“I will go and practice the pianoforte now, Mummy,” Alicia said quietly, standing from her place beside her mother on the chaise-lounge.
“Very well, dear, but you are already better at the pianoforte than me!” Valeria smiled. “And you sing so well!”
“Thank you, Mummy.” Alicia grinned and stepped lightly from the room.
She could not concentrate on music or singing.
Her mind was filled with Leo. I wonder if he is as handsome as Uncle Henry? She wriggled deliciously in the chair, just thinking it. Leo, even at thirteen, had taken after his famously good-looking father. Alicia sighed. What was he doing now? She could not even imagine.
CHAPTER TWO
ESCAPE AND ESCAPADES
“Avast, there!”
Leo Grey, grinning and giddy, held his sword at fighting height. Behind him, on the harbor wall, two fiendish-looking thugs circled, ready, it seemed, to fall on him at any second.
“Whoa, there.” The man before him smiled, slowly, showing perfect teeth. It was not a pleasant smile. Taller than Leo, and dark haired, the man walked lazily forward, as if he had not seen the sword.
The docks in Hamburg smelled like the sea, like salt. Like adventures. The wind – cold and damp – blew through Leo’s hair, shirt and jerkin, chilling him and leaving the damp and cling of salt in everything. It was exhilarating.
Leo tensed, eyes narrowed, and assessed the situation. This man was dangerous. A known fighter, he had almost a decade of experience that Leo lacked.
He was right. As the man neared him, he kept his sword concealed, then, the instant he reached Leo, the steel was suddenly out. He was still smiling.
Leo danced back, lithe and fast. There was one major advantage to his German youth, and that was half a lifetime spent learning sword craft from the best teachers in the world.
“Nice one.” The man smiled unpleasantly. “But do you know this stroke?”
The steel seemed an arc of unbroken light as it slid across Leo's blade and back, aiming for his throat.
“I don't have to.” Leo grinned. “I know this.”
The steel hissed over steel, striking sparks, and the locked blades swung apart, leaving Leo's blade clear to swipe for the man's throat.
He moved the tip, neatly, carving a line through the man's sideburns, making a thin red line on his cheek.
Leo laughed, gold eyes twinkling, and danced lithely back. As he did so, he saw the man, furious and cold-eyed, nod fractionally sideways.
“Oh, hell.” Leo glanced to the side and noticed the two heavies were already moving, closing in on him. “Time to run,” he whispered, and looked wildly around him.
Before him, his assailant pressed his handkerchief to the wound on his cheek.
Beside him were the thugs – the man's bodyguards, presumably.
Behind him was the sea.
“Right!” Leo shouted. He sprinted right.
All three men closed on the spot where, a fraction of a second ago, he had been.
Where he would still have been, had the gangplank not been there.
“Ahoy!” he shouted, from the deck, kicking away the plank. The captain advanced on him angrily, then, noticing the velvet jacket and the cotton shirt, stopped, considering he must be a nobleman.
“Give my regards to your solicitor,” Leo shouted at the man on the shore, temporarily ignoring the waiting captain and sweeping a generous bow.
The man, trapped on the shore, could only stare at him in impotent rage.
“You have not heard the last of this, Leo Grey!” he shouted back. “You can try and run, but I have a long reach.”
“Much good may it do you!” Leo grinned, and turned to the captain. “Ahoy, my fine fellow!” He wiped a hand through his sweat-stiffened gold curls. “I must apologize,” he added, sweeping a courtly bow that wouldn’t have been out of place in Whitehall Palace. “I was pursued by my assailants and needed the refuge of your ship.”
“Well,” the captain began, blinking at this courtly apparition that had suddenly appeared on his ship.
“You will receive recompense,” Leo added, and grinned winningly.
“In that case...” The captain shrugged. “Welcome, my lord.”
“Thank you, Captain!” Leo grinned. “May I ask your name? I do not believe we have met before.”
“Captain Carwell, sir,” the captain said, and proffered a hand.
“Leo Grey,” Leo said grandly and took the hand in his own, shaking it vigorously. “Earl of Harwood, for what that's worth,” he added, dismissively, and grinned his trademark grin again.
“Oh,” the captain said, faintly, as if Leo had just announced that he could fly. “Welcome aboard, sir,” he added again, and swallowed hard.
“Glad to hear it!” Leo said expansively. “I really needed your ship, right then.”
Glancing back to the shore, where the man was reduced to a small figure on the quay, Leo suppressed a shudder. The captain, forgotten for the moment, retired to his cabin, shaking his head like a man with concussion.
“What am I to do?” Leo, left momentarily alone, asked himself.
The man on the shore was the Duke of Lennox. A nasty, ill-tempered man who held most of the power and wealth in his region. He was also, Leo reflected, known for his swordsmanship. The fact that Leo had just beaten him would not sit very well. The fact that he had scratched the duke would sit worse, as would the fact that Leo now had claim to a vast sum of money, won – whether fairly or unfairly, Leo grinned – at gambling with cards. The fact that the mighty Duke of Lennox was insulted and beaten, even if unfairly, would need to be avenged. If there was one thing Leo had heard about the Duke of Lennox, it was that he was a proud man. Proud, and a bad loser. What have I done?
I cannot run. I cannot hide. And now, I cannot go back home.
If he did, the duke would kill him. Leo had expected to return a little later, it was true, but he had been looking forward to it. There were so many people he wanted to see. Aunt Valeria, Uncle Ernst, their neighbors Roderick and Ada, and Cousin Alicia. He wondered how Alicia had grown up. His last memory of his cousin was of a mop of wild red hair, and wide green eyes.
It would be nice to see them all again.
“I shall go back,” Leo mused aloud, “I shall just have to disappear.”
He was young. He had not been in England for five years, since childhood. He was an earl, but he was unknown.
He would just have to go in disguise.
To be continued…
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ALSO BY JASMINE ASHFORD
The Regency Renegades Series
1. LINK: Book 1 - The Earl’s New Identity
2. LINK: Book 2 - The Lord’s Secret
3. LINK: Book 3 - Saving The Lord’s Title
The Yorkshire Downs Series
1. LINK: Book 1 - The Gentleman’s Challenge
2. LINK: Book 2 - Does The Earl Loves Me - Coming
3. LINK: Book 3 - An Earl To Remember - Coming
4. LINK: Book 4 - A Quiet Murder At The Mansion - Coming
5. LINK: Book 5 - Loving The Mysterious Lord - Coming
Acknowledgement
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Jasmine
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Publisher’s Notes
This book is copyright © 2017 by JASMINE ASHFORD & RUSHMORE HOUSE PUBLISHERS CO.
This book is a work of fiction. Any similarities to real or dead people, places, or events are not intentional and are the result of coincidence. The characters, places, and events are the product of the author’s imagination and are used fictitiously. All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the author/publisher. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.
The Gentleman’s Challenge_A Yorkshire Downs_Love, Hearts and Challenges_A Regency Romance Story Page 9
