The Devious Seduction 0f A Wayward Duke (Steamy Historical Romance)

by Olivia Bennet

  “Oh my,” the peddler replied. He knelt down next to Lord Seton. “There is no better way to learn about economy than to buy something from my cart.” The peddler grinned widely, and Lord Seton took a step back.

  “I don’t believe Lord Seton requires anything,” Priscilla said to the peddler with a smile. “He has never seen a cart like this, so I wanted to show him.”

  With this, the peddler’s expression changed, and he said loudly and with an angry tone, “No free looks! You buy or you leave!” He pointed down the street, presumably to show them where they could go if they were not going to buy his goods. Priscilla took a firm hold of Lord Seton’s shoulder.

  Priscilla quickly turned around over her right shoulder. She looked to see where their accompanying rider was, just in case the man tried to push or shove them. The rider was making his way across the road, she assumed, because he saw the man’s wild gestures.

  “Is this dirty cheapjack bothering you?” Priscilla heard from her left. She quickly turned around to see a well-dressed man. He was fairly young, with blond hair and green eyes, and he had a frown on his face while he glared at the peddler.

  “No, no,” Priscilla said, waving her free hand to show she was fine. “Our rider is right behind me.”

  As if on cue, the rider stepped in next to her, and then placed himself between the irritated peddler and Lord Seton.

  “Are you all right, Miss Ainsley?” the rider asked.

  “Yes, we are fine,” Priscilla tried to explain to both men. “This peddler simply didn’t want us looking at his wares if we were not planning on buying anything.”

  Both men gave the peddler a glare, and they all watched as he began pushing his noisy cart down the street while mumbling to himself.

  “We will carry on,” Priscilla said, as she then turned toward the gentleman who had approached them. “We will be fine. Thank you for stepping in.”

  He nodded. “These peddlers will stop at nothing to take advantage of people. I just wanted to make sure that he wasn’t doing anything to harm you or the young gentleman.”

  “I appreciate it, sir,” Priscilla said, as the man nodded and walked away. She then turned to the rider. “Thank you, too. I think we were fine, but I’m glad you were close.”

  “Of course, Miss Ainsley,” the rider replied. He then turned to Lord Seton. “Are you feeling well, My Lord?”

  “Yes,” Lord Seton replied, as he watched the peddler get further away. He then turned his attention to Priscilla.

  “Miss Ainsley,” he said with a confused expression on his face. “Why did that man get so angry? The peddler?”

  Priscilla nodded, and gently patted Lord Seton’s shoulder. “I don’t know for certain, My Lord. But I would guess it’s because he saw a finely dressed young gentleman with a woman and thought we would be an easy target to sell something. His disappointment quickly turned to anger.”

  “Oh,” Lord Seton said, but Priscilla thought that he still looked a bit confused.

  “You see, My Lord, these men must sell their wares if they want to be able to buy food, get shelter, and even buy more goods to sell. He relies on people buying his goods for his survival.”

  “He doesn’t work another job?”

  Priscilla could tell how sheltered he was and how much he didn’t understand about the world outside of the manor.

  “No, My Lord.”

  “He should find another job,” Lord Seton said with a nod. “Then he wouldn’t have to worry about getting food or shelter or even selling his goods.”

  Priscilla smiled as she noted the Lord’s innocence.

  “Yes, My Lord. That would be a good solution. Unfortunately, people are not very keen on hiring people who have worked as peddlers. They have a reputation of being dishonest and many of them are criminals.”

  Priscilla could see Lord Seton try to process this.

  “You are very lucky that you don’t have to worry about this, thanks to your birthright,” she explained with a smile. “Are you ready to move on?”

  Chapter 10

  “Your Grace. You asked me to inform you when Lord Seton and Miss Ainsley returned. They are now safely inside of the manor.”

  “Wonderful,” Oliver said to Wright, as he glanced up at the clock. “There is still a bit of time before I must dress for dinner. Would you ask them to come here? I would like to hear about their day.”

  “Of course, Your Grace.”

  Oliver began to neaten up his pile of paperwork, feeling relieved that his workday was almost complete. He had a full picture now of how the distillery was fairing, and admittedly, it wasn’t great. He had a lot of work to do to get back on track, and he would have to spend even more time focused on it. So for tonight at least, he was going to relax.

  There was a knock on the door, and Wright walked back in.

  “Your Grace,” he said, holding the door open for Jamie and Miss Ainsley. “Lord Seton and Miss Ainsley here to see you.”

  “Thank you, Wright,” Oliver said, as he stood up from his desk. He motioned to the table in the center of the office. “Please, Miss Ainsley, Jamie, sit.”

  Oliver watched as Miss Ainsley chose the chair directly in front of his, and he felt a twinge of excitement in his pants as he watched the fabric of her gown strain across the curves of her hips and backside.

  Oliver smiled, trying to ignore the physical reaction to seeing Miss Ainsley, and he walked around the table and sat across from them.

  “How was town?” he asked, looking at Jamie.

  “It was fun, Father,” Jamie said. Oliver noticed that he was smiling and thought that perhaps he waited too long to expose his son to life outside of the manor.

  “Did you learn anything? Did you get lessons?”

  “I did, Father,” Jamie replied, the smile still evident on his face. “Miss Ainsley took me into a shop, we purchased sweets from a sweet shop, and we saw horses getting new shoes.”

  “That sounds great, Jamie. I’m glad that you were able to see those things. Would you like to go again? Perhaps we could plan another visit.”

  “Oh yes, Father!” Jamie said excitedly, sitting straight up in his chair. “I was a bit scared when we first arrived because of the peddler, but the rest of our time was brilliant.”

  Oliver narrowed his eyes and looked at Miss Ainsley. “The peddler?”

  “Yes, Your Grace,” she replied, lowering her head a bit. “There was a peddler who got a bit upset that we didn’t want to buy any of his wares.”

  “I see,” Oliver turned to Jamie. “Don’t ever buy anything from a peddler. Their goods are cheap and poorly made.”

  “Yes, Father, Miss Ainsley said that he couldn’t get any other work, so he was angry that we wouldn’t give him money for shelter or food…or a bath. He didn’t smell very nice.” Jamie wrinkled up his nose.

  Oliver smiled, glanced at Miss Ainsley, and then back to Jamie. “Miss Ainsley is correct, Jamie. Peddlers are peddlers for a reason.”

  Jamie looked a little confused, but then said, “Maybe if he could get a different job, he could do better.”

  “No, Jamie,” Oliver said, shaking his head. “No one would hire a peddler…at least anyone who cares about their business.”

  Jamie’s head fell and his smile disappeared. “I don’t know why,” he said.

  “Because peddlers are cheats and thieves. Someday, when you own the distillery, you will see how important it is to have a staff who you can trust and rely on.”

  Jamie just nodded.

  Oliver turned to Miss Ainsley. “Thank you, Miss Ainsley, for accompanying Jamie to town. I’m sure that you taught him a lot.”

  She nodded and smiled at him, and his heart skipped a beat when she blinked slowly. “I did try, Your Grace. I showed him several things, both practical and fun things. Even during our visit to the sweet shop, there were opportunities for learning.”

  “And he behaved?”

  “Oh yes, Your Grace,” she replied, with a broad smile a
nd a quick glance at Jamie. “He was on his best behavior.”

  “Wonderful. I appreciate you doing that,” Oliver said, and then he looked at Jamie, and then back to Miss Ainsley. “I’m happy you both had a good day, and now I will dismiss you. I need to do a few more things before dinner.”

  * * *

  Priscilla returned to her quarters, thinking about the day that she had with Lord Seton. He had been well-behaved all day, and she was happy with the experience. Tomorrow, they would have to get back to their regular lessons, but she felt as if they had gotten closer, which is exactly what she wanted.

  She sat down at the desk in order to begin to prepare something for the next day’s lessons, and she noticed the letter, which had come to her the day before. She had completely forgotten about it.

  Priscilla pulled it towards her, and again, she examined the outside of the letter. There was no crest, and she wondered who might be sending her a letter. She slipped her finger under the flap and unfolded the paper. There were only a few words on the page, but she immediately recognized the handwriting: “I should have received some information by now,” the note said.

  She swallowed hard, folded the letter back up, and then slipped it into one of the drawers in the desk.

  * * *

  “My Lord,” Miss Slade said, as she began undressing him. “I have been waiting for hours to hear how your trip to town was!”

  Jamie smiled at her. “It was so fun, Miss Slade. Miss Ainsley taught me a lot, and she bought me some sweets to eat.”

  “Oh, that sounds wonderful,” Miss Slade began choosing clothes for him from the wardrobe. “I didn’t know if you would like it, or not.”

  “I did. Though I was nervous about it.”

  “That’s normal, I would say,” Miss Slade replied, bringing a jacket over to him and hanging it up on the mirror. “I’m sure it was quite the adventure, though.”

  “Yes,” Jamie said, holding his arms up so she could pull his shirt on. “An old peddler got mad at us, though. We didn’t buy anything from his cart. Then a man came and called him names.”

  “Well, that wasn’t very nice. It’s not nice to call someone names, and you shouldn’t be speaking like that, My Lord.”

  “Oh, I didn’t know that they were bad names.”

  “Well, I would say they are names that certain people call others who are less fortunate. Not every peddler is a thief or cheat.”

  “Hmm…My father just called them thieves, too.”

  He watched Miss Slade smirk. “No disrespect to His Grace, of course, but he wouldn’t understand the life of a peddler. As part of raising you, I am happy that you had the experience of interacting with one. Perhaps it will make you a more informed member of the upper class.”

  Jamie thought about this for a moment. “Why don’t people like people of a lower class?”

  Miss Slade shrugged her shoulders, and then said, “It’s not that they don’t like them, My Lord. They are just two separate groups of people. Peddlers, however, are generally not liked for some reason, no matter what class you are in. It’s true that there are some that have been known to steal or cheat, but if you ask me, it’s because they are desperate. We don’t know what it’s like to not have food every day, and we don’t know what it’s like to not have a roof over our heads. What would you do if you hadn’t eaten in days or had to sit outdoors in the cold rain with no shelter?”

  Jamie stared at himself in the mirror as Miss Slade pulled his jacket up over his shoulders. He didn’t know what he would do. He didn’t even realize that there were people out there who were in such dire straits. He turned and looked at Miss Slade and said, “I would be sad.”

  * * *

  “Lord Seton, welcome.” Priscilla said, as she opened the door to let her young pupil in. She could immediately tell that he was struggling with something this morning. His face had a worried expression on it, and his eyes didn’t have the shining light that they normally did. He immediately walked over to the table and sat without saying anything to her.

  “Lord Seton?” Priscilla said, as she walked over to the table and sat down opposite him. “You seem a bit down.”

  He continued to look at the table, moving his fingers around it as if he were drawing. “Do you want to talk about it?” she asked in a gentle tone.

  To her surprise, Lord Seton nodded. “I think my father is mad at me. And at you,” he said, continuing to keep his head down and trace shapes with his finger. “He got stern with me at breakfast.”

  “Oh?” Priscilla said with wonder. She couldn’t think of anything she could have done to anger the Duke. “Why would he be stern with you?”

  “Because I asked him to hire the peddler we saw in town. He needs a job, and I overheard my father say that he needs reliable staff. I thought it would be perfect.”

  “And your father didn’t like that?”

  “No, he didn’t,” Lord Seton finally looked up at Priscilla. “He said that men like the peddler are from the dregs of society, and no self-respecting man would do that type of work. He also said that they cannot be trusted, and that they would steal from him as soon as they had a chance.”

  Priscilla was a bit surprised to hear this, at first, but then she thought about it for a moment. The Duke had been raised in this home, just like Jamie was being raised, and he would likely never have had the opportunity to interact with and mingle with those who were of the lower classes. There was also the fact that she knew he could be a bit cold and callous.

  “And where do I come into this, Lord Seton?” Priscilla asked, as she sat back in her chair.

  “He blames you for putting the idea into my head.” Lord Seton’s gaze fell once again, as if he couldn’t bear to look her in the eyes.

  “I did no such thing, My Lord,” Priscilla said, suddenly feeling a bit defensive.

  “I know that, Miss Ainsley. I tried to tell him that, but he just got angrier. He has forbidden us from going to town again.”

  Priscilla shook her head. This was certainly a problem, and it could definitely affect her employment here. At the same time, she didn’t want Lord Seton to begin to see the world like his father did.

  “My Lord,” she said with a bit of apprehension. “I know I told you that I grew up in town, but I didn’t grow up, for the most part, in a home. Instead, I was an orphan. I lived part of my life in an orphanage, and then I lived on the streets…probably just like those peddlers and others.”

  “You did?” Lord Seton looked up at her with wide eyes. “But you don’t look like someone from the streets.”

  Priscilla laughed. “What does one from the streets look like, My Lord?”

  She watched as he scrunched his face up in thought. “I don’t know…Dirty? Unkempt?”

  Priscilla nodded. “Yes, My Lord. At that time, I was dirty and unkempt. When you live on the streets there is no place for a bath, unless you find a kind person willing to give you their old bath water, or you can walk to a stream. That’s why the peddler had that odor. He hadn’t bathed in several days, I would say. Maybe even a week.”

  Lord Seton still looked at her with large eyes and a look of disbelief. “Where did you sleep though?”

  “Wherever I could,” Priscilla admitted, trembling slightly as these memories came rushing back to her. “One of my favorite places to sleep was next to a stable for horses. The owner kept a lot of fresh hay there to feed the horses, so I could find a soft bed. Sometimes, though, he hadn’t refilled the supply, so it was only hard ground. Eventually, he figured out that I was sleeping there, so he stopped storing the hay there.”

  “He wouldn’t even give you a place to sleep?” Lord Seton asked with his mouth agape.

  “No, My Lord. Like most people, he saw me to be dirty and didn’t want me to grime up his horses’ food.”

  “But, how did you go from that to…this?”

  Priscilla chuckled. “It wasn’t easy, but eventually a kind man helped me, educated me, and gave me shelter.”
>
  “The good thing about this is that I learned how to survive, and I learned a few tricks along the way…including a few good pranks. Perhaps I could teach you a bit?”

  He smiled widely. “Yes, please!”

  “Then that’s settled,” she said with a clap of her hands. “Now, let’s start your lessons.

  * * *

  Oliver once again found himself in his office shaking his head. He was still brooding over the fact that Jamie wanted him to hire a peddler to work for him in the distillery.