Free To Wed A Viscount by Adrienne Basso

keen eyes searched among the many guests for the one woman he feared was not in attendance.
    Damn it all. Where the devil is she? Accepting defeat, Griffin turned to his companion. “I’m afraid I must take my leave of you, Lady Ashborrow. I am expected at another affair and have already stayed far longer than I intended.”
    Lady Ashborrow stiffened, but her artful smile remained intact. “Perhaps another time,” she suggested in a calm tone.
    â€œI shall count on it, my lady,” the viscount replied smoothly. He lingered overlong as he kissed her hand, a silent apology for his inattentive behavior.
    To her credit, Lady Ashborrow appeared not to hold a grudge. She gave him a final, saucy wink, snapped open her fan, and sailed majestically across the ballroom floor.
    Griffin’s earlier disinterest turned to regret But he knew there was no time to be wasted on a dalliance. He had already completed his task at this ball and the night grew long. It was time to move ahead.
    After a brief good-bye to his host and hostess, the viscount was once again seated inside his carriage, tapping his fingers impatiently against his knee as the coachman tried to negotiate the crowded London streets.
    Griffin had been scouring London for the past five days, searching in vain for Faith, intent on settling once and for all the extent of her involvement with his brother.
    That he had managed to discover that she had gone to London was a minor miracle in itself, considering how close-mouthed her servants had been when asked about her whereabouts. Even the appearance of a gold sovereign had failed to interest any of them in supplying him with their mistress’s direction.
    It was only through sheer luck and the blossoming romance of his undergroom with a dairymaid employed at Mayfair Manor that Griffin was able to discover Faith had flown off to London with her dear friend, Lady Meredith.
    Unfortunately, the dairymaid had only been able to supply the name of Lady Meredith. Nothing more. He vaguely remembered Faith’s close friend from childhood days, a long-legged blonde who enjoyed scolding him, yet he too could not recall her given name, nor her father’s title.
    Still, the viscount had journeyed to town anyway, naively assuming it wouldn’t be difficult to find the women. Unfortunately he had been wrong. Though the members of society were a closely held group, there were quite a few of them and it was not a simple task to discover the whereabouts of two women with the limited information he possessed.
    Having lived outside of England for many years left Griffin bereft of friends or even good acquaintances he could turn to for assistance in this most delicate matter. He was therefore forced to undertake the locating of Faith Linden and the mysterious Lady Meredith entirely on his own.
    The selling of his London town house, which had seemed like a prudent and frugal gesture several weeks ago, added a further complication. Lacking a proper residence made it necessary to rent rooms at a fashionable and ridiculously expensive London hotel, and Griffin balked at the extra expense.
    Fortunately, the viscount had ordered several new coats from a respectable tailor while in town conducting the sale of his house, so it was not necessary to waste further coin on proper clothing. Once properly housed and groomed, Griffin assumed it would be relatively easy to meet up with Faith and her friend Lady Meredith by accepting some of the society invitations that had poured in once he had discretely made his presence in London known.
    However, Griffin quickly learned that he had once again misjudged the situation. Each evening there were no less than a half-dozen parties and routs held in the homes of society’s chosen few. Since he had no earthly idea what sort of entertainments would interest Faith and Lady Meredith, he was forced to attend as many of these gatherings as possible.
    As an unmarried viscount, Griffin was