And he was probably a fool for holding out any hope at all that he could entice her away from her betrothed—whoever he might be.
    A man and woman, both elegantly dressed, walked behind her. An older couple. His initial thought at their proximity to her was that they were her parents, but although both were turning silver, it was obvious that at one point their hair had been dark. They seemed to belong with Kitty, so he supposed it was possible that Kitty’s coloring could have come from a relation a generation or so back. Certainly not unheard of.
    Evidently of good breeding, she would make an outstanding duchess. His mother would be tremendously pleased. Anne as well. Perhaps she could borrow some of Kitty’s gowns—if she did indeed have two hundred stuffed in her wardrobe.
    Not that any of the qualities he’d touched upon just then truly mattered to him. He’d decided by the seashore that he would have her. Had he not seen her at this affair, he would have prowled every soiree in London. As Anne had mentioned, he was one of England’s most eligible bachelors, and that status provided him with invitations into every home of prominence.
    Gracefully, Kitty strolled away from her hostess and began to make the rounds. It quickly became obvious to him that she was known to a good many people, that she was not new to the social scene. He cursed himself fortacitly avoiding his social obligations as long as he had. It was quite likely that he could have claimed her before another had captured her fancy.
    I’m soon to be married.
    How soon? To whom? And what would it take to undo it?
    Two years had passed since Farrer Herschell had introduced a resolution in the House of Commons to abolish lawsuits involving breaches of promise regarding marriage. The exception being where money was involved. Richard had yet to hear of a marriage between an American and an aristocrat that did not involve money, a complication that would make his pressing his suit that much more difficult. But then he’d never been one to turn away from a challenge. Truth be told, he preferred it when winning was not too easy, because he tended to appreciate the victory that much more.
    “Good God! Weddington, is that you?”
    With a great deal of reluctance at the intrusion to his thoughts, Richard turned his attention from his quarry and presented a broad, glad smile to his friend of many years. “Farthingham. How have you been?”
    “Well. Very well indeed. I can’t quite reconcile the idea of your being here. I suppose your mother must be quite beside herself with hope that you’ll take a wife this Season.”
    Richard gave a slight shrug. “If