Prologue.

May, 1813

London

"One more kiss, mon cherie?" he cajoled.

"This feels wrong! Please let me go, Ralston," Alice pleaded, her voice hoarse with disgust as his hands roamed her body.

"You said you love me, then why can't you give me this?" he asked angrily.

"Once we're married, surely..." she said uncertainly, trying to pacify him.

But he began to laugh.

"What made you think I'd marry you, cherie?" he laughed cruelly.

"You said you loved me..." she whispered, her heart threatening to beat out of her chest as she looked at his handsome face.

"And you believed me? I only wanted you in my bed, my innocent darling," he grinned.

Alice gasped.

The smile that she'd loved so much earlier looked villainous now.

"Let's get to it, shall we?" he murmured, his eyes taking that dangerous look again, a look that sent shivers down her spine. Shivers that had nothing to do with delight or pleasure.

How had she found him kind? He was heartless.

Alice had to escape. This couldn't be her fate, she'd make sure it wasn't.

She stepped on his foot. Hard.

He screamed his surprise and pain and she took the opportunity to escape, running as fast as she could. She shut the door on her way out, but he was there already. She didn't have much time.

He had brought her to an antechamber, Alice ran into the nearest room, a library. She quickly hid behind the thick draperies, not daring to breathe, not moving a muscle.

Only when she heard the sound of his rushed footsteps fade, did she release the breath she'd been holding.

She was a fool to endanger her reputation so callously. She was an idiot for trusting a man like that, for loving a man like that.

How lucky I am to be the first of my friends to marry, she'd thought as he'd lead her to that room. She'd thought he was taking her there to propose. She'd been ecstatic, thinking she'd found her love in her very first season.

A single tear slid down her cheek, but Alice dashed it off with the back of her hand.

She was no weepy miss, her parents had raised her to be strong. She determinedly made up her mind, she was never going to give herself so completely to a man again. And with the amount of anger and revulsion she felt, she didn't think she'd have any difficulty in keeping the men at bay.

Alice promised herself that she would never cry for a man.

She was about to abandon her little cocoon behind the curtain and go to her friends but the sound of footsteps stopped her. This time it wasn't one person. One was definitely that of a man, it was loud and Alice knew that men never bothered hiding their presence. So she suspected that the other softer sound was that of a woman.

A couple, perhaps?

And then she heard the door being shut.

"You lead me on a merry chase, my lady," the man murmured. Alice had this absurd notion that she'd heard that voice before. But she couldn't quite put a finger on whose it was.

"Now that you've caught me, what are you going to do?" the lady said, her voice overly throaty as if she had a bad case of pharyngitis.

Alice had half a mind to walk out there and give her a list of remedies.

"You seem eager, my lady."

"You must call me Agatha," she replied and Alice heard the pout in her voice.

Who was Agatha? She wracked her brain, trying to place the name.

They whispered something, Alice couldn't make out what.

And then the man laughed. Alice stopped breathing.

It was Ralph. That was his laugh, she was sure of it.

Her best friend's brother. The Earl of Morley. The man whose house she'd practically grown up in.

Holy mother of Christ.

Alice strained to hear more.

The lady sighed, but Ralph made no sound. By the sounds of cloth rustling, it sounded like they were kissing. At least Alice hoped that they were only kissing.

The image of an arduous Ralph was too much for her. Her stomach had had enough for the day as such.

"Oh Morley, you're so irresistible," Agatha sighed.

That sentence was so ludicrous that Alice couldn't prevent the snort that escaped her. Ralph and irresistible were two words she'd never use in the same breath.

"Who is that?" Ralph called out immediately, his voice taking a dangerous edge.

Alice made no sound, hoping he'd let it go.

In a second, he shoved the curtain aside, revealing her to him and... Lady Dolby? She was married, for heaven's sakes.

"Alice?! What are you doing here?" Ralph shouted. His cheeks were beet red with embarrassment, no doubt.

"It's a library, I came here to find myself a book," Alice said uncertainly, cringing even as she said it.

"In the midst of a ball? Behind the draperies?" he raised a sardonic brow, somehow infusing his tone with both anger and sarcasm. It was quite commendable, in Alice's opinion.

"I needed some peace and quiet," she muttered.

Ralph swore under his breath.

"I must take Lady Alice outside, my lady. Please excuse me," he addressed Lady Dolby who only nodded, too bewildered to speak.

Alice went quietly, not wanting to anger him.

As they walked past her, Alice turned to Lady Dolby. "You mustn't worry on my account, my lady. I shall not speak of this to anyone. My lips are sealed."

But Lady Dolby only smiled, her lips forming an amused seductive curve that annoyed Alice.

Ralph dragged her outside.

"Why can't you stay where you belong?" he was saying.

"Where is that?" she asked, peeking up at him.

"In the damned ballroom."

Alice certainly couldn't tell him what she'd been doing away from the ballroom.

"Lady Dolby is married, Ralph."

"And?" he murmured as he lead her with him, navigating through the crowds.

"It's not right. I didn't expect this of you," she whispered forcefully.

"Look Alice, what I do is none of your business. I'd appreciate it if you stayed out of my affairs," he said sharply, turning his head to stare her down.

Alice squared her jaw, ready to give him the set down he very much deserved, but they'd reached her friends by then. She was relieved that Ralston was nowhere to be seen.

So she spent the rest of the night that way, laughing and dancing when all she wanted to do was to curl into a ball on the floor and cry.