Viscount of Vanity

Viscount of VanityLords of Scandal
Tammy Andresen


Copyright © 2021 by Tammy Andresen
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
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Contents
Untitled
Foreword
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Epilogue
Earl of Infamy
About the Author
Other Titles by Tammy


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Untitled
Viscount of Vanity
Lords of Scandal
Tammy Andresen


Foreword
Dear Readers,
The hero of this book, Austin Melrose, the Viscount of Vanity, is a bit more personal for me than most heroes I write.
My father, back in the 1980s, worked at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard where he lined submarines with asbestos-ladened insulation before any of the men wore protective gear. While all the men in my dad’s shop ended up sick, he was one of the first. He was a very athletic man, strong, and good at most physical activities, but the asbestos worked itself into his lungs and he ended up with bronchial asthma, a condition he still suffers from today.
But it was terrible then. And I witnessed him go from a healthy, vital man to a weak and sick one almost overnight.
As a child, I watched him have attacks from activities as simple as sledding with his children. He’d end up on his hands and knees, coughing up blood and wheezing, unable to catch his breath. He said it was like an elephant sitting on his chest. He was in and out of the hospital, and he had endless doctor’s appointments trying to get his symptoms under control. These experiences made me more cautious, more risk averse. Even now, I far prefer writing stories from my couch rather than gallivanting on real adventures like many of my friends. But as frightening as they were to me, the experience was even scarier for him. It changed all of us fundamentally, him most of all.
Austin is a bit different. He suffered from asthma as a child, a condition he’s outgrown by the time he becomes our hero, but my dad and I spent many hours discussing what the psychological impacts were for him and for me before I sat down to write this character. Austin is honestly a mix of us both. He suffers like my dad, but he experiences the trauma as a child like I did. So Dad, this book is dedicated to you. Thanks for always being there and thank you for being a fighter. You taught me a lot about what it means to persevere, even under wretched circumstances.
And to my readers, I hope you enjoy Austin and Gabriella’s story.
All my love,
Tammy


Chapter One
Miss Gabriella Winston peeked through the curtain separating the chapel from the nave and surveyed the twenty or so men who sat in the pews. One of them was about to be her husband.
Over the past few days, she’d wracked her brain to see if she’d ever heard of such an event happening. She’d heard of a few husbands auctioning off their wives, but did fathers actually sell their daughters to settle their debts? Hers did.
Gabriella brushed back a lock of her near-black hair and shifted on her feet, nervous butterflies flitting all about her belly.
She knew the situation was bad when debtors had come calling in the middle of the night, a month prior. It wasn’t the first time this sort of thing had happened, and she’d known to hide herself away in the cupboard. But she’d heard everything. They’d beat her father terribly, an already-frail man thanks to his hard living and heavy drinking.
She’d nursed him back to health, of course. She’d been taking care of him most of her life. But she’d noted a look in his eyes that was different from the past. She could only describe it as…assessing.
That had been her first inkling that her life was about to take a turn for the worse.
She twisted her hands.
Last week, her father had announced it was time for her to start her new life. She’d stopped scrubbing the floor and sat up on her knees. Anything new would be good. “How so?” she’d asked.
He’d stared down at her. “You’re lucky, Gabs. You’re beautiful. Some man will surely want you.”
Her rag had dropped to the floor.
She’d stopped begging her father years ago. No amount of pleading ever got her toys, or treats, or even food if he’d spent all his money in some bet or on whisky. In fact, she’d learned that asking for things only irritated him. But she’d pleaded then. Let her choose a man. The butcher had shown interest…
Her father had grown hard. And with a box to her ears, he’d informed her he needed far more than what a butcher could provide.
She’d known then that there was no getting out of this…
She pressed a hand to her stomach as she stared at the growing crowd.
Mr. Sharpe, the butcher was there. She saw him in the back. Would he bid? Hope fluttered inside her stomach. While she didn’t love the man by any stretch, he was good and honest, and she’d be cared for in the match. Of that she could be certain.
She scanned the rest of the crowd. Some of the men looked all right. Clean at least, not too old. But others…
Nervous fear prickled along her skin.
The priest came down the center aisle, smiling at several of the men. He was sweating a bit, despite the cool day, his face puffy and his eyes rimmed with red. Clearly, he was still recovering from a night of heavy drinking. She recognized the signs. She’d grown up with them her entire life.
Her father walked just behind the other man, his eyes equally blurry. The two were great friends. She didn’t know what that said