Hey to all you dudes and dudettes out there! This is my first story and 99.99999999 of it is from Susanne Enoch's 'The rake' So all the credit goes to her really... anyways on with the story!

Lady Kori Anders burst through the drawing room doors, her arburn hair drenched with rain

"Did you hear what that man did this time?"

Her two best friends, Raven Roth and Terra Markov exchanged glances that she could have read from a mile away. Of course they knew precisely of whom she discussing. How could they not, when he was the worst man in England?

"What now?" Terra asked, putting down the cards she'd been shuffling. Shaking raindrops from the hem of her gown, Kori plunked herself onto the third chair at the gaming table.

"A lady and her maid got caught in the rain this morning. They were walking home when that man drove by in his coach at full tilt and sent a cascade of street water at them" "She preferred not to tell me her name" Kori added, looking at their quizzical expressions. She pulled of her gloves and slapped them onto the table "It's fortunate that the rain had just begun, or he might have drowned her!"

"He didn't even stop?" Raven asked as she poured her a hot cup of herbal tea

"And get wet himself, heavens no!" Kori dropped a lump of sugar into the tea and stirred vigourously. Men were so maddening! "If the morning had been dry, he would have stopped to let the lady and her maid ride with him, but for most men 'nobility' is not a state of mind. It is a state of comfort"

"A state of monetary comfort" Raven amended

Terra refilled her own cup

"While you too are entirely too clynical, I have to agree that society seems to have arrogance when a gentleman has money and power. True nobility has all but vanished. In the days of King Arthur, inspiring a women's admiration was at least as important as slaying a dragon" In miss Markov's optimistic imagination, nearly everything tied into tales of chivalry-but this time she had a point.

"Yes exactly" Kori said "When did dragons become more important than maidens?"

"Dragons guard treasure" Raven said jumping on analogy, "which is why females with large dowries can rate almost as large as dragons"

"It should be us who are the treasures, dowries or not" Kori insisted "I think the difficulty is that we're more complicated than wagering or horse races. Understanding a female is beyond the capacity of most men." Terra bit into a chocolate tea cake

"I agree. It certainly takes more than a sword singing in my direction to get my attention" She chuckled

"Terra!" Blushing bright red, Raven fanned her face "For heavens sake!." Georgina sat forward

"No. Terra is right. A gentleman can't win a female's heart the same way they win a...a boat race on thames. They need to know that there are different rules involved. For instance, I wouldn't want anything to do with a gentleman who has a habit of breaking ladies hearts, no matter how handsome he was or how much wealth and power he had"

"And that we have a mind of our own for heavens sake!" Terra set down her tea cup with a clatter as an exclamation point. Raven stood and went to the desk at the other side of the room

"We should write these down" She said, giving each of them a peice of paper to write on "The three of us weild a great deal of influence, particularly with the so-called gentleman to whom these rules would apply"

"And we would be doing other ladies a service" Kori said, her anger ebbing as the plan began to take shape.

"But a list won't do anything for anyone but ourselves" Terra took the pencil Raven handed her. "If that."

"Oh yes it will, when we put our rules in practice" Kori countered "I propose that we each choose some man and teach him what he needs to know to properly impress a lady"

"Yes, by God" Terra thumped her hands on the table in agreement. Kori chuckled darkly as she began writing

"We should get our books published, 'Lessons in love' by three ladies of distinction"

Kori's list

1 Never break a ladies heart

2 Always tell the truth, no matter what you think the lady wants to hear

3 Flowers are nice, make sure they're the ladies favourite kind. Roses are espicially nice

I wasn't going introduce Richard right now, but the chapter is too short so...here he is!

Lady Kori Anders watched Richard enter the ballroom and wondered why the soles of his boots didn't smoke, he was so well traveled to the path of Hell. The rest of him certainly smoldered, dark and devilishly seductive, as he made his way toward the gaming rooms.

"I really do hate that man" she murmured

"Beg pardon?" Lord Harper loped by her, the country dance sending him leaping in a circle with her in the center

"Nothing my Lord, I am only thinking out loud"

"Well share your thoughts with me" He touched her hand, turned and vanished for a moment behind some of the other dancers as they wound through the line again "Nothing pleases me so much as the sound of your voice"

Except perhaps the sound of the gold clinking in my purse. Kori sighed, she was becoming far too jaded

"You are too kind, my lord"

"That is an impossibility where you're concerned" They circled around again and again and Kori scowled at Richard's broad back as the scoundrel strolled out of sight, probably to go smoke a cheroot and drink with his blackguard friends. The evening had been so pleasant before Richrd had intruded. Her aunt was hosting the soiree so she couldn't imagne that anyone had even invited him.

Her dance partner joined her again and she favoured the handsome, red haired baron with a determined smile. She would just have to put that devil Richard out of his thoughts

"You are energetic today, Lord Harper"

"You inspire me" he said, sounding winded. The dance came to a close. While the baron dug in his waistcoat for a handkerchief, Kori caught sight of Raven and Terra standing with their heads together at the refreshment table

"Thank you my Lord" she said to her partner before he could offer to take her on a stroll around the room "You've exhausted me beyond recall. If you'll excuse me?"

"Oh. I-of course my lady"

"Roy Harper?" Terra exclaimed from behing her ivory ribbed fan as Kori joined them

"Don't ask"

"So who are you going to choose for your lesson? Harper?" Raven interrupted. Kori and Terra rolled their eyes, that was all she had been going on about since they had made their plan

"To be honest, I'm not sure he'd be worth the effort. In fact-" A movement by the stairs caught her attention and Richard reentered the ballroom, a woman on his hand. Not just any woman, she noted with a slight scowl, Kitten Moth.

"In fact what?" Terra followed her gaze "Oh, dear. Who invited Garyson here?"

"Not me that's for certain" Miss Moth couldn't be above 18 years old, a good 12 years younger that Richard. In years of sin though, he surpassed her by centuries. Kori had heard rumors that the viscount was courting someone, and with her families money and her pert brunette innocence, Kitten was no doubt the target, the poor thing. Richard took both of Kittens hands in his, and Kori gritted her teeth. The viscount said something and, with a jaunty grin, released her hands and strolled away. Kittens face flushed, then paled, and she hurried from the room.

Well that blasted made one thing clear. Kori stood, facing her friends again and stated, surprised at her calm determination

"I have a different student in mind, one in a serious need of a good lesson" Terras eyes widened

"You're not thinking about Lord Grayson are you? You hate him, you barely speak to him" Across the room Richard's deep laugh sounded, and Kori's blood heated to near boiling point. Obliviously he didn't care a fig that he had just wounded a young girls feelings, or worse, broken another heart. Oh yes, he badly needed a lesson. He was the reason they had made the list in the first place. And she knew the exact lesson to teach him, In fact she could think of no one better qualified to deliver it that she.

"Yes Grayson. And obliviously, I'll have to break his heart to do it, though I'm not even certain that he has one. But-"

"Shh" Raven hissed making a cutting gesture with her hands

"Who has one what?" Her spine stiffening at the low drawl, Kori turned around

"I wasn't talking to you my Lord" Ricard Garyson looked down at her, his light blue eyes amused. He couldn't have a heart, if he was able to smile that charming, sensuous smile right after reducing another woman to tears and flight.

"And here I was" he said "Only approaching to tell you how remarkably lovely you look this evening, Lady Kori" She smiled seething inside. Now he was complimenting her while poor Kitten was without a doubt in some dark corner, weeping

"I did choose this ensamble with you in mind, my lord" she said smoothing her silk burgundy skirt "Do you truly like it?" The viscount was no fool, and though his expression didn't change, he took half a step back. She hadn't brought her fan along tonight , though Raven's was in easy reach if she changed her mind about rapping him across the knuckles.

"I do my lady" His sweeping glance took her in from head to toe, leaving her with the unsettling feeling that he knew whether her shift was silk or cotton

"Then this is the one I'll wear to your funeral" she smiled sweetly at him

"Kori" Terra murmured, taking her arm. Richrd lifted an eyebrow

"Who say's you'll be invited?" With a devilishly grin he turned on his heel. "Good evening ladies" Oh did he ever need to be taught a lesson!

"How are your aunts?" Kori asked at his backside. He stopped and with a slight heaitation, turned around

"My aunts?"

"Yes I didn't see them this evening. How are they?"

"Aunt Edwina's quite well" he said, his expression weary "Aunt Millie is recovering, though not as quickly as we'd like. Why?" Ha she had no intention of telling him why. Let him wonder until she had the details of her plan layed out

"No reason. Please give them my compliments"

"I will. Ladies"

"Lord Grayson" As soon as he was out of sight Terra let go of her arm

"So thats how you make a gentleman fall in love with you. I was beginning to wonder what I did wrong"

"Oh hush. I can't simply fall into his arms. Anyways I have to go, its getting late and I need to figure out what to do by tomorrow. But" Kori put on a posh accent "You may call on me tomorrow" That said Kori started to go to her carrige cautiously, if he knew that she was leaving so early, it would only add to his suspicions. One of his more annoying traits was that one never knew where or when he might turn up. Drat, that reminded her that she had forgotten to ask him whether he'd been invited or had bullied his way into her aunt's party. As she climbed into her carrige, she thought of the impossible task that lay in front of her.

Making Richard Grayson fall in love with her was risky for more than one reason, but it was a lesson he badly needed to learn. He'd toyed with one heart too many, and she would make certain that he would never do it again.

Ever.