Page 1 of The Earl’s Marriage of Convenience

Chapter One

Edwin Rosewood, Earl of Devon, tried to ignore the irritating sensation of the ton’s attention on his turned back. It was his due, he understood the penance he must pay, but that certainly didn’t mean he appreciated the attention. His blue eyes scanned the London ballroom, seeing but not truly noticing any details. No, he was simply trying to appear at ease, no reason to cause more talk than he already had.

It was an odd knowledge, to recognize one’s failings and how they had a way of turning back on oneself. Two seasons ago, he had announced his intentions of taking a wife, only to have the very lady he’d decided to court fall for his younger brother, the Viscount Allendale. He had been the source of a scandal the season before, one of Edwin’s fabrication, and now the scandal was on his own head, because of his own choices.

Damn it all. Justice was a bitch.

Edwin resisted the urge to shrug, as if trying to shake off the attention still leveled at his back. The ton was likely asking a million questions all directed at anyone but the one who could answer them: him. No, the whispers were always about the person, never directed to the person.

Delightful little habit of society, that.

Already the society papers had written an article about the prodigal’s return. Of course, they never mentioned his name, just Lord D., but if that didn’t signify, it was certainly implied. The article had raised the question of his hasty return upon the marriage of his sister to the rather notorious rogue, Lord Gabriel Ashford, Marquess of Hawthorne. The article had quickly added that it was a known love match between the two, however it raised the question of whether the union had been a catalyst of the return of the prodigal.

Little did they know that the prodigal came home of his own accord.

And promptly found his sister kissing a notorious rake in his mother’s parlor, all in the first few hours of his return. And, in his own defense, there was no way he could have known that the once rake had been rather miraculously reformed by his sister—of all people—and was honorable in his intentions. It was certainly after that revelation, and a threat of bodily harm, that Edwin had agreed to Lord Hawthorne’s asking of Lady Peregrine’s hand. But it was not without the rather expected family drama of the Rosewood family.

Good lord, it was why he left in the first place. Granted, he was the cause of much of the drama, but that didn’t mean he wanted to wade through the mess he’d created.

He was man enough to admit that.

Edwin took a slow breath and a sip of orgeat.

“Miss this at all?” Henley asked, placing a hand on his brother’s shoulder.

Edwin gave his younger brother a mock glare. “Not at all, not even once.”

“I don’t blame you,” Henley replied. “It is rather mundane. However, it is the best way to put you in a respectable light and to quell the gossip. It’s annoying but effective.”

Edwin nodded once, not turning to his brother. “I know, and I agree, but it doesn’t mean I enjoy it.”

“You used to or at least played the part well,” Henley hedged, and Edwin then glanced to his brother.

Henley studied him openly, but not judgmentally. Edwin deserved his judgment, but he appreciated his brother’s decision to not hold his past sins against him.

“I did, in a way. I enjoyed the sleight of hand, to fool society into believing what I wanted them to believe.”

“The charade.”

“Yes.”

“I see, and now?” Henley asked.

Edwin glanced around, assuring himself that their conversation was at least as private as it could be in a room of a hundred other people. “Now I just wish to … start over.”

When Henley didn’t respond directly, Edwin glanced at him.

“Then start over.”

“It’s not that easy.”

“You’re making it too complicated,” Henley replied succinctly. “Don’t. You have a chance to make a new start. You see…” Henley tilted his head and turned to face Edwin fully.

Edwin regarded his brother, hope teasing his emotions. “Go on.” Edwin nodded.

“You’ve been gone, and the ton is watching your every step. Any change in character, form, or word will be noticed, and they will see it, and wonder why … giving you a chance to rewrite what they think, what they … expect.”

Edwin frowned slightly. “You have a point.”