Regency for all Seasons: A Regency Romance Collection

by Mary Lancaster

  The duke’s hand gripped the head of his walking stick as if it were a claw, his arm trembling. “I do not intend to remain long.”

  “You will remain as long as I require you to remain,” he said softly, but with enough dark determination for the hardness within him to show.

  “Why have you lured me here with the promise of your aid in getting my vowels returned to me?” he bit out.

  “Because I alone can assist you with such a feat.” Duncan took a sip of his whisky, savoring its familiar burn. Not as hedonistic as chocolate, but it would suffice. “I am in possession of all your I.O.U.s, Your Grace. A tidy fortune, too.”

  “Westlake,” the duke growled with such virulence he broke into a cough. The fit had him doubling over, his whisky sloshing over his hand. “He would never betray me by selling them to you.”

  “Ah, but I’m afraid he did.” Duncan walked calmly to his desk, unlocking the drawer and box where he kept all things of value in the club. He produced the neat stack of vowels in question. A staggering sum, all told, not just a tidy fortune as he had indicated. And it was all his for the taking.

  But he had found the one thing in life worth more to him than his club, the money he amassed, the power he wielded, and the revenge he could inflict upon the man he would forever blame for his mother’s death. And it was the woman he loved. For her, he would surrender anything. Everything.

  “Would you beggar me now, Kirkwood?” the man who had fathered him demanded.

  Duncan considered him, amazed at love’s capacity to heal. He did not feel the angry sting of rancor in his chest when he looked upon the duke now. If anything, he pitied the man. He had squandered his fortune and his health, turned his back on a woman and child who were his responsibility, and his only legitimate offspring liked to force himself upon the powerless.

  “Tell me something. Did you rape my mother, or is ravishment a crime only your son the earl aspires to?”

  “How dare you malign Lord Willingham?” the duke spat. “Your mother was a whore who spread her legs for half of London. You could have been anyone’s son.”

  Duncan stalked toward him. “You will apologize for insulting my mother.”

  “I don’t care if you call in all my debts, you insolent puppy,” the duke blustered. “I’ll not apologize for speaking truth. Nor will I claim you as mine. I have one son only. If you think I shall change my mind and acknowledge you, you are deadly wrong. I will lose everything I have first.”

  He smiled without mirth. He had dreamt of this meeting, and he had always known how it would proceed. A man who had turned away a begging child would not become a saint as he aged.

  “I want you to know one thing, Amberley.” He moved closer, crowding the old man with his larger, more muscled frame. “My mother was a good woman, forced by the ways of the world to earn her bread at the mercy of men like you. She died the same way, some fancy cove’s hands around her throat, squeezing the life from her. Her death is on your soul, and you will answer for it, one way or another.”

  “Is that what this is about?” the duke’s lip curled into a sneer. “What would you have me do, Kirkwood? Kiss her tombstone to make amends? The world had one less whore on the day she died, and that is the truth. If she had lived, she would have made more like you—vile, greedy, insolent curs attempting to raise themselves from the gutter by any means. Name your price for my vowels, and you shall have it.”

  “My price has just increased, I am afraid.” He tossed back the contents of his whisky and stalked away before he did something foolish, like slamming his fist into the duke’s face. “First, I demand an apology for the manner in which you spoke of my mother just now. Second, I demand Lord Willingham cry off his betrothal to Lady Frederica Isling.”

  There was another price, but he would extract that directly from Willingham himself. With pleasure.

  The duke’s eyes narrowed. “What else?”

  “I want Willingham to cry off the betrothal today. Within the next hour.” The sooner the goddamn better. Every minute Frederica was promised to Willingham was like a blade in his gut. Waiting to make his move until Cris’s ball had nearly killed him, but he had known it was the best way to reach her. And he would gladly wait an eternity for the chance to call her his. “Carry out these requirements, and I will return all your vowels to you, unencumbered. Your debts will be canceled, and you will be saved from ruin.”

  Amberley raised his glass to his lips at last, gulping the contents with practiced ease. “And if I do not?”

  “I will call in all your debts immediately, of course. You will be beggared.” He smiled again, and this time it was with true elation, the unparalleled jauntiness of knowing he had bested his foe. “It may also interest you to know that I have recently acquired a press. One of my ladies here intends to write her memoirs, with a special section dedicated to the cruelty of one Lord W., and a great deal of details, all of which would prove quite shocking and damning to gentle society. I will be more than happy to publish this volume and see it distributed heavily throughout London.”

  He had bought the press, it was true, but he had bought it for Frederica. A little bluffing never did a gambler wrong, however.

  The duke paled.

  It was all the proof Duncan needed that the elder man was aware of his other son’s proclivities. His gut tightened. To think Frederica would have been gifted to such a monster…it made him want to rage and rend.

  “Will I need to take such drastic measures, Your Grace?” he prodded, for he needed his answer. And he needed it now. He had to have the promise Frederica would be freed. That she would be his.

  “No,” spat the duke, flinging his empty glass to the carpet. It landed with a hollow thud but did not break. “I shall do as you demand, and I shall also see to it that Willingham does as well. But first, I will have your written acknowledgment of the exchange.”

  Duncan strode to his desk and put his quill to foolscap, scratching out the agreement and signing his name with a flourish. Before it had even dried, he offered it to Amberley. “Yours, Your Grace.”

  The duke took it in his gnarled fingers, but Duncan held firm. “Oh, dear me. There is one more stipulation I neglected to mention.” This one was for his own benefit, purely and simply. For his mother’s, too. “I require you to sink to your knees and kiss my shoes.”

  “Never!” came the outraged bellow, almost instantly.

  Duncan was not surprised. The desire to see the duke so humbled before him was strong. He made a motion as if to tear the paper. “Very well, Your Grace. If you wish—”

  “No, damn you,” the duke bit out, cutting him off. “I will do it.”

  Duncan nodded. “You may proceed.”

  And as he watched, the Duke of Amberley lowered to his knees and kissed the tip of first his left, then his right shoe. That was for you, Mother. Unmoved, he watched as Amberley rose once more, slowly, grimacing, obviously in pain. His heart was unmoved, so, too, his pity.

  Lady Frederica, however, is for me. All for me.

  He relinquished the foolscap to the duke.

  “Within the hour,” he repeated coolly as the man who had sired him—the man who would never acknowledge him—retreated from his office. Time had changed them both, and circumstances had been reversed. But in that moment, the only joy he could cling to was the realization that Frederica would soon be free.

  Chapter Eighteen

  The Earl of Willingham handed Frederica into his curricle, seating himself beside her. The day had dawned cool and gray, a slight mist descending with occasional persistence. Not the sort of weather for a drive, it was true.

  She settled her skirts into place, wishing herself anywhere but where she was. What a grim, unwanted situation. Had it been only yesterday that she had been back in Duncan’s arms, his mouth on hers, his body pinning her to the wall, his fingers working their magic upon her, bringing her to shuddering submission?

  His words returned to her as she watched Willingham sli
de into his seat, taking up the reins.

  I will take care of you from this moment forward, angel. I promise you.

  I have a plan. Do you trust me?

  She had. Lord help her, she had trusted Duncan Kirkwood once again without having one reason for doing so. But his promises seemed dreadfully far away by the light of day, with her unwanted betrothed at her side.

  How could she free herself from this untenable mess? Moreover, how could he?

  “You are looking well rested, my lady,” the earl said, an undercurrent she could not quite define sharpening his tone.

  “Thank you,” she said.

  In truth, she had scarcely slept, tossing and turning amidst thoughts of Duncan. His reappearance in her life had been unexpected. Incredible, wonderful, all she had wished for, but frightening just the same. He owned her heart, but he had betrayed her and turned his back on her before. What would stop him from doing so again?

  “My lady?” the earl prompted, his tone piercing her musing with his vehemence. It was a jolt to her senses. Unwanted. Jarring.

  “Forgive me, I was woolgathering.”

  Anger creased his expression as he took up the reins and set them into motion. “From this moment forward, you will listen to me when I speak, my lady. As your husband, I demand both your attention and your obedience, along with your loyalty.”

  She inhaled slowly. Her obedience. Marrying this man was insupportable. “I am not a child, my lord. You need not speak to me as if I am one.”

  I will take care of you from this moment forward, angel.

  She thought of Duncan’s words once more. But where was he? And why was she once again suffering the attentions of the earl? They were running out of time. In less than a fortnight, she would become the Countess of Willingham.

  “Women are simple-minded as children,” he said coldly. “And when you are disobedient, you will be punished like one. Is there anything you wish to tell me, Lady Frederica?”

  A cold tendril of fear unleashed itself within her. “What are you implying, my lord?”

  “That I saw my betrothed in the company of another man at the Whitley ball last night.” His tone vibrated with anger. “Oddly enough, that same scurrilous mongrel has demanded I break our betrothal. You would not know anything of such distressing matters, would you?”

  Dawning realization turned the fear to horror. They were not heading in the direction of the park. She had been too distracted by her thoughts to notice. Where did he intend to take her?

  She had to be brazen to convince him to abandon whatever evil he had plotted. “I know nothing of anything you have just said, my lord,” she lied with a calm she did not feel. “If you wish to break our betrothal yourself, you need only say as much. It is not necessary to suggest someone has forced you to do it.”

  “Do not lie,” he barked, slanting her a look so rife with fury it bordered on maniacal.

  There was the face of the man who enjoyed inflicting pain. Who found pleasure in violence. Her mouth went dry, but she forced herself to continue their conversation. Perhaps if she could distract him…strike him over the head and take the reins…scream…leap from the curricle before they reached their destination…

  “I-I am not lying, my lord,” she said. “Please, I beg of you, return me to my home. I am feeling unwell.”

  “You will be begging soon, Lady Frederica,” he warned, his voice dark and menacing, sending a chill straight through her. “On your knees.”

  Desperation made her act, attempting to scramble from her seat. Before she could manage to open the curricle door, however, a hand fisted in her hair, hauling her back in a tight hold so painful her hair felt as if it were being ripped from the root.

  “You cannot escape,” he growled. “I saw the two of you leave the same chamber separately. Did you truly think no one would notice your absence? That no one would question where you had gone?”

  He must have followed her at a discreet distance, hiding out of view. She had been so shaken in the aftermath of Duncan’s fierce passion that she would not have noticed the sun had it suddenly dropped at her feet.

  “I was repairing a stain on my gown with the help of the Duchess of Whitley,” she insisted.

  “Liar,” he charged, yanking on her hair. “You were allowing him to put his dirty, swindling peasant hands upon you, and I will make you pay for it. You belong to me. I will take great pleasure in knowing I have taken what he wants. I will so ill use you that he will never be capable of even looking upon you afterwards. You will be so thoroughly ruined your father will have no choice but to sanction our nuptials, and then you will spend the rest of your days regretting the night you played the whore for a worthless bastard like Kirkwood.”

  “No,” she cried out, held captive by her hair as they drove down an alleyway, slipping into a part of town that was unfamiliar to her. “Please, my lord. You must release me. You cannot abuse the daughter of the Duke of Westlake and think to escape punishment.”

  “Your father is so desperate to be rid of your unwanted burden that he all but begged me to marry you. When I tell him what I have done to you, he will have no choice but to ensure our wedding continues as planned.” His lips grazed her ear. “I will put a babe in you today, my lady.”

  His tongue on her ear made her want to retch. She jerked away, but his grip on her hair would not relent, and the force of her attempt at escape sent a hot rush of tears to her eyes. “Do not do this, Lord Willingham,” she begged. “Release me or I shall scream.”

  He continued to navigate the curricle one-handedly, releasing a bitter chuckle. “Do not try anything clever, my lady. I have a pistol in my pocket, and I am not afraid to use it upon you if I must. Moreover, we are fast heading into a place where no one would care if I bent you over and ravaged you on this bench.”

  She forced back her fear. “I will fight you.”

  He released her hair, shoving her back into her seat with abrupt force that sent her toppling. “I hope you do. In the end, I will only enjoy it more and use you harder.”

  She choked down bile at his vicious words. Somehow, by some means, she had to escape him. It was the only choice she had.

  *

  With Hazlitt and two other guards at his side, Duncan stormed through the reeking halls of the grim East End tavern where Willingham had taken Frederica. If any harm befell her, Duncan was not just going to thrash Willingham to a bloody carcass; he was going to damn well kill him.

  Thank Christ his instincts had made him have one of his men stand guard over her after he had issued the warnings to Amberley. He had not trusted the earl’s reaction to the news Amberley would bring him, and something inside Duncan, some niggling understanding, had protested urgently that selfish, vainglorious bastards like Willingham did not simply relinquish what they wanted and walk away.

  Men who took by force did not like to be bested.

  As he reached the chamber where they had been told Frederica had been taken—Duncan had far more coin to grease the palms of the tavern keeper than Willingham did, and in the end, greed won—a scream tore through the air. The scream belonged to Frederica.

  Every thought fled, and he was mindless. A weapon. He threw himself into the door, shoulder first, determined to get to her. To tear Willingham apart with his bare hands if he must. On the second attempt, the door splintered open, and he crashed into the chamber with a warrior’s cry, his pistol raised.

  The earl had been grappling with Frederica, but upon Duncan’s forced entry, he spun, holding her against him in a tight grip, pointing a pistol to her temple. Her dress had been torn to the waist, revealing her shift. Her hair was in wild disarray, her eyes wide and fearful, sobs making her chest rise and fall in jerky motions, tears on her cheeks.

  “Release Lady Frederica,” he ordered Willingham with a bravado he little felt, given the gun pressing into Frederica’s skull and the finger of a demented scoundrel upon the trigger.

  “Take one step closer, and I will end her,”
the earl warned, his tone one of deadly intent.

  “If any harm comes to her, this day will be your last,” Duncan warned. He had a pistol in his hand, and three armed men at his side—including Hazlett, who was a madman when the situation warranted it—and he was not going to allow the soft-palmed lecher before him to hurt Frederica.

  Lords did not strike him with awe as they once had, before he had been wise and world-weary enough to know better.

  Men of honor, men who upheld their words and promises, who were honest, loyal, and steadfast in their actions and promises, those men impressed him. Men like Willingham? They were not men at all.

  He just needed time. Distraction.

  “You are too late, brother,” Willingham taunted. “I already had her.”

  The earl’s claim hit him like a blow. He stiffened, absorbing the shock, the denial. For a moment, his gaze searched Frederica’s frantically. My God, had he been too late?

  He stepped forward, spurred by the need to protect Frederica and the need to decimate Willingham. “If you have hurt her, I will kill you myself. Slowly.”

  Holding Duncan’s gaze, the earl grabbed a fistful of Frederica’s shift and tore, revealing her breasts. And then he palmed one roughly, squeezing until she cried out in pain and her creamy skin reddened with the force of his violence. “She likes it rough. I’ve heard you like to watch, Kirkwood. Perhaps I ought to fuck her again in front of you. Will that be evidence enough that she is damaged goods? My seed is already inside her, but I will show you once more if it would convince you to leave what is mine alone.”

  Frederica’s eyes were closed, her nostrils flared. The sight of her being hurt before him was pure torture. Bloodlust rose within him, pure and true, and he vowed the earl would pay for this. He made to take another step forward, but Hazlitt halted him with a hand on his arm and a meaningful look. There was a reason Hazlitt was his right hand.

  “She is not yours,” he told Willingham flatly. “You cannot fathom her father would willingly give her hand to you after you have abducted her and abused her. Your game is at an end. Release her now, and we will allow you to walk away with impunity.”