Mistletoe and Mayhem: A Regency Holiday Romance Anthology, page 90
Blade pushed away from the column he hid behind and forged a path through the glittering bejeweled sea of company. Fury and fear twisted his guts. Rumors surrounded Lord Fallon, but what was fact, was that Fallon desperately needed a wealthy wife. And desperate men were dangerous men.
They had flung the terrace doors open to ease the heat from the chandeliers and the crush of perfumed soaked bodies. Blade paused in the open doorway to let his eyes adjust to the darkness. It took him mere moments to focus on the couple near the stone balustrade.
To his immense relief, Lady Harriet seemed to have realized her mistake and was trying to edge round Lord Fallon to head back to the safety of the ballroom.
Her delicate jaw tightened. She wasn’t letting Lord Fallon bully her. To Blade’s dismay, it almost looked as if she was taking pleasure in verbally dueling with the rake.
He knew Harriet had a brain, and the way she was scolding Lord Fallon proved it. She, unlike other young ladies, seemed to be totally immune to the rake’s good looks. Not that he found Lord Fallon attractive, but the ladies certainly did.
Blade had never liked the man because of the way he treated women. Stories of his cruelty to his mistresses and ladies of the night did not go unnoticed. And the most disturbing rumor of late was that Fallon had tried to abduct a wealthy young lady. Fallon had thought to ruin her by carrying her off to Gretna Green. Thankfully, his evil plan had been foiled with not too much damage done.
Blade’s mind sharpened back to the present when he saw the nobleman reach out and trail a languid finger along Harriet’s bare throat to the low neckline of her gown.
The resounding slap that filled the air only dimmed the urgent need to wrap his hands around the lecher’s throat.
“You will keep your hands to yourself, my lord, or you will be even more sorry for it.”
Lord Fallon gave a low, seductive laugh that pierced his ire further, and uttered, “I do love a female with spirit.”
She took a step backward, which unfortunately took her further into the gloomy bounds of the terrace and away from her avenue of escape. “Stay away from me or I shall tell my brother.” Every haughty line on her face screamed distaste.
Lord Fallon moved closer, but she stood her ground as if aware moving backward took her away from safety. When Blade noted Fallon’s hand reaching for her once again, he could stand still no longer.
“Fallon, the lady does not welcome your advances. It’s time you took your leave. In fact, if you do not walk down those steps and leave this ball, I shall be forced to call you out.”
At his appearance, Lady Harriet swung to face him, relief clear on her lovely face.
“This is none of your affair, Blade,” Fallon snapped.
“Oh, but it is. As Lady Harriet’s close family friend, I am standing in for her brother. Thank your lucky stars it is not Trello standing here.”
Fallon’s face flushed with anger. As Blade took a step closer, Fallon turned and fled down the steps into the garden.
Alone on the terrace with her, Blade turned and found his gaze arrested by Harriet’s beauty. “This was not well done, my lady. It could have cost you everything.”
She stepped close, her scent swirling round him, making his breath hitch. “But my knight in shining armor arrived to save me. Thank you.”
It was hard to stay angry when Harriet stood before him, her smile as bright as the sun, her perfume a heady mixture of allure and innocence. “You wouldn’t need saving if you acted as any respectable young lady should.”
Her answering giggle was full of flirtation. Or perhaps too much wine had been drunk.
“I hardly think one stroll out on the terrace could label me reckless, Blade. And if it brought you running…” She stepped closer. “This is the first ball where I’ve spoken with you all season.” She poked his chest. “If I didn’t know you like me well enough, I’d think you were avoiding me.”
He wasn’t avoiding her exactly. His favor for Prinny meant he had to keep a low profile where the ladies were concerned. “I have many duties and obligations.”
“But you’ve been at almost all the balls and yet not once have you asked me to dance.”
He sighed. “Have you seen me dance with any lady?”
A frown saw her cute button nose wrinkle. “No.” She assessed him with beautiful blue eyes. “You seemed glued to Princess Charlotte’s side.” Intelligent eyes that missed nothing. Her smile wavered. “Are you planning on marrying into royalty?”
There’s the rub. What did he tell her? What had Prinny allowed him to tell anyone? Bloody hell. What did he say? He did what any man in his situation does.
“There is a chill in the air and you’ve been out here far too long. Shall we,” and he presented her with his arm.
Her almond-shaped eyes flashed with anger, but she said nothing. Slipping her arm through his, she let him guide her back inside where her friend Lady Ariane was waiting.
Lady Ariane gave her a beaming smile. “Lord Bladestow, how lovely to see you this evening.” Before he could reply he saw Lady Harriet give a shake of her head and the beaming smile faded.
“Lady Ariane, you look as pretty as a picture this evening. Now, if you’ll excuse me, ladies, I have business to attend to.” He bowed to both ladies but couldn’t help adding to Lady Ariane as he moved off, “Don’t let her wonder off again.”
“Before you ask, no, Blade did not take me out to the terrace. He rescued me from Lord Fallon.” Harriet was having a miserable night. She’d stupidly played into the hands of a known rake and to top it all off, the one man she wanted to impress above all others, had seen it and had to rescue her. “What are you smiling at?”
Ariane slipped her arm through Harriet’s and leaned closer. “He must have been watching you if he saw you go out onto the terrace.”
Hope flared, then died. “He could have simply wanted some air. It is awfully hot in here.”
“The duke doesn’t seem to be a man who needs to be propped up by cool air.”
“Stop making excuses for him. It’s obvious he’s not interested in courting me. It’s halfway through the season and I’ve talked to him once. Once! Tonight is the first time he’s bothered with me, and it was only because his honor made him come to my rescue.”
The two ladies made their way around the edge of the ballroom towards where Ariane’s mother, Lady Cuthbert, sat. It was nights like this Harriet wished her mother was still alive.
“Just face it, Ariane. Our silly childish dream will not come true. We won’t have a double wedding. You’ll marry next spring and I’ll likely become an old maid.”
“Don’t be dramatic. You have plenty of men chasing you.”
She sighed. “Not the man I want. Love’s out of reach. Well, for me anyway. Kingsley is absolutely smitten with you.”
Ariane glanced across the room at her beau. George Fogel, Viscount Kingsley, was the Earl of Southerby’s eldest son and heir, and Ariane had loved him with all her heart since the first time they’d meet two years ago. And to her delight, this season, it appeared he was keen on a match.
The two girls had pictured a duel wedding. Ariane and Kingsley, and Harriet with Blade. Harriet had been so sure Blade would come calling. A few months ago, he was by her side more often than her ladies' maid. She’d known him since childhood and he was all she thought about for five years, since the age of fifteen. She’d thought he liked her too. Now her pride and her confidence had fled because of his lack of pursuit.
“Perhaps it’s time you take some of your other suitors more seriously. That might bring Blade to heel.”
She glanced toward the other end of the room and she could see him as he stood head and shoulders above the crowd. To her surprise, he was glancing her way. Was he keeping his eye on her as Ariane thought? Perhaps she could try Ariane’s suggestion and favor some of her suitors. It might make Blade wake up to the fact she would not wait for him forever.
Yes, you would if you thought it would do any good.
Just then she saw a flash of glittering light through the gap of bodies. Princess Charlotte’s diamonds were setting the room alight at Blade’s side. Harriet gritted her teeth. Being the daughter of a earl saw her as a sought after marriage prize, but there was no way she could compete with a princess. Princess Charlotte would win this game if Blade wanted more power and position.
Just then Lord Punting arrived to claim his dance. She smiled brightly and let him lead her onto the floor, even though her heart was shredding in her chest.
She gave Lord Punting an encouraging smile. She would not think of Blade for the rest of the night.
As she’d expected, and to her dismay, that was much harder to do than she’d hoped.
Chapter One
Yorkshire, England,
Six months later, December 22nd 1814
“Let’s slow down, Ghost, and give the carriage time to catch up.” Blade patted his horse’s neck as he reigned in his stallion. While he was looking forward to his stay at Hearthstone House, if he arrived too far ahead of his carriage he’d have nothing to change into, and the smell of horse was not a fragrance he wanted to linger on his person for too long. He’d been traveling for several days. If luck went his way, the carriage would make the estate of the Earl of Hearthstone by early evening in time for him to change and join the family for dinner.
Smelling of horse and dust was not to be borne. Not when he would finally see Lady Harriet again.`
While he knew his family would miss him this Christmas, his mother didn’t care because he was about to fulfil her biggest wish. She’d stated that her son selecting a wife was present enough.
He patted his jacket pocket where the Duke of Bladestow’s historic family betrothal ring sat in a beautiful pouch his mother had made herself. The ruby gemstone ring was handed down to all the Duke’s wives-to-be, since his great-grandfather.
He’d never put much stock in gift giving for the festive season, but he hoped this Christmas day he’d get the best present of all—Harriet’s agreement to become his duchess.
The thought of waiting for her answer made him almost want to gallop again. He could barely sit still atop of Ghost. His nerves skittered with tension.
Duty meant he’d not been able to court her during her come out this past season, and he’d lived in constant fear she would not wait for him. He knew she’d had offers, and he hoped the reason she’d not accepted was because she was waiting for him.
He had no idea why he thought she was waiting for him, because he’d never given her any indication that he would offer for her. His duty to Prinny wasn’t his only reason he’d taken so long. He knew why he’d hesitated. He feared the feelings she evoked deep inside. He’d experienced the highs and lows of love and decided friendship and respect were a much better basis for any marriage. Did she?
He shook off his doubts and hoped her brother and father had guided her towards a marriage between their families.
She would be perfect in the role of his duchess. He needed children and Harriet would make a wonderful mother. He could think of no other woman he’d want to leg-shackle himself to.
He refused to look closer at the reason he wanted Harriet as his wife. He liked her, that was true, and she was exquisite. But he had learned that a duke never put his heart first. A duke could not afford that luxury. It cost too much. And he should know.
He watched the steam rising off Ghost now that? they were walking, and a shiver snaked under his shirt to his bare skin. He pulled the flaps of his greatcoat around his legs. God, Yorkshire was bleak in winter. Already a light cold mist was forming and it was only around midday. Harriet would not miss the weather when she moved south to Dorset to live with him.
He pulled his hat down over his ears. The cold was like an insipid guest who would not leave. The bliss of a hot bath filled his head. Damn having to wait for his carriage and clean clothes.
Hot bath? What a grand idea. Blade remembered the Hearthstone estate, being near to Harrogate, had a series of hot thermal springs set amongst rocky overhangs, near the south side of the house. The family had turned the natural stoney-outcrop into three bathing pools. He’d sunk his weary body into the hot springs many a time with Harriet’s brothers, Philip Rondell, Viscount Trello, and Lord Thomas Rondell. He pulled Ghost to a halt and listened. He rose in his stirrups and strained his ears. No carriage could be heard. He’d have time.
It took only a quarter of an hour for Ghost to reach the springs. He walked his stallion for a moment to cool him down.
He tethered his horse among the warmed rocks of the overhang, draping his greatcoat over the horse to keep Ghost warm. He stripped down to only his shirt so he could put it on once he got out of the pool in the cold and dry himself. Getting dressed appropriately would be a challenge. At least having been a regular visitor to the estate over the years, he knew how to slip in through the servants’ entrance from the stables and he also knew his way to his room. Since childhood, he’d always slept in the bedchamber next to Trello, Harriet’s eldest brother.
He slipped around the corner of the first group of rocks and stopped dead. He could hear gentle splashing and a woman humming. Flattening himself against the rocks, he crawled to the top and peered over. A smile broke his lips and he almost whistled.
Lady Harriet was bathing in all her glory in the biggest of the group of hot pools. How like the headstrong young woman to swim unaccompanied. To his masculine delight, she was as naked as the day she was born. Wicked girl. And he admired her for it. No insipid miss. Harriet was a match for any man.
A perfect match for him.
She would give him fine sons and they would get along swimmingly.
From his heightened position, his eyes loved the delights shown clearly through the water when the wafts of steam blew away every few seconds. She looked like a mermaid, and if he hadn’t already fallen under her spell, he’d fall again. Her beautiful ebony tresses were piled atop her head, emphasizing her long graceful neck. He envied the water because it got to caress her creamy-white unblemished skin.
Soon she would be his. He couldn’t wait.
He should be a gentleman and leave. Let her keep her modesty—but she was too much of a temptation. Besides, she would soon be his, anyway. Lord Hearthstone had agreed to the match. He was sure Harriet would agree too, after all, she was a sensible woman. He’d known her for years, and he was a duke. Women threw themselves at him. Besides, he could tell when a woman was attracted to him, and Harriet was.
His body shivered. The stone beneath him could have been an iceberg. He’d freeze if he didn’t move soon.
“Alexander John Bishop Montague, if you hide there much longer you’ll become iced to the rock.”
Yes, she was quite the woman. Let’s see how bold she was when he stepped out in nothing but a shirt.
Chapter Two
Harriet had been ticking off all her tasks in her head as she bathed in the heated water. The decorations for the trees were collected, rooms allocated and aired, the food all organized, and she had presents for everyone for Christmas day. Everyone except Blade. She knew what present he wanted, but she still had no idea if she could give herself to him. Not after he’d purposely ignored her all season. She would be no one’s afterthought.
How like him to show up just when her head was full of him. Her heart flipped in her chest the moment Blade’s head popped over the rocky ledge above. Here was the man she suspected would become her husband. He was so handsome it hurt to look at him. Sometimes she thanked God that her brother was his best friend, or she’d not be in line to be considered—and there was the rub.
Why did the Duke of Bladestow want to marry her?
Blade had always been her older brother’s annoying best friend. The boy who thought he knew it all and who teased her mercilessly about her hoyden ways, as he called them.
He stepped around the rock and she stifled a gasp. He was definitely no longer a boy. The light linen shirt hid nothing. Her eyes left the beauty of his face and traveled over the sculptured body of an Adonis to stop at the dark patch. The linen regrettably hid the secrets at his groin. She bit her lip.
He spoke in a low voice. “I thought I must be dreaming, a mermaid. How shocked I was to discover it was in fact Lady Harriet—in the flesh.”
She smiled seductively as she sunk deeper under the water so only her face was showing. “You don’t seem shocked. You appear to be rather pleased.”
Could his smile get any wider? He walked forward until he stood at the edge of the opposite side of her pool.
She hadn’t purposely come for a soak in the thermal spring thinking he’d stop by. She had considered he’d reach Hearthstone by tonight, and she’d simply wanted some solitude and peace to think. Trello, her elder brother, had indicated he thought a match with Blade, the Duke of Bladestow, prudent. She assumed her father, as the Earl of Hearthstone, did too.
What she had to decide was, did she?
He was, of course, gorgeous beyond mere words, but beauty could hide many a sin. She’d known him all her life, given he was often at their home, so she knew deep at heart he was a good man. But she also knew the rumors surrounding him. He spent a lot of time on the continent, doing what, nobody knew. And, according to Blade’s sister, he’d had his heart broken by some foreign beauty, and had sworn never to marry for love.
Was that why he’d built a solid reputation as a rake of the first water? Was that why he was known to keep a mistress, or maybe even two?
She didn’t think she’d like to share her husband with other women. As she drank him in, a stabbing pain in her chest showed that she wouldn’t wish to share him—ever. If he would not be hers and hers alone, her life would be a misery.
She cursed how her body responded to him. Already hot from the heat of the water, her face felt like it was on fire.
“Do you mind if I join you?”
She should say no. There were two other pools he could get warm in. But when did she ever do anything she was supposed to?
