Read an Excerpt
The Scandal in Kissing an Heir
By Sophie Barnes HarperCollins Publishers
Copyright © 2013 Sophie Barnes
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-06-224517-5
Chapter 1
Kingsborough Hall, Moxley, England
1817
Daniel Neville, heir to the Marquisate of Wolvington,
removed himself to a corner of the Kingsborough ball-
room—as good a place as any for a man who'd been
labeled an outcast by Society.
Overhead, candles held by three large chandeliers
spread their glow across the room, the jewels worn by
countless women winking in response to the light. This
was true opulence, and nobody did it better than the
Kingsboroughs. Why, there was even a glass slipper
sculpted from ice and a pumpkin carriage sitting out-
side on the lawn—a touch of fairy-tale splendor indica-
tive of the theme that the dowager duchess had selected
for her masquerade.
And what a masquerade. Never in his life had
Daniel borne witness to so many feathers. They were
everywhere—attached to gowns, on the edges of
masks, and sprouting from women's hair.
2 SOPHIE BARNES
The ball gowns were marvelous too. These were not
the boring dresses generally on display at Almack's.
Certainly, one could still tell the debutantes apart, due
to their tepid choice of color, but they all had a bit of
something extra, like crystal beads that sparkled when
they moved.
It was refreshing to see, and yet as he stood there,
watching the spectacle unfold, Daniel felt nothing but
bland disinterest. It was only one hour since he'd ar-
rived, but it felt more like four. God help him, but he'd
never been so bored in his life. Perhaps he should have
remained in London after all. At least there he had
his friends to keep him company and could avoid the
constant reminder of how unwelcome he was among
the finer set. His aunt and uncle were in attendance
of course, but as soon as they'd entered the ballroom,
they'd been approached by Lady Deerford. Daniel had
hastily slipped away in order to avoid the countess, who
had a renowned tendency to talk the ear off anyone
willing to listen. In hindsight, he was beginning to
think that nodding his head in response to whatever
she had to say would have been preferable to this self-
imposed solitude. Recalling the glass of champagne in
his hand, he took another sip of his drink and decided
to request a brandy from one of the footmen at the
first available opportunity. Stronger stuff would be re-
quired if he was to get through the rest of this evening.
He watched as a group of ladies approached on their
tour of the periphery. There were three of them, one
being the Countess of Frompton. If Daniel wasn't mis-
taken, the two young ladies in her company were her
granddaughters—typical debutantes dressed in gowns
so pale it was hard to discern where the fabric ended
THE SCANDAL IN KISSING AN HEIR 3
and their skin began. It would do them both a great
deal of good to get married, if for no other reason than
to be able to add a touch of color to their attire.
As they came nearer, Lady Frompton glanced in
Daniel's direction. Their eyes met briefly, then her
ladyship quickly drew her granddaughters closer to
her, circumventing Daniel in a wide arc that would
have been insulting had it not been so expected. They
weren't the first to avoid him that evening. Indeed, the
three youngest Rockly sisters had beaten a hasty retreat
a short while earlier when they'd realized who they'd
been heading toward on their own tour of the ballroom.
Daniel hadn't been surprised, for his reputation was so
tarnished that he could probably ruin a lady by merely
glancing in her direction. Why he'd bothered to attend
the ball at all, when the chance of enjoying himself had
been as distant a prospect as traipsing through the Af-
rican jungle, was beyond him.
Well, not entirely.
He needed to find himself a wife, or so his uncle
had informed him last week when he'd discovered that
Daniel had hosted a most outrageous party at his bach-
elor lodgings—an event that had been sponsored in-
directly by his uncle via Daniel's monthly allowance,
where vingt-et-un had been played until most of the
courtesans and gentlemen present had been divested of
their clothing. What made the incident worse was the
fact that Daniel had been so deep in his cups that night
that he'd offered his mistress the diamond earrings his
father had once bestowed upon his mother. They had
been a treasured family heirloom but would now grace
the lobes of Solange. “You're a bloody curse on this
family!” Daniel's uncle, the Marquess of Wolvington,
4 SOPHIE BARNES
had said as soon as Daniel had entered his study the
following day. The marquess had then delivered a long
list of reasons as to why he'd thought this to be the
case. “It's time you grew up and learned a thing or two
about responsibility, or you'll end up running your in-
heritance into the ground after I'm gone. Heaven help
me, I'd love nothing better than to disinherit you and
allow Ralph to take up the reins, but—”
“My nephew?” Daniel had said, unable to help him-
self in light of the fact that his uncle would rather en-
trust his entire fortune to an infant.
“I doubt he'll do any worse than you.” Daniel had
winced in response to this retort, but he'd done his
best to hide all signs of emotion as his uncle contin-
ued, “Your sister's a levelheaded woman, her husband
too. I'm sure the two of them would be prepared to act
wisely on Ralph's behalf, but since the law prevents
such an outcome, I rather think it's beside the point.
“That said, your aunt and I have come to a mutual
agreement—one which we hope will encourage you to
get that head of yours on straight. You will cease your
gaming immediately, or we will cut you off financially,
which, to clarify, will mean that you will have to work
for a
(Continues...)
Excerpted from The Scandal in Kissing an Heir by Sophie Barnes. Copyright © 2013 Sophie Barnes. Excerpted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers.
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