Free The Rake and the Wallflower by Allison Lane Page A

have stayed in bed. Even this short walk was making him dizzy.
     

CHAPTER FIVE
     
    Mary curled into the corner of the carriage as it zigzagged through late evening traffic. Ladies weren’t supposed to slump, but she didn’t care. She was exhausted. Even stealing an occasional hour of privacy didn’t alleviate the strain of the Season. Of course, tonight’s private moments had not exactly been alone.
    She smiled. Grayson was fascinating. And she could talk to him. Not once had she considered whether her words might offend. Nor had he. Only friends could be so open without censure. She basked in that thought for several minutes, hardly believing it was true. Even Blake, who usually set her at ease, remained intimidating at times. But Grayson did not — hadn’t from the moment he’d grabbed her sketchpad to fix the chaffinch’s beak.
    He invited confidences, extracting information she never shared with others.
    A shiver rippled down her spine. If she had misjudged him, he could now ruin her just by speaking the truth. She had twice met him alone, the second time far from others. Both times she had remained in his company for a considerable period.
    But it was the threat to Laura that was the most serious. Again, he need only speak the truth. Laura had indeed plotted to trap Blake, but if that fact became public, society would turn on her. And it would be Mary’s fault. Forgetting to guard her words could extract a greater toll than all her other mistakes combined.
    He won’t talk, her dreamer insisted. You know he won’t.
    She had to believe that. Grayson was kind, intelligent, and very much a gentleman. It broke her heart that a pair of schemers had harmed him. Being innocent must make the cuts even harder to bear, for his only crime had been sympathy.
    But there was nothing she could do. Gossips rarely admitted fault, and never at the urging of a nobody like her. Championing his cause would call censure on her own head – not that she would mind personally, but it would redound on Blake and could revive the false charges against Catherine. Her behavior already reflected poorly on them, as Catherine was again reminding her.
    “You must stop running off, Mary,” she said sternly. “Even Lady Jersey noticed that you missed three sets tonight. Three sets! It does your reputation no good at all.”
    “I was feeling faint,” Mary claimed, thankful that she had been in the retiring room when Catherine found her. Barely. Not that she regretted meeting Grayson, but explanations would have been awkward. “The ballroom was horridly stuffy.”
    “All ballrooms are stuffy,” said Laura. “It gives us an excuse to walk in the garden.”
    “Tonight was worse than usual,” insisted Mary. “Lord Delwyn’s scent was so powerful, it dominated the entire room. I’ve never smelled anything that made breathing so difficult.”
    “He does overuse perfumes,” agreed Catherine. “But that is common in men of his age, as is his choice of heavy musk. It does not justify avoiding company.”
    “Nothing does, so stop seeking excuses,” added Laura. “I know men ignore you, but manners are more important than pleasure. Cowering in the retiring room announces that you are hopeless and don’t care who knows it. You don’t see Miss Huntsley hiding, and she’s even clumsier than you.”
    “Enough, Laura,” snapped Catherine. “You are not helping.”
    Laura scowled. “She should have stayed at Rockburn. But since she is here, she must behave. Flaunting her vulgarity shames the whole family. Even louts like Griffin feel compelled to correct her. And her insults have discouraged half my suitors.”
    “Hardly,” snapped Mary.
    “Well…” She drew out the word in satisfaction. “It is true that gentlemen trip over their feet in their rush to admire me. Since society learned of Miss Norton’s elopement, I’ve gained four new suitors. And Sir Randall switched his devotion from Miss Harfield,” she added, naming