Diane Gaston - A Marriage of Notoriety

He stepped towards Phillipa and placed it around her shoulders, so close she felt the warmth of his body. The touch of his hands on her shoulders caused a frisson of sensation down her back.

She disliked being so affected by Xavier Campion. It made her think of how she’d felt dancing with him. The thrill of coming close to him, of touching him.

The servant opened the door and the cool evening air revived her.

Phillipa crossed over the threshold with Xavier right behind her. ‘I do not need an escort.’

He fell in step with her. ‘Nevertheless, I need to do this.’

She scoffed. ‘Do not be absurd. You can have the company of any woman you like. One of the gentlemen told me so.’

His step slowed for a moment. ‘Phillipa, if any danger should befall you on this walk home I would never forgive myself for not preventing it.’

He sounded so serious.

‘So dramatic, Xavier. I am not your responsibility.’

His voice turned low. ‘At this moment you are.’

Welcome to

Diane Gaston’s

Identities concealed, desires revealed …

This is your invitation to Regency society’s most exclusive gaming establishment.

Leave your inhibitions at the door, don your disguise and indulge your desires!

Club proprietor Rhys, the most renowned gambler in London, finally meets his match in

A REPUTATION FOR NOTORIETY

Already available

And now Rhys’s friend Xavier, the most devilish rogue in town, prefers to gamble with ladies’ hearts in

A MARRIAGE OF NOTORIETY

As a psychiatric social worker, Diane Gastonspent years helping others create real-life happy endings. Now Diane crafts fictional ones, writing the kind of historical romance she’s always loved to read. The youngest of three daughters of a US Army Colonel, Diane moved frequently during her childhood, even living for a year in Japan. It continues to amaze her that her own son and daughter grew up in one house in Northern Virginia. Diane still lives in that house, with her husband and three very ordinary housecats. Visit Diane’s website at http://dianegaston.com

Previous novels by the same author:

THE MYSTERIOUS MISS M

THE WAGERING WIDOW

A REPUTABLE RAKE

INNOCENCE AND IMPROPRIETY

A TWELFTH NIGHT TALE

(in A Regency Christmas anthology) THE VANISHING VISCOUNTESS SCANDALISING THE TON JUSTINE AND THE NOBLE VISCOUNT † † linked by character * Three Soldiers mini-series * The Masquerade Club and in Mills & Boon ® Historical Undone! eBooks: THE UNLACING OF MISS LEIGH THE LIBERATION OF MISS FINCH Did you know that some of these novels are also available as eBooks? Visit www.millsandboon.co.uk (in Regency Summer Scandals ) GALLANT OFFICER, FORBIDDEN LADY * * Three Soldiers mini-series * The Masquerade Club and in Mills & Boon ® Historical Undone! eBooks: THE UNLACING OF MISS LEIGH THE LIBERATION OF MISS FINCH Did you know that some of these novels are also available as eBooks? Visit www.millsandboon.co.uk CHIVALROUS CAPTAIN, REBEL MISTRESS * * Three Soldiers mini-series * The Masquerade Club and in Mills & Boon ® Historical Undone! eBooks: THE UNLACING OF MISS LEIGH THE LIBERATION OF MISS FINCH Did you know that some of these novels are also available as eBooks? Visit www.millsandboon.co.uk VALIANT SOLDIER, BEAUTIFUL ENEMY * * The Masquerade Club and in Mills & Boon ® Historical Undone! eBooks: THE UNLACING OF MISS LEIGH THE LIBERATION OF MISS FINCH Did you know that some of these novels are also available as eBooks? Visit www.millsandboon.co.uk A NOT SO RESPECTABLE GENTLEMAN? † † linked by character * Three Soldiers mini-series * The Masquerade Club and in Mills & Boon ® Historical Undone! eBooks: THE UNLACING OF MISS LEIGH THE LIBERATION OF MISS FINCH Did you know that some of these novels are also available as eBooks? Visit www.millsandboon.co.uk BORN TO SCANDAL A REPUTATION FOR NOTORIETY ** * Three Soldiers mini-series * The Masquerade Club and in Mills & Boon ® Historical Undone! eBooks: THE UNLACING OF MISS LEIGH THE LIBERATION OF MISS FINCH Did you know that some of these novels are also available as eBooks? Visit www.millsandboon.co.uk

†linked by character

*Three Soldiers mini-series

* The Masquerade Club

and in Mills & Boon ®Historical Undone! eBooks:

THE UNLACING OF MISS LEIGH

THE LIBERATION OF MISS FINCH

Did you know that some of these novels are also available as eBooks?

Visit www.millsandboon.co.uk

The timeless theme of the fairytale Beauty and the Beast often reappears in romance novels, as well as in Disney movies, Phantom of the Opera, King Kong and more. Do we ever tire of this story? I’ve written it before, in my Mills & Boon ®Historical Undone! eBook THE UNLACING OF MISS LEIGH (my Phantom of the Opera story), and now in A MARRIAGE OF NOTORIETY. I dare say I will write it again.

Part of the appeal of the Beauty and the Beast theme is its message—genuine beauty is what one has on the inside, not the way one appears on the outside. How many of us look in the mirror and forget this as we examine every flaw? How often do we gaze at models in magazines or celebrities on the red carpet and feel like garden gnomes in comparison? And how much do all of us want to be loved for who we are, not the way we appear?

I enjoyed exploring this issue once more, and giving my hero and heroine their own chance to discover that beauty isn’t just skin-deep.

For my new daughter-in-law Beth, beautiful on the inside and the outside,

and a wonderful addition to our family.

Contents

Prologue

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Epilogue

Prologue

London, Spring 1814

‘Mr Xavier Campion,’ Lady Devine’s butler intoned in a baritone voice.

‘Adonis is here!’ gasped one of the young ladies standing near Phillipa Westleigh. The others shared furtive smiles.

Phillipa knew precisely who her friends would see when their gazes slipped towards the doorway. A young man tall and perfectly formed, with broad shoulders, a narrow waist, and muscled limbs. His hair would be as dark as the ebony keys on a pianoforte and longer than fashionable, but an excellent frame for his lean face, strong brow, sensitive mouth.

The young ladies had been tittering about him the whole evening. Would he come to the ball? Could they contrive an introduction? He’d been the main topic of conversation since they’d discovered him at the opera the night before. ‘He is an Adonis!’ one had proclaimed and the name stuck.

Phillipa had not attended the opera that night, but heard before all of them that he’d come to town. She, too, glanced to the doorway.

Clad in the formal red coat of the East Essex infantry, Xavier Campion looked as magnificent as a man could look in regimentals.