Least Likely to Marry a Duke

by Louise Allen

  * * *

  ‘How long can we stay here?’ Verity asked after they had made love twice and were lying in a tangle of limbs.

  ‘Like this?’ Will heaved himself up on one elbow and began to toy with her left nipple, making her squeak. ‘About another ten minutes, then we will feel sweaty and sticky and I will light the fire so you have hot water to wash. Then we will eat something and come back to bed.’

  ‘That is not what I meant.’ Verity pushed his hand away, rolled over and began to play with the hair on his chest in revenge. ‘Here, on our island.’

  ‘For two days. Then the food will run out and I’ll hoist the flag on our new flagpole to summon the rowing boat.’

  ‘Can we come back whenever we want?’

  ‘Of course. Why?’

  ‘Because I intend to be a very respectable, dignified, dutiful duchess. But I want to be able to escape with you to be an absolutely disgraceful one on a regular basis.’

  ‘That sounds an excellent scheme.’ Will sounded as though he rather doubted her ability to be dignified and dutiful for very long at a time and had no objections to that. ‘I think I will love both my duchesses equally, but so far you haven’t been absolutely disgraceful.’

  ‘Have you any suggestions, Your Grace?’

  ‘I have.’ Will stood up, pulled her to her feet and led her outside.

  ‘My love, we have no clothes on.’

  ‘Darling, I cannot see as much as a sparrow to be scandalised. I think we shall have to go and shock some trout.’ He scooped her up and marched purposefully towards the beach.

  ‘Will? Will! Don’t you dare! Will—’

  The splash as they hit the lake was loud, the cold shocking, the feel of the water on her bare skin, delicious. ‘You beast,’ Verity said as she surfaced, splashing. ‘I adore you. This feels almost as good as your lovemaking.’

  ‘Nothing is as good as my lovemaking,’ Will said, diving under. He came up in front of her, lifted her. ‘Put your legs around my waist and slide down.’

  ‘Oh!’

  Perhaps the water isn’t so cold after all.

  ‘You, Verity Calthorpe, are the light of my life, the delight of my days, the wickedness of my nights and the most deliciously unsuitable duchess in England. I don’t know what I did to deserve you, but I never mean to let you go.’

  ‘And you, William Calthorpe, are the most perfect Duke in England and I love you for it.’

  Verity had a whole speech ready about how much she adored him, but he kissed her and they overbalanced and then they were far too busy showing each other how much in love they were to be able to find any words at all.

  * * *

  If you enjoyed this story

  check out these other great reads

  by Louise Allen:

  Surrender to the Marquess

  Marrying His Cinderella Countess

  The Earl’s Practical Marriage

  A Lady in Need of an Heir

  Keep reading for an excerpt from The Disgraceful Lord Gray by Virginia Heath.

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  The Disgraceful Lord Gray

  by Virginia Heath

  Chapter One

  July 1820

  There was no doubt about it. Lord Fennimore was going to have his guts for garters. Especially after the unfortunate shredded underwear incident of last night. The commander of the King’s Elite had no discernible sense of humour which didn’t bode well for Gray’s newly discovered, but no less coveted ambition.

  ‘Trefor! Give it back. Now!’

  There was no point in chasing him. The blasted dog saw everything as a game and had been in a state of playful overexcitement ever since they arrived in Suffolk yesterday—and who could blame him, really? Aside from a few brief weeks after his birth, Trefor had always been a city dog. If one ignored Hyde Park and St James’s, vast open spaces of green were completely alien to him. But the green here was never ending, filled with flat fields to dash across, abundant trees to relieve himself against and sticks aplenty to chase with impunity. Doggy paradise. And Gray’s mischievous mutt seemed determined to reach this strange, alluring new horizon at lightning speed with curmudgeonly old Fennimore’s slipper clamped firmly between his jaws.

  To tease Gray, the dog dropped the stolen booty at the boundary to their rented property and eyed him mischievously, his powerful tail wagging nineteen to the dozen, his floppy ears pricked and his enormous pink tongue lolling out of one side of his mouth like a juicy slice of ham.

  Gray examined his cuffs, looked at the sky, some trees, anything but his dratted hound while he slowly edged his way forward, hoping to convince the animal he wasn’t fixated on his superior’s now slobbery shoe at all. Mere inches away he lunged like a panther, only to growl as the dog snatched up the blasted slipper again before he could reach it and raced towards the tree-lined horizon once more.

  ‘Trefor!’

  This time Gray did give chase, not only because of his dour superior’s footwear, or because the animal had disappeared into a small wooded copse, but because a couple of sheep had also appeared in the distance and his dog had even less experience of sheep than he did wide open spaces. He needed to make a good first impression on the Viscount Gislingham. He needed to befriend him. Ingratiate himself. Be the perfect neighbour and work his way into his small, intimate social circle. More than anything, he needed to impress Lord Fennimore if he was ever going to stand a cat in hell’s chance of getting that coveted promotion. Something unlikely to happen if his out-of-control canine injured one of the flock and the Viscount banned him from entering the grounds; the mission shot in the paddock before it had even started.

  Not that Trefor was violent; he was a licker, not a biter. He adored everyone and everything and loved them enthusiastically. Something the dim-witted sheep would not know as he came bounding towards them intent on saying hello. Why had he insisted on bringing his dog along? All his lofty claims that a proper country gentleman would have at least one loyal hound at his side seemed to be doomed to be ruined by the said hound from the outset because, while Trefor was exceedingly loyal, he was also completely untrainable.

  The dog failed to materialise out of the clump of trees, their trunks so densely packed Gray had to skirt around them before he encountered the unexpected steep bank of a deep yet narrow stretch of water which cut through the flat pasture.

  Marvellous.

  There had to be water.

  Tre
for’s absolute favourite thing in the world bar footwear, sticks, balls and sausages. There was no point hoping he hadn’t found it or wasn’t fully immersed in it. Some things were as inevitable as day following night or another carpeting from his furious superior about his unruly, destructive pet mere hours since the last. This morning, more than Lord Fennimore’s slipper would be going home soggy—not that Gray blamed Trefor for that either. The summer sun was already blazing in the sky and it was only eight o’clock.

  Last night, thanks to the sticky heat, the huge weight of the new responsibility on his shoulders, his overwhelming desire to show old Fennimore that he was exactly the right man for the job and the strange bed, he had slept so fitfully he would have dunked himself in this convenient stream in the small hours had he known of its existence. Because of his unexpected morning sprint, the cold wash he had revelled in a scant few minutes ago in his new bedchamber was now wasted and his meticulously ironed shirt was clinging to his hot skin in a manner no gentleman would allow to be seen in public.

  Not that he was much of a gentleman. Not any more at any rate, although that was all of his own making so there was no point being angry about it. He was over it now. Nearly a decade after his life had imploded, he was actually rather philosophical about the experience. Life was too short for regrets, especially when he had racked up so many.

  Gray had come a long way since those dark days of his youth. He shared little in common with the reckless, needy adolescent he had been that fateful summer. Or the aristocratic brother he hadn’t seen since his heart had been ripped in two by betrayal. Betrayal that had come courtesy of the cold, unfeeling father who had instigated it behind Gray’s back and the woman who hadn’t truly loved him at all. Nor did he have any regrets about what might have been. The wife and immature, romantic and ultimately futile dreams of the future he had once believed should have been his now rarely crossed his mind. It was what it was. Done and dusted. And fate had sent him hurtling down a very different path, one he was pleasantly surprised had led to adventure instead of matrimony.

  He was now older, much wiser and was clearly what he had been born to be. A spy tasked with bringing the enemies of the Crown to justice. A man who had seen and done more than most. Experiences that had made him hardy, resourceful and tenacious. Aside from having his childish heart shredded and creating the mother of all scandals, he’d had an interesting life since. Travelled the world. Seen and done some amazing things, met a variety of fascinating people, both eminently good and outrageously bad. Temporarily dallied with considerably more women than the single one he had originally pledged to spend eternity with, and he now worked for His Majesty’s government instead. How many of his former peers could say that?

  If he, or his incorrigible mutt, didn’t make a total hash of this mission, soon Gray would also command the Invisibles—the highly trained, most covert and most important branch of the King’s Elite—answerable only to Lord Fennimore, the Home Secretary and the King in that order. Not bad going for a man disowned by his family for losing his entire fortune in the gaming hells at the tender age of twenty-one. He had craved adventure and entertainment far more than he wanted to conform.

  Still did, truth be told. Ten hard years and a brutal betrayal still hadn’t managed to dampen his mischievous zest for life or his tendency to live entirely in the moment. Life was too short to ponder what might have been. If it was meant to be, it would have happened. It was as simple as that. There was no point lamenting the fickle finger of fate or wasting time being angry or crippled by remorse. Better to live his life much like Trefor did. Enjoy the here and now, forget the past which couldn’t be changed and let tomorrow sort itself out.

  Gray craned his ears until he heard joyous splashing and the dog’s trademark swimming grunt. A cross between a cough and snort, muffled slightly no doubt by the obstruction of the stolen slipper betwixt his teeth. Gray tracked it several yards along the bank, then stood and glared at the animal deliriously paddling in a happy circle below.

  ‘Well, I’m in for another blistering lecture thanks to you. Were the old man’s drawers not enough? I thought he would have an apoplexy when you shredded them, but at least he brought spares. I’m fairly certain he only brought one pair of slippers.’ He put his hands on his hips and channelled the disappointed expression his father had always worn when addressing him. It felt odd on his face. ‘I hope you are proud of yourself, young man?’

  Judging by the joyful wag of Trefor’s fierce whip of a tail in the water, he was. Happy and proud and gloriously cool. It took around five seconds to decide not to attempt to drag the dog out. The slipper was ruined. Beyond hope. Lord Fennimore’s lecture was now unavoidable, yet the day was young, the spot secluded and the water enticing. A nice, refreshing swim would certainly take the sting out of the tongue lashing and it would be a terrible shame to waste the opportunity. Especially when the hopelessly wayward part of his character still couldn’t resist the seductive lure of the moment even now.

  His dog saw the indecision and swiftly dropped the slipper as he climbed up the bank. It took approximately three seconds of foraging in the undergrowth before Trefor found a suitable stick, then he sat like a good boy and gazed at his master winsomely, the invitation to play clear in those manipulative, soulful dark brown eyes. As resistance was futile, and before he did anything remotely sensible like reconsider, Gray tugged off his shiny new boots, stripped off his newly tailored aristocratic clothes and waded happily into the water.

  * * *

  ‘We should probably find a little shade to set up your easel.’ Thea gazed up at the clear blue sky and the unobstructed sun and frowned. Much as she loved the sunshine, it didn’t love her. Pale, sensitive skin was the redhead’s curse. Any more than twenty minutes’ exposure and she was guaranteed to look like a beetroot for days.

  Harriet rolled her eyes dramatically, greatly put upon despite dragging Thea out of bed at the crack of dawn to chat to her while she attempted to paint. Watercolours were Harriet’s new hobby and, like all her hobbies, destined to be abandoned because nothing truly held her wandering interest for long. ‘You wouldn’t burn if you’d wear a bonnet.’ Not that she was wearing one either, or a lace cap—when everyone expected mature widows of good breeding to wear one of those at all times.

  ‘You know a hat in this heat will only make my head hot and then my dratted hair will turn into a big ball of frizz.’ Thea began to stride towards the trees, knowing her companion wouldn’t really begrudge her some shade as long as she kept her company. They were an odd partnership, separated by thirty years in age yet the very best of friends as well as neighbours. Probably because Harriet was basically naughty and devil-may-care by nature and didn’t give two figs about it, while Thea feared she was exactly the same, but worked hard to control it. A classic case of opposites attracting. Or birds of a feather flocking together. Living within spitting distance, and in the absence of any other local ladies who held either of their interests long, they had formed an unlikely bond shortly after her friend had been widowed.

  ‘Aunt Caro has invited half the county for tea this afternoon and for once I’d like to look a little less of a disaster than usual.’ Although the humidity was already playing havoc with her coiffure. Despite all the pins and plaits her maid had used to tame it this morning, Thea could still feel a great many of the unruly strands making a determined break for freedom from their tight shackles and twisting themselves into their preferred upright corkscrew shape.

  She castigated the Almighty daily for saddling her with vertical, twirling, wayward hair. While she rather liked the colour—the red was unique and gave her a touch of dash as well as giving her the excuse not to wear the insipid pastels other unmarried girls had to wear—the unpredictable curls were a menace. When all the other young ladies had artful, bouncing ringlets framing their face, Thea wore a veritable halo of fluff.

  ‘Will a certain Mr Hargreaves be there?’r />
  ‘Lord, I hope not! The man is such a dreadful bore.’ And an obvious fortune hunter who Thea suspected was one of her aunt’s cast-offs, not that she would ever admit such a thing even to Harriet. Her suspicions about her aunt’s infidelities were hers alone and, no matter how many times her friend pumped her for gossip, she kept her counsel. While she loved her uncle to distraction, he wasn’t a particularly good husband and had neglected his fragile second wife abominably over the years. At times his tone towards Aunt Caro was overly antagonistic and bitter, and if he was in the mood to be ornery with her then it was uncomfortable to watch. Poor Caro, in turn, had sought comfort elsewhere over the years and, although Thea didn’t condone it, she tried not to judge. Theirs was the unhappiest of marriages and a stark warning of what could happen if you settled for the wrong person.

  Mr Hargreaves was one of several who might have warmed her aunt’s bed on her frequent forays out. The pair shared far too many knowing looks when they assumed nobody was watching them. ‘All he talks about are his superior connections—as if the fact he knows Lord and Lady So-and-So should impress me.’

  ‘He’s handsome though. If one has to be bound to a man for all eternity, it’s best he is easy on the eye. I insisted upon that when I had to marry. Crudge, God rest him, was exceptionally easy on the eye and liked to ride. Such pursuits do wonders for a gentleman’s buttocks. In my humble opinion, there is nothing better than a pert pair of cheeks encased in tight buckskin.’ Her incorrigible older friend had a wicked glint in her eye. ‘Did I ever tell you I seduced him first?’

  ‘Repeatedly.’ And in intriguing detail. Practically all of Thea’s knowledge of procreation came from Harriet’s detailed confessions.

  ‘I was already falling in love with him, was certainly in lust with him, and saw no point in beating around the bush with a long and protracted courtship. Obviously, it all turned out for the best. We married in haste and got to enjoy seeing each other naked a great many more times than we would have done had we adhered to the fashion for protracted courtships.’ She sighed again. ‘And, by Jove, did that man look good naked... Mr Hargreaves has a pleasant posterior. Or at least I think he has. I haven’t managed a thorough scrutiny yet to be completely sure, but I did catch a hint of a glimpse at last month’s hunting party. Decent thighs—which usually are a good sign. They suggest a certain robustness. Although, in truth, I want more for you than him. I want you to have some adventure and excitement first. Your life is far too predictable and regimented for one so young. It’s a crying shame...wait... Is that a dog barking?’