Read The Bed and the Bachelor for Free Online

refreshment?” he asked, glancing around in hopes of finding a footman circulating close by with a tray of beverages. He could down two or three, he felt sure.
    Luckily, Claire didn’t seem to notice his abrupt discomfort. “A lemonade would be most welcome,” she said. “And I am relieved to hear that you have found a replacement for Mrs. Beatty. I know her abrupt departure caused a great deal of unnecessary strife, but now you’ll be able to relax again.”
    Drake fought the urge to admit that, for him at least, his new housekeeper was anything but relaxing.
    “Come and let us have that refreshment,” she told him with a smile. “Then I suppose I should do my duty and mingle. As should you. No retreating to a convenient corner with pencil and paper in hand so you can scribble away the afternoon.”
    “But that’s my favorite occupation at parties. You’re heartless to deny me.”
    Chuckling at his mock outrage, she tucked her arm through his and led him forward.
    As they walked, he took note of a great many people with whom he was acquainted, as well as many members of his family, including aunts, uncles and the usual assortment of cousins. He caught Edward’s gaze and exchanged a slight nod, unable to help but notice the expression of annoyance on his brother’s face as he stood conversing with the prime minister, Mr. Liverpool. As a confirmed Whig, Ned’s opinions were rarely in accord with the Tory leader’s.
    Moving on, he saw his brother Cade, Cade’s wife, Meg, his younger sister Mallory and her new husband, Adam, Earl of Gresham—an old friend of the family’s whom he’d known since they were both very young men.
    Mallory laughed just then and smiled up at Adam, her eyes shining with undisguised love. Adam smiled back, his own adoration—that frankly bordered on the besotted—clear for all to see. Drake was glad Mallory was so happy, particularly after the heartache she’d suffered not so long ago.
    Honestly, though, he mused, he was beginning to feel a bit outnumbered, what with all of his older siblings and one of his little sisters falling in love and getting married. Even Jack, the wildest, most rakish Byron brother of them all—assuming one discounted the twins, Leo and Lawrence, who at twenty were working hard to outstrip Jack’s well-earned reputation—had traded in his freedom for a ring and vows of true love.
    In fact, Jack wasn’t in London at all right now, having opted to skip the Season to be with his wife, Grace, their daughter Nicola and new baby, Virginia “Ginny,” at their home in Kent. Based on the last letter he’d had from Jack, his brother seemed to prefer the quiet, rural existence he shared with his new family. Apparently the raucous, fast-paced city life he used to enjoy with such exuberant excess was now little more than a vague, unmourned memory.
    Certainly Drake wished all his married siblings the best and liked his sisters-in-law and brother-in-law very much. Yet he couldn’t help but fear it was giving his mother ideas concerning him. If he wasn’t careful, he’d soon find himself wed as well.
    Not if I have a say in the matter, he thought, stopping to procure a lemonade for Claire and a glass of wine for himself.
    He’d just taken a drink when his mother appeared at his elbow, Claire drifting away with a friendly waggle of her fingers.
    “Drake, you came!” exclaimed Ava Byron, in an echo of her daughter-in-law’s earlier remark. Her clear green eyes, that were very much like his own, sparkled with youthful exuberance and delight. Truthfully, if she wasn’t the mother of eight children—only one of whom was still young enough to be in the schoolroom—no one would believe she had passed her fiftieth year. With barely a few strands of grey in her light brown hair and scarcely a line on her face, she was still one of the most beautiful women in the room.
    “I told you I’d be here,” he said, leaning over to press a kiss her cheek. “You and