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

by Olivia Bennet

  Oliver pulled on the reins and the horse slowed as they started passing the first few buildings and homes. His head and neck swiveled as he looked back and forth for any sign of Priscilla.

  Most of the establishments they passed were already closed up for the night, and in the homes, only small spots of light were seen. Ahead, Oliver noticed a group of several men approaching people as they passed. He slowed his horse to a stop and turned to his men.

  “What do you think those men are up to?”

  “I don’t know, Your Grace. It looks like they might be selling something. Do you think they are peddlers?”

  “I don’t see any carts, but perhaps. Let’s go investigate.”

  Oliver led his men towards the group, and one of them began walking towards them.

  “Good evening, gentlemen,” he said. “We are searching for my employer’s poor, ill sister. She needs her medication tonight or she could get very sick. Her name is Miss Priscilla Ainsley. Have you seen her?”

  Oliver’s heart dropped. Obviously, these men were employed by Lord Kenley, but they hadn’t found Priscilla yet. Oliver shot a look at his men, and then turned back to the man.

  “I’m sorry, but we have just arrived in town. You are the first person we have encountered.”

  “That’s too bad. She’s very ill. If you see her or come across her, could you please bring her back to us? She might refuse to come because her brain is addled, thanks to a childhood injury. But, please bring her anyway…by force if you must. It’s so very important that she is reunited with her family who care so much for her.”

  Oliver could feel the anger rising in him, but he kept it just below the surface.

  “Indeed. If we see her, we will bring her right to you…even if by force.”

  He kicked his horse and it started moving again. As soon as they were out of earshot of the men, Oliver turned to his companions.

  “If she knows they are looking for her, and I hope she does, she won’t have stayed on the main roads. If she’s out there, I think she would be walking down dark alleyways, so as we ride, let’s pay special attention to those areas.”

  The trio continued slowly riding down the street, and Oliver paid great mind to every thin woman he saw. There were not many still out on the street, and those who were had companions. Priscilla, he believed, would be alone.

  Oliver kept looking around and noticed that they were getting out of the main area. Once they got to the end of the road, there were only open fields and thick forests, which would be impossible to find her in. It would also be dangerous for her to go in there, as there was no telling what type of people could be lurking in the woods. He hoped with every ounce of his being that they found her soon.

  Suddenly, they passed an alleyway. Oliver quickly glanced down and swore that he saw a figure walking. He pulled his horse around to look again, but the figure was gone. I have to investigate.

  * * *

  Priscilla’s heart was racing. She saw a man on horseback pass way up the road, and she was terrified that he saw her. It would be just like the Baron to send men on horseback to find her.

  As soon as she saw the man pass, she flattened herself against the wall of a home. She could barely breathe. Priscilla allowed herself to slowly turn her head, and she noticed that the man and horse were now walking towards her.

  She couldn’t breathe and she couldn’t move. She had backed up as much as she could, but she knew, once he got close enough, that he would see her. If he was part of the Baron’s group, he would certainly take her to him. Priscilla was bound and determined to fight for her life.

  The man on horseback was so close that Priscilla could hear the steps the horse was taking. Within a moment, he would be right on top of her. She closed her eyes tight, preparing to be grabbed. Instead, she heard the man speak.

  “Priscilla?”

  * * *

  Oliver could feel her arms tight around his body. They were making their way through town so as to avoid running into Lord Kenley’s men.

  He hadn’t given her any chance to talk. He simply pulled her up on the horse, told her to be quiet, and one of the men took her bag. Once they were out of earshot of anyone who might know her, he would explain everything about what Jamie said. Of course, he would apologize, too.

  Oliver steered the horse down the narrow street, doing his best to avoid anyone else. As they passed one of the side streets, he saw a group of men walking. Certainly, they were part of Lord Kenley’s posse. He kicked again to make the horse move a little faster. Thankfully, they passed undetected.

  With the edge of town in sight, Oliver began to relax a bit. Once they got out of town, they could break into a run and get Priscilla safely back home. Then, he could question her, and they could talk about what had happened.

  With only a few blocks to go, another man on horseback turned from the alleyway onto the side street, directly in front of Oliver’s horse. The man turned towards him, and Oliver’s heart sank as he saw the look of surprise on the man’s face. He then started shouting.

  “She’s here! She’s here!”

  Oliver kicked the horse hard and felt Priscilla tighten her arms around his body. The horse broke into a gallop and easily passed the man, but as Oliver looked back, he could see him in pursuit.

  “Hold on tightly, Priscilla,” he yelled, hoping that they could lose him. Oliver just prayed that there were no innocent bystanders who might get trampled by the chase.

  He heard shouting behind him, and when he turned, he saw his men flanking the enemy rider, and they were doing their best to keep him at bay. Oliver just went faster. He could now see the open road ahead of him, so he spurred the horse on.

  In a moment, they would be able to ride freely and lose the enemy rider, once and for all.

  Chapter 28

  Feeling Oliver’s body so close to her own was something that Priscilla had longed for over the months, but this wasn’t what she had in mind. She was holding onto him for dear life, her brown curls whipping around her head and face.

  She kept looking back to see if they had gotten away from the rider, but it was quite dark now, so she couldn’t tell. At best, sometimes she saw the outline of a man on horseback, but she didn’t know if her mind was playing tricks on her or not. All she wanted was to be safely back at home.

  Priscilla could feel Oliver’s hard muscles under his shirt, and his tense body rising and falling with every stride of the horse. She didn’t know what Oliver rescuing her meant for their relationship, but for now, she was quite relieved that it was him who found her and not one of the Baron’s men.

  The light of the moon made it less difficult to see what was up ahead, and soon she could see the familiar outline of the manor as they got closer. She didn’t know how long they had been going, nor did she care at this moment. Priscilla just held Oliver and buried her head in his back.

  Oliver now turned the horse off of the main road and onto the road that led towards the manor. She could see relief in sight now, and finally, allowed herself to relax a bit.

  * * *

  Oliver steered the horse towards the front door, where a waiting footman grabbed the reins.

  “Welcome home, Your Grace…Miss Ainsley.”

  “Thank you.”

  Oliver slid off of the horse, and then turned and gently assisted Priscilla. He kept his hand on her arm as he led her inside of the house. Wright was walking towards him.

  “Your Grace! You made it safely.”

  “Yes, Wright. Please accompany Miss Ainsley to her quarters. Give her whatever she requires in the form of food and drink. Also, post a footman outside of her door, two footmen at each door entering the house, including the kitchen delivery door, and make sure that they remain there until morning.”

  “Of course, Your Grace.”

  Oliver then turned to Priscilla. “I know it will be difficult, but sleep well, My Love. We can discuss this in the morning.” He wanted nothing more than to take her into his arms a
nd hold her there, forever.

  Priscilla sighed, and then said. “Thank you. Thank you for saving me and thank you for bringing me back here. If I could sleep anywhere tonight, it would be here, knowing that you are under the same roof.”

  Oliver knew that he wouldn’t sleep as he would be worrying about her all night, knowing that Lord Kenley was still out there and surely hell-bent on revenge, but he would go see the constable in the morning.

  “Good night, Priscilla,” he said, as he watched her follow Wright down the hall. Oliver sighed, and then began walking towards the sitting room. If he was going to be up anyway, he might as well have some whisky.

  * * *

  The morning was cool, yet bright, and Priscilla was staring out of the window in the library, which is where Wright had brought her to meet with Oliver.

  She was able to sleep for a few hours the night before, brought on, she supposed, by sheer exhaustion. Though she did feel better rested than she had the past couple of days, she knew that it would take some time before she really improved.

  Now, she was just worried about what would happen with the Baron, but Priscilla had promised herself that she would be totally honest and open with Oliver and tell him everything. She was also. worried, of course, that when she told him the story he would, once again, ask her to leave.

  Her heart jumped as he opened the door and walked in. He was smiling, but she could see the exhaustion on his face. She wondered if he had slept.

  “Good morning, Priscilla,” he said brightly. “You look rested.”

  “I am, and you?”

  “I’ll admit that I didn’t sleep as well as I had hoped, but I managed a couple of hours.”

  He sat down across from her, and quietly said, “I need to know everything.”

  “I know, and I’m going to tell you everything, starting with my childhood.”

  She watched as Oliver raised his eyebrows and then leaned back in his chair.

  “I met the Baron, Lord Kenley, when I was only ten years old. I had run away from the orphanage as they were cruel and mean there. They worked our fingers to the bone, and most days, I was so exhausted that I couldn’t even eat the gruel they served at mealtimes.”

  “That sounds awful, Priscilla. I’m so sorry you had to go through that.”

  “It’s my reality, Oliver. And it’s part of who I am. Those days were so hard that I chose to run and live on the streets because that was better than staying in the orphanage. To survive, I had to steal. I stole food, and I stole money, and one day, I came upon the Baron and his men. I made an attempt to steal money from him, but one of the men saw me, and I was caught.”

  “You really must have been desperate.”

  “I was, but I was also lucky. Instead of punishing me, the Baron saw something in me that he could use to his advantage. So, he took me in. However, his ultimate plan was to train me as a spy for him, which he did, and as I grew older and wiser, I became one of his prized spies, and he used me to do all sorts of nefarious deeds.”

  “Wait. You are telling me that you lived with Lord Kenley? And then you were a spy for him?”

  “Indeed. I was so grateful to him for many years. He took me in, educated me, trained me, and gave me anything that I needed. It was a far cry from the orphanage where I slept on a cold floor with a dirty blanket. However, the past few years he has changed. He has gotten bolder and more immoral in his deeds and schemes. I realized that I was wrong. He had never loved me as I had loved him. I worked for him out of that love and out of feeling a sense of duty to him. He only wanted the ultimate spy.”

  “And what does this have to do with Jamie and me?”

  “Well, once I realized all of this, I wanted out, but the Baron became very threatening. He finally said if I do one more job for him, I could be free. He would send me to London where I could start a new life, so I agreed. If I failed, however, he would kill me.”

  Oliver gasped and Priscilla continued.

  “I agreed, and he explained the plan to me. You had refused to sell him your distillery, which he desperately wants. So, he would get the next best thing…your family recipe. To do this, he knew that you were looking for a new governess, so it was the perfect role for me. Though I am not high born, I was educated as any lady would be. That, alone, qualified me to be a governess, and honestly, that was my plan for when I got to London…to work as a governess after this job was done. For both of us, it was almost the perfect scheme. I would get experience that I could share with a future employer, and he would have the recipe.”

  Oliver looked shocked. He shook his head and then said, “I don’t even know what to say, Priscilla.”

  She nodded, and then continued.

  “What I didn’t realize, however, is that I would begin to get close to Jamie, and ultimately start developing feelings for you. As the days and weeks went on, I saw myself as less of a spy and more of a real, true governess, and eventually, I only saw myself as a fiancée who was being forced into betraying the only gentleman she had ever loved. He threatened me through letters and gave me two choices. I could take the recipe and betray you and Jamie, or I could leave it alone and he would hurt us all.”

  “You chose to take the recipe? And that’s when I found you?”

  Priscilla nodded. “Once I knew that it was the recipe or your life, I decided to take the recipe and run. I knew where it was. I had found it months ago, but I couldn’t bear to give it to him…”

  “So, Jamie was right,” Oliver said, interrupting her.

  “What?”

  “After I found you and sent you away, Jamie came tearing into the sitting room when he heard. He said that he had been following you and that he had noticed you sneaking around. In his innocent mind, he didn’t think anything of it…he thought you were pulling pranks. He saw you find the recipe, and then put it back. We put it all together, and now you are confirming that. I thought you were going to betray me, when in fact, you were true to me and risking your own life to save my own.”

  “Yes, Oliver. That is exactly what I was doing. I hated to leave you, but I knew that the odds were good that the Baron would kill me, you, and Jamie if he didn’t get his recipe. Finally taking it and running was the best idea I could think of to ensure you and Jamie didn’t get hurt.”

  “I see. Then I think we both owe you much gratitude for that. Now, what do we do about Lord Kenley?”

  “I think it’s time to do what I should have done years ago. We need to make him take responsibility for his crimes. I have information that the constable would probably find very interesting, and I am sure that I can recruit other witnesses to come forth, too. He is deep in the underworld, he has stolen, lied, and cheated, and I have it on good faith that he doesn’t hesitate to kill when necessary.”

  “Then it’s settled,” Oliver said standing up. “Go dress yourself for town. We are going to see the constable.”

  * * *

  The trip to town was fairly uneventful. Oliver and Priscilla easily found the constable, and thanks to Oliver’s standing in the community, his accusations were never questioned. Most people knew that Lord Kenley was unsavory, at best, so the constable seemed quite happy to take the report.

  The constable and his men were on their way to arrest Lord Kenley for unlawful business practices. Knowing that Lord Kenley would have to pay for his crimes made Oliver feel better, and realizing that he would not be able to threaten nor take advantage of people, made him feel great. In fact, he was smiling as he and Priscilla rode back home in the carriage.

  “Do you feel better now, my Dear?”

  “I do, though there is a part of me that still feels as if I am betraying him in some way. For all intents and purposes, he saved my life when I was a child, and I still feel like I owe him something for that.”

  “On the contrary. I’d say you have paid back what you owed him tenfold.”

  Priscilla nodded. “I suppose you are right. I also can’t stop thinking about Lydia. This will certai
nly affect her and her future. She is really the sweetest, most kind child. Sometimes it was even hard for me to see how a gentleman like the Baron could have fathered someone so gentle and caring.”

  “Well, I certainly wouldn’t use any of those words to describe Lord Kenley. Perhaps she takes after her mother.”

  Priscilla laughed for the first time in several days. “Have you met her? She’s not the kindest lady. She and the Baron are quite perfect for each other, I would say. That’s why a sweet young lady like Lydia was always so surprising to me. You know, it was always the Baron’s intention to marry Lydia to the son of a duke.”