ruminated darkly. Very unlucky indeed. It was in this sour mood that his cousin found him.
'You look deuced down in the mouth, laddie,' Galen professed. He joined Ian in holding up the wall. 'I take it you're not still moping about the old lady beating you. Although, for a noted Corinthian such as yourself, I guess it would be a trifle humiliating.' He grinned at Ian's expression and added, 'You could always have popped her cork.'
'Go away,' Ian snapped.
'No can do. Misery loves company.'
'I am fine by myself,' Ian retorted stiffly.
'Aye, I can see that,' his cousin said sarcastically. He glanced around the room. 'You stand here in a black funk, your expression so forbidding that no one but me will dare come near you.'
He gestured at several ladies standing nearby with hopeful expressions. 'They are just waiting for a smile to come and lift that woebegone expression off your ugly mug.'
Ian snorted derisively. 'Just what I want—more women. I have enough trouble with the one.'
'Ah. The light dawns. You are having a Clair problem, I take it. What has the lass done now—besides hiding in wardrobe closets, chasing vampires, stalking supposed werewolves, and driving you clear around the bend?'
'What else? The woman wishes me to the Devil.'
Galen studied him then dryly commented, 'A feat you have accomplished at least a dozen times if I recall.' Pulling on his cravat, he added, 'Damn, if you don't always find your way back.'
'Very amusing.' Ian ignored his cousin. His attention focused on Clair, for he saw her emerge from behind some ferns and flutter her eyelashes at some young fop. His jaw tightened. He knew Clair never fluttered her eyelashes. At least not at him. 'Why on earth do we need women anyway?' he asked.
Galen glanced over at Clair. 'To bed them, silly. Not to mention the continuation of the species.'
'She won't let me within ten feet of her,' Ian complained sourly.
'They also smell quite nice. I believe Clair smells of something fresh. Pinecones in winter, maybe,' Galen suggested.
Ian glowered at him. 'What are you doing sniffing about her?'
'Really, coz, take hold of yourself. Clair is a fine figure of a lass, but she is too much Frankenstein for me. If I ever do decide to take a leg-shackle, it would be someone more biddable, someone who would cater to my every need, who would sit quietly at home and raise my bairns. Not a Clair-type at all. I want someone a little less of a romp and, most importantly, devoid of a lineage peppered with lunatics.'
'I've said nothing of marriage. You know how I feel about that estate. Watching one's mother nearly grieve herself to death over one's father tends to make one extremely cautious. Besides, how would Clair ever fit in with our family?'
Galen tested the waters. 'She's a Frankenstein. She has that indomitable spirit.' He was pretty sure his cousin was in so deep as to be drowning. He could see that Ian was in love with Clair Frankenstein. In some ways that was a good thing, in other ways it seemed very, very bad.
Ian suddenly stiffened. Asher had entered the ballroom. Noticing his cousin's distraction, Galen turned towards the door.
'I see Asher is doing the rounds. But why is he here? He despises routs.'
'Clair,' Ian explained in a growl. 'Bloody hell!' He watched Asher approach Clair, a dazzling false smile on the man's face. 'I should have killed him when I had the chance!' he snarled.
'My, coz, you do love to live dangerously.' Galen thoughtfully watched the situation unfold while his cousin cursed.
With his usual savoir faire, the Earl of Wolverton strolled toward Clair, a pretentious and predatory air about him. Upon reaching her and her friend Arlene, Asher bowed, seduction clearly on his devious mind.
'Bloody hell!' was Ian's only comment. He watched with glittering eyes and a fierce expression.
Yes, Galen decided. The fat was in the fire. Ian was clearly in love, and Asher, the seducer of many a fair maid, was interested in the same bit of woman.
The Best-laid Plans of Monsters and Men
'How you look, Miss Frankenstein. 'She walks in beauty, like the night of cloudless climes and starry skies,'' Asher quoted, an appreciative gleam in his eyes. 'You are absolutely ravishing.' Then, doing the pretty, he turned to compliment her friend. 'And you, Miss Garwood, are delightful.'
Arlene blushed, enchanted despite her fear of the earl. He was such a libertine, with such a wicked reputation. That was enough to put a blush on any innocent maid, especially when said earl was also reputedly the Wolf man of London. Clair raised a delicate brow.
Noting her poised coolness, Asher added, 'Miss Frankenstein, I feel I owe you an apology for my less than gentlemanly remarks the other night.'
Mischievously Clair quipped, 'The Earl of Wolverton is apologizing? I feel the earth on its axis spinning to a halt. I fear the Elgin marbles will crumble to dust. Ah, St. Peter must surely be turning over in his grave.' Smiling, she patted his arm with her fan and gave him a come-hither look.
Asher smiled wickedly, showing off his pearly white teeth. 'Perchance are you flirting with me, Miss Frankenstein?'
'I believe I am too wise to do such a bold and dangerous thing.'
Asher glanced around the ballroom. 'Where is your champion?' he asked. Spying Ian, he added scornfully, 'I see Huntsley is over there. He rather reminds me of a supporting column. Why, and he looks rather blue- deviled.'
'I would say he probably is. Traitors never fare well, you know,' Clair remarked coolly.
Asher chuckled, his expression smug. 'Trouble in paradise so soon?'
Clair hit him with her fan. 'You, my lord, are too pert for your own good.'
'Let me show you how pert,' he replied arrogantly. He took her arm, excusing them from Arlene, and said, 'Come, my pretty.' He led Clair to a window embrasure at the far end of the room. Pulling the curtains aside, he ushered her within.
She went without protest, amazed her plan was going so smoothly. She had baited the trap, and the wolf was biting.
Dropping the drapes back in place, Asher admired Clair's composure and beauty. 'Alone at last,' he said.
She laughed. 'With only two hundred guests, give or take a few, all a simple shriek away.'
'You are a charming minx,' Asher teased, touched by how uniquely beautiful Clair Frankenstein was. She was relentlessly intelligent, with a burning desire to discover the unknown. She had a sharp wit that he admired, and her bloodline, though not quite as top-of-the-trees as he would have liked, was still acceptable. He barely even minded that she was a Frankenstein. Actually, having that monster in her family was a point in Clair's favor. If one already had a monster at home, why quibble at two?
'How astute of you to notice, my lord.'
'Call me Neil,' he enticed.
'It wouldn't be proper.'
'Asher, then.'
'All right,' she agreed hesitantly. 'In private.'
'Ah, then you anticipate more private moments,' he remarked. A devilish gleam filled his eyes. 'Speaking of private…' He trailed off, moving closer.
Clair laughed, holding up her hands to ward him off. 'You are all talk.'
Asher grinned, hand over his heart. 'You wound me. I have a rakish reputation to uphold.'
'Uphold it with some other lady and behave yourself, Asher,' she retorted.
'I will cease if you will grant me a boon.'
'A boon?' Clair asked apprehensively. She understood that it was all well and good to make Ian jealous, but
