What A Wicked Duke Demands (Historical Regency Romance)

by Emily Honeyfield

Gerard groaned and shot his valet a glare.

  “There are times when I wish you weren’t so observant.”

  “But then I wouldn’t be so valuable to you.”

  “Don’t get too arrogant, Evans. It doesn’t become you.”

  “I know.” Evans crossed his legs, linking his fingers over his belly. “But maybe a simple dalliance might do you some good. Then you can put her behind you and get on with your life. No hassle then.”

  No hassle. It wasn’t as easy as that. Gerard knew that all of his adult life, until the past year, he had been married to Allegra. He had never looked at another woman. Why would he when he had the woman he wanted? But Gerard also knew that he wasn’t one to have a simple dalliance. That wasn’t in him at all. It was a relationship or not at all. Nothing less than commitment, especially when he had children. It wasn’t fair to Hermia, Isabel, and Rosamund to keep bringing young women around them and do nothing beyond take them to bed. They deserved better than that.

  Gerard wasn’t ready for a wife again. Not yet. But when he was, he was going to find Elizabeth. The innocent girl with a soft, sweet mouth. The only person after Allegra who could make him come unstuck.

  Chapter 4

  “You coming, Beth?”

  Beth looked up. Flora was walking across the morning room towards her, putting on her outdoor gloves. Beth sat up from her writing desk and frowned.

  “Coming where?”

  “Grafton House. We need to go and get some muslin.” Flora finished tugging on one glove and put on the other. “We’ve got to make some new dresses.”

  Beth frowned. She put her pen down and scrutinized her sister. What was she up to now? Flora was not a seamstress at all. Rosanna, her maid, did it all for her. Flora had never been interested in muslin, or even the colour.

  “Since when have you wanted to make a new dress?” she demanded. “You don’t even like sewing.”

  “Well, I’ve decided that I want to do that today.” Flora huffed and beckoned her sister to her. “Are you coming? You’ve been talking about getting some muslin for a new dress for some time. And don’t worry … we won’t be on our own. Tatiana and Rosanna are coming with us.”

  At least they were being chaperoned this time. Beth felt a little better. After the disaster of the day before, Beth didn’t fancy taking another chance. Someone was surely going to whisper something, and it would get back to their parents. Flora’s antics were bad enough – she had been acting very off-hand and brazen since she had been caught up in that scandal – but Beth? Her parents were going to be disappointed that Beth was following her sister around.

  Beth didn’t like anyone being upset with her.

  She should have refused and stayed at home, but Beth was interested to find out what Flora was up to. They hadn’t spoken after Flora got back from the fete on her own, and she was quiet throughout dinner, which was unusual. She had to want to confront Beth on something.

  Then again, Flora had told Beth not to hang around her, and yet she seemed to be upset that Beth hadn’t been there when she left. Beth couldn’t understand her sister anymore. She had been very erratic since being abandoned by Alexander Thinesley. Beth wondered how long it would be before Flora got herself into even more trouble.

  Hopefully, not today. Sighing, Beth stood and shrugged.

  “All right. I could do with some fresh air.”

  Or as fresh as it could be in London. The smog was ridiculous on certain days. Today, it was a clear, warm day, and the sky was startlingly bright. Beth wanted to make the most of it. And hopefully not cross paths with the gentleman who had stolen a few kisses from her.

  If she were lucky, he wouldn’t be anywhere near Grafton House. That place was often frequented by women. Men didn’t do shopping for stockings or muslin. They preferred to go to the clubs to play cards and drink or sit in Parliament. Not so much during the summer, as Parliament was closed, so several of them would be walking out in the park with their wives, mothers, or whoever they were courting.

  Fingers crossed, Beth could get to Grafton House and back without bumping into him.

  Fetching her outdoor coat and bonnet, wrapping a silk scarf across her neck to hide the bruises – the foundation Beth had put on that morning covered the finger marks, but also made her feel like a clown – she followed Flora out into the sunshine. Their maids followed a short way behind them, talking between themselves but never taking their attention from the sisters.

  They got to the end of Old Ford Road and turned onto Grove Road before Beth spoke, giving her sister a pointed glare.

  “What are you up to, Flora?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You hate making dresses. Rosanna or Mother does that for you. You just act at the pin cushion when getting measured up. And you never walk to Grafton House. You prefer to take the carriage.” Beth narrowed her eyes. “What’s going on?”

  Flora glanced behind her at the maids. Tatiana and Rosanna were within earshot, but not too close. Even then, she lowered her voice.

  “Mother and Father are at home, and the servants would be listening in. I didn’t want them to hear about yesterday.”

  “What?” Beth also glanced back at Tatiana. She trusted her maid with everything. Tatiana wouldn’t say a word. “I thought the servants wouldn’t say anything.”

  “I thought they wouldn’t until Rosanna started telling me that I was reckless for doing what I did yesterday.” Flora pulled a face. “I wasn’t too impressed with that. And I didn’t want to say anything further in case she went running to our parents.”

  Beth snorted.

  “There’s hardly anything they can scold us for. We were only there a few minutes, realized that it wasn’t worth it, and headed home. It’s not like we got into trouble.”

  She hadn’t told Flora about the gentleman who saved her. Flora knew about the bruises and the mugging, but that was it. Beth could tell that her sister suspected something and wanted to find out more, but she didn’t push. Beth was glad about that; she had no idea how to explain what she did, something that was truly out of character for her.

  “You didn’t get into trouble,” Flora murmured.

  Beth stopped and stared. Did she mean …?

  “I thought you said you didn’t make contact with anyone yesterday. That you couldn’t talk to anyone because as soon as they realized who you were, they turned away and told you to leave.”

  “I made contact later.” Flora grinned. “At the masquerade ball.”

  “You …” Beth looked back at Tatiana and Rosanna. Neither seemed to have noticed that the sisters had stopped. Beth grabbed Flora’s arm and hurried her along. “You went out again last night?”

  “I wanted to go back out and have a better look. The festivities were going to go on for a while. Much more interesting than sitting at home with Mother and Father talking about stupid things.”

  “But ... how ... we lock the house up tight. How did you get out?”

  Flora winked.

  “I talked the footman James into letting me out. He owes me a few favours.”

  “What sort of favours?”

  “Nothing like that, before you say anything.” Flora shrugged. “I just let him sneak away on occasions to see his sweetheart around the corner when he’s supposed to be working. Their days off don’t correlate.”

  Beth rolled her eyes. Of course Flora would want something in return for a favour. She couldn’t believe the gall of her sister, to go back out after a rejection. It had been three years since she had been ruined by that duke’s son, and the decline in their finances had happened ever since once people realized what Flora had been mixed up in. And Flora’s behaviour had been off as well. She seemed to be in a downward spiral; she just didn’t appear to care what she did. As far as she was concerned, she was already ruined.

  Beth didn’t know whether to shake her sister or hug her. She certainly needed both, but Beth wasn’t sure of the order.

  “Anyway,” Flora linked
arms with Beth and led her along the road, “I sneaked out and went to this ball. They give out masks when you go in, so I managed to slip one out of the pile and went inside the Theatre Royal on Drury Lane.” She sighed. “It was beautiful. Just beautiful.”

  “I’m sure,” Beth murmured.

  “Then I was approached by a marquess in the foyer. A marquess, no less!” Flora sighed again. “He started talking to me, giving me lots of attention. We spent most of the evening talking, and then he took me into the theatre itself to watch the late-night show. We got to sit in one of the boxes. Very private.”

  Beth groaned.

  “Flora, please don’t tell me …”

  “We had his footman with us at all times, and I played the lady. Nothing happened, Beth, I promise.”

  Beth wasn’t sure if she should believe that or not. Flora had been behaving erratically, so it was hard to know what she had been up to.

  “He knew who you were, and he didn’t mind that you and he were spending time together?”

  “I …” Flora winced. “I didn’t tell him my name to start with. I called myself Frances.”

  “Flora!”

  Flora shushed her sharply, gesturing behind her towards their maids.

  “Keep your voice down, Beth! We don’t want them to be listening in. Much as I love Rosanna, I can’t trust her to let Mother and Father know about this.”

  Beth glanced back. Tatiana was watching her curiously. She adored her maid, but she knew Tatiana would say something to Edward and Cynthia. Beth didn’t want to get into trouble. Not when she was struggling with her own thoughts. She needed to get them in order before she discussed it with her parents.

  She had done something bad, and Beth couldn’t stop thinking about him. That was really bad. She shouldn’t think about him at all. That was something Beth had to put in the past and forget about. And yet she couldn’t forget about him. The man just wouldn’t let go.

  “I had to test the waters,” Flora went on. She looked like she hadn’t noticed Beth’s internal dilemma. “He didn’t question me on it, even when he took my mask off.”

  “He …”

  “I let him. And he said I was so beautiful.” Flora’s smile faded, and she shook her head. “Then it all went wrong when he asked to call on me after the performance. I told him my real name.”

  “And I guess it didn’t go well.”

  “No, it didn’t,” Flora said bitterly. “He told me that he wasn’t about to get involved with a scandalous creature like myself and told me to leave before he called attention to me.” She growled. “The cad.”

  “I think that’s the kindest way to describe him,” Beth commented. She knew Flora was a fool for her actions, but the marquess’ behaviour was uncalled for. She looked up at her sister. “Did you and he ... well …”

  “Were we intimate? No, we just kissed once he took my mask off. That was it. He was always a perfect gentleman.” Flora snorted. “Certainly wasn’t a gentleman when he told me to go, and not in the nicest of ways, either.”

  They came to the end of the road. A carriage was going past, and the sisters let it go by before crossing. Beth raised her skirts so they weren’t brushing in the horse dung left behind. They got onto the other pavement and turned left, heading down the street. At least it was a brisk walk to Grafton House, although Beth was sure Flora would start complaining soon.

  “I did tell you that people are not going to be forgiving to you about what happened.”

  “It’s been three years, Beth!”

  “Scandal like that doesn’t go away. Even if the rumours died down, it’s still on people’s minds.”

  And from what Beth had witnessed, it was always the woman who came off worse. It didn’t matter if the man was the instigator and played more than a big part, it was the woman who had to deal with the fallout while he waltzed away to find another victim. Flora had been unfairly ostracized because of the actions of a young man who wouldn’t marry her.

  Beth did have some sympathy for her on that. Flora had been in love. She thought it was going somewhere. And now she was paying the price. There was a good chance that the young gentleman in question wasn’t even being questioned. Somehow, his name had been kept out of it all. All people talked about was Flora, even now. Three years on, and it was all about Flora and her mistakes. Beth wondered if the young man ever looked back and thought some regret over what he did.

  It was clear Flora still loved him, even with her barely contained anger towards him. Her broken heart wasn’t going to be mended unless she got closure, and her downward spiral would continue.

  Beth did get frustrated at her sister’s antics, but she could understand why. It just wasn’t fair on women at all in their Society. Flora had figured that out the hard way.

  “Well …” Beth squeezed Flora’s arm. “I suppose this should show you that people judge a reputation more than they judge a character before them.”

  “I suppose.” Flora huffed. “I just wish that people could put the past behind them. I’d like to do that, but it’s not easy when everyone keeps bringing it up. I want to be back to how it was.”

  “Things are not as simple as that,” Beth said. She sighed and tugged her sister’s arm. “Come on, let’s go to Grafton House. Even if we don’t buy anything, a walk around somewhere that isn’t our back garden should do us some good. And don’t pay attention to those people who judge you for a mistake from years ago. You focus on me.”

  And maybe tell Flora about what happened. Beth was already entrusting Tatiana with a lot, having asked her to help hide the bruises in a way that didn’t draw attention to her. Her maid had been shocked at the sight and wanted to tell Edward immediately, but Beth had begged her not to. She didn’t want her father to know what had happened.

  Confiding in her about what had happened in the lovers’ lane was not something Beth would lay at Tatiana’s door. Flora, on the other hand, was her sister. Even with their differences, they shared a lot of secrets.

  Maybe she could have a different perspective on it all.

  “Focus on my little sister?” Flora grunted and shook her head. “Is that meant to be the lesser evil.”

  “Cheeky.” Beth prodded her sister in the side, resulting in a laugh from Flora. “Come on. And while we’re at it, you can listen to me about my problems with yesterday.”

  “Your problems?” Flora scoffed. “What problems could you have got?”

  Beth sighed.

  “You’ll know in a moment.”

  #

  Beth told Flora about the gentleman rescuing her and what had happened afterwards. She hadn’t meant to spill it all out, but once she started, Beth found she couldn’t help herself. Flora had listened in astonishment, her eyes growing wider as Beth talked. Beth couldn’t blame her; this was something that happened to Flora, the one going off the rails. Beth was the cautious sister, practically reclusive. She kept herself in the shadows as a self-imposed wallflower. And yet she had been kissed and practically pawed in a lovers’ lane.

  Flora’s bewilderment didn’t fade. They decided to bypass Grafton House and settle in a cafe a little further down the road. Their maids sat nearby, and their table was secluded enough that the two sisters could discuss the situation more.

  Flora had suggested going out and finding the man in question, but Beth had dismissed that. She had no idea where to start looking or if he was even a gentleman. He could have been a servant, for all she knew. Then again, no servant dressed as this man had done. If he was a servant, he was the most well-paid one in London.