His Lordship's Chaperone by Shirley Marks

you manage to escape this time
around?”
    “I would have at least expected you to scale the
wall and catch the seat of your pants on the brambles.” Sir Giles stole a look
at Haverton’s backside.
    “Quite simply,” Haverton smoothed his evening coat,
hoping to indicate that nothing of the kind had happened, “the chaperone
intervened.”
    “Do you mean the young lady’s chaperone stood there
and allowed you to— ”
    “No, my chaperone.”
    “Yours?” Brewster said wide-eyed and open-mouthed.
Fitzgerald and Sir Giles broke out into wild laughter. “You did say your
chaperone, did you not, Haverton?”
    “You are correct.” He proudly displayed a smug
smile. “I most definitely did.”
    “Gad! I’d never thought I’d see the day.” Sir Giles
wiped the tears from his eyes with a dark blue silk handkerchief. “A man with a
chaperone!”
    “You’ve outdone yourself this time.” Fitzgerald
clapped Haverton on the back, more strongly than was necessary.
    By this time the whole roomful of guests were laughing.
The word had spread toward the back of the room that the Marquess of Haverton
had a chaperone for himself.
    “She has worked out splendidly,” the Marquess
concluded.
    Sir Giles had stopped laughing and considered the
matter with a great deal of seriousness. “That’s a dashed clever idea. Puts an
end to all that ‘compromising position’ business, don’t it?”
    It most certainly had.
    “Should have thought of it myself,” Fitzgerald
commented to Brewster next to him. “Bang up idea.”
    Brewster chuckled, marveling at the Marquess’
ingenuity. “Trust Haverton to come up with something so foolproof.”
    “So simple!” Sir Giles stood between Brewster and
Fitzgerald, and clapped his arms around each. “Gentlemen, times are changing …
it is the dawning of a new age … the age of man—the bachelor.”
    Brewster and Fitzgerald cheered. Haverton remained
quiet. Among the three of them, more than enough was being said.
    “Please … please …” Sir Giles hushed them and
continued. “After tonight most ladies of London will grieve of their loss. Not
only will they fail to legshackle a man—he’s robbed
them of the very opportunity to try.
    The Marquess glanced skyward when another round of
cheering ensued.
    “When my Lord Haverton weds—”
    Brewster and Fitzgerald groaned in protest.
    “Oh, yes,” Sir Giles admitted. “For we know that
one day he must … we can feel confident it was a deed done of his choosing, not
because he’s been discovered in the arms of a wily, undesirable miss.
Gentlemen, we can say, with full confidence, that the Marquess of Haverton will
never fall victim to a parson’s mousetrap as an unwilling groom.”

Chapter 4
    Haverton had a devil of a time prying himself away
from his companions. Tolerating attention and admiration from females was one
thing, being worshipped by one’s contemporaries was quite another.
    “There you are, Robert.” It was well past one in
the morning when Simon came across him in the ballroom. “I’ve heard the most
outrageous thing—too outrageous, even for you.”
    “And what news is that?” Haverton had no doubt his
brother would take his turn and ridicule him for the foolishness of hiring a
chaperone. He pointed to something on his brother’s shoulder. “What have you
here?”
    Simon brushed at some small, white petals from his
jacket. “Oh, that’s nothing.”
    “Been cornering some chit, I see.” Haverton knew
the telltale signs of a tryst and he found this unusual behavior for Simon. His
brother was a flirt, not a conqueror.
    “Just making her acquaintance.” Simon’s cheeks
reddened. Unlike Haverton, Simon was a bit on the shy side and not used to
female attention.
    “More than just an acquaintance, I gather.”
Haverton drew a short three-leafed twig from Simon’s hair.
    “You’re changing the subject,” he protested.
    “What subject?”
    “From the extraordinary news I’ve heard—” He