Free The Guardian Duke: A Forgotten Castles Novel by Jamie Carie

flailing. It was actually going quite well.
    A touch on the back of his arm made him turn around, a bland smile pasted on his face. Blanche Rosenbury, the Countess of Sherwood. Rich, powerful in her own right, and very, very beautiful. His gaze flicked over her deep blue gown that openly displayed a full bosom. He took a very tiny sip of his drink, the look of the expected admiration touching his eyes. "Lady Rosenbury, how good to see you."
    She turned her head a little to one side in that flirtatious way she had mastered before her debut and lowered her lashes in mock modesty. Gabriel stared at her pink lips hoping to be able to read them, but she was looking too far down and aside. As she continued talking he started to panic. Where was Mary? He'd just seen his middle sister not two minutes ago. Giving up on knowing what she said, he only let out a nondescript "hmmm" and searched those nearby for his sister's bright orange dress. They had decided it best to wear bright colors in case he needed to find them, so where the deuce was she?
    A flash of orange over his right shoulder had him glancing that way. There. Wingate had her cornered, of course. The man couldn't seem to give her any leeway to move about in public without him hovering over her shoulder. "Condition" or not, he would have to check into that.
    A tap on his arm brought his gaze back to the fuming redhead. Lady Rosenbury's eyes snapped with angry sparks as she prattled out some nonsense from her artificially stained lips.
    Gabriel sniffed as if affronted and shook his head. "As you say, madame." He turned and strode away, hoping he hadn't agreed to something.
    In his hurry and confusion where to go next, he nearly stumbled. As he righted himself, casting about to see if anyone had noticed, he found himself thrust in a group of youngbloods. They immediately bowed, one in particular turning out his leg and bowing over it in an exaggerated posture of respect. Gabriel raised his brows at the dandy. Here was a group he could handle. They would hang on any word he said.
    Mr. Meade appeared in his forward line of vision prepared to make the necessary signs if needed. One finger meant "yes." Two meant "no." If he rubbed the bridge of his nose, they were asking about horses. Tugged on the hair above his left ear meant investments, and if he coughed they had brought up the topic of gambling, more coughing meant horse gambling and trading.
    Gabriel watched the lips of the young Mr. Hyde, hero worship in his eyes. He said something along the lines of "your humble servant" and bowed again, then asked a question. Gabriel missed it and looked to Meade. Unfortunately Meade was wide-eyed with panic. He made a motion of holding out his arms and then bringing them in as if he were hugging someone. What the devil did that mean? Before too much time could go by Gabriel looked back at Mr. Hyde and gave him a tight smile. "Very good," he said, feeling heat fill his cheeks as he wondered if that would pass.
    A look of uncomfortable confusion passed over the young man's face, but before Gabriel had time to wonder how badly he had mistepped, another young man stepped forward with a comment.
    Gabriel stared at his lips and then realized how odd that looked. Most of the time when he was trying to decipher what someone said by lip reading, the person knew of his difficulty. But not here, not now. Staring at a person's mouth wasn't exactly good etiquette and might even raise some uncomfortable questions. As he was thinking this, he realized he had not been paying attention and hadn't any idea what the fellow had said. With a desperate start, he shot a quick look at Meade. Thanks be to God, he was having a coughing fit. Must be horses.
    "Have you seen Lord Grant's new stud?" he asked and then hurried on before he had to read an answer. "Best stallion I've seen in some time. You all should visit his stables and get a look before he takes him off to Surrey."
    The men around him paled, one