To Tame a Dragon by Megan Bryce Read Free Book Online Page B

took a deep breath and knocked the
     top of the carriage with his cane. “Enough.”
    The door was opened and he alighted. He held
     his hand out to assist Amelia. “My dear, if I could do it over
     and save Miss Underwood from all the pain I have caused I would
     marry her and be a miserable drunken sod for the rest of my
     days. But I still think that she will be much happier without
     me. Let us go in and see what my punishment is to be. Whatever
     it is, I am sure we agree I deserve much more.”
    Amelia took his hand, stepping down. She
     looked into his sad eyes and pushed her anger down; tonight
     reminded her too much of her own brush with scandal and she was
     finding it hard to keep her emotions calm.  “No, you don’t.
     I am getting you mixed up with another drunken fool who
     shattered a young girl’s naiveté. Forgive me, my emotions
     are too close to the surface tonight.”
    He bowed, kissing her gloved hand. “If Robin
     hadn’t beaten that shabbaroon to a pulp, I would have shot him.
     In the bollocks.”
    Amelia gasped and looked to see if anyone was
     close enough to hear, then snapped her fan against his arm.
     “Jameson, really!” But she ascended the stairs in a much better
     mood.
    Jameson and Lady Beckham entered first,
     followed by Robin and Amelia. The loud and boisterous crowd
     slowly quieted as they descended into the party, but they simply
     continued towards the Grathams.
    The quiet rankled, but Amelia had walked this
     battlefield before, and with much higher consequences for
     failure. Oh, Jameson would feel the sting, but he was a man with
     a title. An unmarried man with a title and a fortune. Society
     would be more than willing to overlook his lapse in judgment, if
     only for the chance to throw their daughters at him again.
    The Grathams welcomed all of them warmly, but
     the fawning was for Jameson. “Oh, Lord Nighting. You honor us
     with your presence tonight.”
    “Thank you for the invitation.”
    “Not at all, not at all. You remember my
     daughter, Lady Gertrude.”
    “Of course. I hope you have room on your
     card, Lady Gertrude.”
    Amelia smiled at Jameson and allowed Robin to
     lead her off. She was glad to know that unmarried men of title
     had their own punishments after all.
    She circulated the room, listening for quiet
     voices behind fans, whispered giggles, contemptuous looks.
    Clarice’s standing had always been in much
     graver danger than Jameson’s and Amelia had acted accordingly.
     The girl had no title, small fortune, and few connections—at least
     when compared to her former fiancé. It would have been
     natural for society to put themselves in the Earl’s corner and
     Amelia had worked hard to fight that.
    But now Jameson was her main concern. Of
     course she wanted him to feel the sting of his reprehensible
     behavior; no man should escape his obligations easily, especially
     the self-made variety. No matter how much money or
     connections or beauty a man had, it was a bad precedent to let
     him act outside the acceptable bonds of society without
     suffering for it.
    At the same time, she did not want him to be
     ostracized. She wanted him to know that he could not treat some
     other girl in the same dastardly manner. However, she did not
     want him to lose his societal standing permanently and not be
     able to marry at all when the time came. It was a fine line she
     had set for herself, but she did so love a challenge.
    She listened to some whispers, chatted with a
     few ladies known to have loose tongues, and decided that Jameson
     would be okay, at least for the night. His reputation as a
     devil-may-care dandy had gained while his face and fortune
     remained quite impressive. Amelia had already heard more than
     one lady say that if she were ever so lucky as to catch
     Lord Nighting, one could be assured it would be a short
     engagement.
    Jameson, for his part, danced and smiled and
     bantered with every woman who crossed his path. He