Regency Diaries of Seduction Collection: A Regency Historical Romance Box Set

by Lucinda Nelson

  The investigator shook his head. “They might be more amenable to that,” he allowed. “But I’m afraid that the money, and the request, would have to come directly from you.

  “Of all the corruption in this realm, they seem to be the least like to be coerced. I’m sure it has something to do with their oaths, and the type of person who becomes a doctor in the first place.”

  “Indeed,” Eric said, unable to help feeling amused by the investigator’s clear disdain for ‘the type of person who becomes a doctor in the first place’.

  He thought about Charlene and Dr. Ellington. They probably wouldn’t have freely handed out Harvey Parsons’ private information either.

  The trouble was that if he went to the college with that request and a bribe of his own, it would be only too easy for Harvey Parsons to realize that he was after the man.

  And for everyone else in London and beyond to realize that Eric was looking into Dr. Ellington’s case on Charlene’s behalf.

  He knew that his mother would have a fit if his name was tangled up in any of this messiness.

  At the same time, he had given Charlene his word that he would do whatever he could to prove her father innocent. This was the closest that he had had to a lead in all this while. He needed to follow through on investigating it.

  Then again, the other trouble was the fact that he had other responsibilities with the dukedom that needed seeing to. It was tithing season, and that meant that he needed to be there to supervise the hauling of harvests and more.

  He couldn’t devote the effort to finding a contact in the medical college and tracking down Harvey Parsons’ records.

  He suddenly wished that he had already followed his mother’s earlier advice to delegate more. It would have freed him up to actually look into this. As it was, he was going to have to do some careful juggling to figure things out.

  For tonight, though, there was nothing that he could do. He had promised his mother that he would take her to the latest in the season’s balls. It was one of her first social gatherings since his father had died, and he wasn’t going to ruin it for her.

  Besides, what could he really do in a night? He needed to discover who in the college might be amenable to his request. That would take some time and research.

  He hated the idea of going to the ball tonight and dancing with Lady Annabelle, when he knew that Charlene was probably closed up in her aunt’s home worrying about her father.

  He would much rather be there to soothe her, or if that was impossible, then he would at least rather be able to look into her father’s case to stop the woman’s heartache.

  What could he do, though? There were certain things that were expected of him, given his position, and there was really nothing that he could do.

  True to his expectations, Lady Annabelle was upon him the moment he turned his mother over to her friends.

  “Dance with me,” she commanded in an undertone, and Eric had no choice to comply. What was he to do, turn her down in the middle of the crowded ballroom? He couldn’t do that.

  As he finally made his way over to Lord Dalton and Lord Percy, though, their snickers were too much for him to bear. “It looks like you’ll be engaged within the week,” Dalton said seriously.

  “Forget that – she’ll be with child within the week if she has her way,” Percy said. “I give it a day until you’re married. She’s probably planning a secret ceremony as we speak.”

  “An elopement,” Dalton agreed, nodding with mock seriousness.

  “I believe this is the first time in history that a lady’s hands have been more suggestive than the man’s in this here court,” Percy teased.

  “Oh, would the two of you please stop it?” Eric finally broke in, unable to stand this any longer. He knew that the ribbing was only good-natured, but he already had to listen to his mother talk on and on about Lady Annabelle’s good attributes.

  The last thing he needed was for his friends to be likewise obnoxious in pushing him towards her.

  He just wasn’t interested in her.

  Percy looked shocked at his outburst, and Dalton looked hurt. Eric immediately felt guilty for his outburst.

  Not as guilty as I feel about my inability to do anything productive about Dr. Ellington’s case, though, was the immediate following thought.

  “I’m sorry,” he sighed. “I’m sick of everyone acting as though Lady Annabelle and I are already engaged. We aren’t, and if I have my way, then we will never be.”

  Silence followed his proclamation. Eric immediately grimaced. He probably shouldn’t have admitted that to the two of them, but that was just how frustrated he was with the whole thing by this point.

  He didn’t want to marry Lady Annabelle, even though he knew that he should. That was just the truth of the matter.

  “If you have your way?” Dalton finally asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

  Eric sighed. “I love Miss Ellington,” he admitted, even though he knew that that was an even deeper secret that he shouldn’t have put words to.

  “I understand that given my position and hers, there’s no chance that I could ever marry her, but I can’t help my feelings for her.”

  The ball seemed to have gone unnaturally quiet. Eric glanced around, but no one else was in earshot. No one else would have heard him voice the words that could ruin him forever.

  Dalton and Percy were both staring at the young duke as though he had grown a second head. Eric could imagine how they felt. He knew how he would have likely felt, if their positions were reversed.

  A duke couldn’t just take someone like Charlene as a bride. She was a spinster, and she was too wilful to make a good and willing wife. Eric had responsibilities.

  Besides, at the moment, all anyone could talk about were Charlene’s supposed faults. Everyone in court seemed to have made up their minds to despise her.

  Eric could talk until he was blue in the face, but he wasn’t going to be able to convince Percy and Dalton that she wasn’t as terrible as everyone seemed to think that she was. He wouldn’t be able to convince them that she was more than worthy of his attention.

  They were both silent, not saying anything, and in a way, that was almost worse.

  In spite of Eric’s conviction that Dr. Ellington was innocent and that Charlene would make more than a wonderful wife, he couldn’t help but feel vaguely ashamed of himself.

  This wasn’t the way that a duke was meant to act.

  Before anyone could say anything else, Lady Annabelle was there at the duke’s elbow again, simpering at him as she demanded another dance.

  Chapter 18

  Miss Charlene Ellington

  Charlene was shocked to be summoned to the receiving room to see Lord Ambrose. She had never given Helene a final response about a meeting with the man. Had her aunt taken it upon herself to arrange a meeting regardless?

  It certainly looked that way. But as Charlene entered the room, she saw the drawn and exhausted look that her aunt was sporting. Even if Helene had arranged this meeting against Charlene’s will, the young woman knew the reasons for it.

  Her aunt was exhausted with worry about her dear brother, and Charlene was only dragging things on.

  If she but said the word, then she would be betrothed to Lord Ambrose and this whole matter of the death of Lord Henrich would go away.

  The longer she waited, the more terror she put her aunt through.

  Charlene hadn’t stopped feeling guilty since Lord Ambrose had made his original proposal, but somehow, she felt even worse now. Still, as she laid eyes on the Marquess once more, she felt only revulsion.

  She had never expected to marry out of duty. In her naïve mind, she had imagined a love that could conquer all, a passion that would lift her match above the realm of mere mortality.

  She expected a man who was her match, a life full of good-natured debates and tender moments.

  She had pictured her life with Eric, when she really thought about it. She’d been pictur
ing him by her side ever since that one innocent kiss, now so long ago.

  It felt like a lifetime, really, since she and her father had saved Eric’s life after that adder bite in Raven’s Hollow. She could hardly remember the person that she had been back then.

  Of course, given how quickly time seemed to be passing by now, that was hardly any surprise. Since her father’s arrest, Charlene felt as though the weeks had passed in a matter of mere seconds. Yet they must be coming down to the end of the uncertainty now.

  Soon, Lord Ambrose would be through with waiting and would offer all his evidence to the judge. Her father would be sentenced, and Charlene had no doubt that the sentencing would be dire.

  The only thing that she could do about it would be to agree to marry this hideous and unscrupulous man sitting across from her.

  “Charlene,” Ambrose greeted warmly, but his eyes glittered like those of an adder. “It’s good to see you.” He paused. “You know, I’ve really missed seeing you at the latest balls. You always did cut quite a figure.”

  Charlene felt a chill go through her. There was more to the Marquess’ words than what he had said, she was sure. He wasn’t telling her that he found her attractive; he had no reason to do that.

  No, he was warning her that her presence had been missed and that he had heard all the terrible things that they were saying about her lately.

  Was he still interested in marrying her? He must be, or else he wouldn’t be here.

  “Let’s not dance around things, Charlene,” he said. “I need to have an answer for you. And soon.”

  He paused. “As you might realize, my words count everywhere. There’s nothing that you can do about it, and nothing that you can do to help your father save marrying me. I hold your father’s life in my hands.”

  “You told me that I could have some time to think,” Charlene reminded him, panic in her voice.

  Surely he couldn’t expect her decision today, with no warning that he would be there! Of course she had been thinking hard over the past weeks since he had made his proposal, but she was no closer to coming up with a response.

  She didn’t want to marry him. She just plain didn’t. But what choice did she have?

  She looked over at her aunt, curious to see how Helene was taking all of this. Helene’s face was unreadable, however, no visible emotion on her lined visage.

  Still, Charlene could practically feel the older woman’s rebuke. Helene thought that she should marry the Marquess.

  Charlene felt anger flash through her. In all of this, she had been the only one out of the family trying to prove her father’s innocence. It was why she had gone to see Eric in the first place.

  Hell, her aunt had even gone so far as to say that she thought Aldric might have actually played some role in Lord Henrich’s death!

  And yet having done nothing to even try to help her brother, she wanted Charlene to make the ultimate sacrifice of promising the rest of his life to this man.

  She wanted to yell with frustration, but she knew better than to make a scene in front of the Marquess. Instead, she ducked her head, acting every bit the sheepish and shy young maiden.

  “Please, I just need a little more time,” she said softly. “I’m just not sure that I can see what use you would have for a wife like me.”

  As she might have hoped, Lord Ambrose laughed harshly. “Are you not able or willing to bear me an heir?” he asked bluntly.

  But at that, Helene finally, mercifully, intervened. “My Lord Ambrose!” she gasped.

  “Forgive me, Lady Helene,” the Marquess said. “I know I should not phrase things thus. I can’t help but feel, however, that Miss Ellington is deliberately doing nothing more than to string me along. There is no need for this to be drawn-out.”

  He turned to Charlene. “Do but say the words that you will marry me, and your father will be free. You wouldn’t want him to suffer unnecessarily, would you?”

  “It’s just all too much!” Charlene cried, putting her hands over her ears. “Forgive me, Lord Ambrose, but I am afraid. I had given up on the idea that I should ever be married, and I hadn’t thought that there was anything that I might do to save my father.

  “Now here you are, telling me that both of those things are untruths. There is a lot of responsibility that comes with the choice, and I’m afraid that I just cannot quite make my mind up as to what I should do.”

  The tremble in her voice wasn’t faked, but this time, Lord Ambrose’s expression did not soften. “Very well,” he said, getting to his feet.

  “I can see that I will get no decision from you today. But I must warn you that you need to make your decision soon. I’ll reiterate: your father’s life is in my hands…and in yours. Make sure you choose what is best for your family, not simply for yourself.”

  Charlene flinched as though she had been slapped. As the Marquess rose and stalked angrily from the room, Helene reached towards her niece, attempting to comfort the young woman.

  But Charlene yanked away from her. “No!” she snapped. “You’ve left this all up to me. You don’t even believe that Father is innocent, and all you can do is push me towards accepting Lord Ambrose as my husband.

  “Don’t you dare try to comfort me. You’ve done nothing to even try to save him.”

  Helene’s hurt was clear on her face, but Charlene didn’t see it as she rushed out of the room and right out of the house.

  She couldn’t stay there for a moment longer, in that prison. She knew all the reasons why Eric hadn’t been to see her, and why he hadn’t sent messages.

  She knew that it was for the best that he wasn’t involved in trying to clear her father’s name anymore, but at the same time, she couldn’t help feeling that he had let her down.

  She needed to see him. To hear his reasoning for going back on his word. He had promised her that he would do anything in his power to keep her from having to marry Lord Ambrose, but it was looking like that had been nothing more than a lie.

  Unless, perhaps, he simply hadn’t been able to send word about any of the progress that he had made?

  The next thing she knew, Charlene was pounding on the duke’s door. The servant who answered it looked immediately uncomfortable. “Miss Ellington,” he said. “You can’t be here right now.” He was nervous as he glanced back over his shoulder.

  Charlene could hear voices inside, though. “Oh bugger it,” she snapped. “I am sure that Eric is here. What did he tell you, that he had no wish to be disturbed by the likes of me again? What if I was accompanied? Shall I go find a prostitute to stand as my chaperone?”

  She didn’t really know where the words were coming from, but panic pushed them from her mouth. Time had all but run out for her father. Charlene was going to have to marry the Marquess.

  She couldn’t help but feel irrationally angry with Eric over that. It wasn’t his fault, of course, but he had made her a promise.

  “The Duke is in meetings at the moment,” the servant insisted. “He cannot be disturbed.”

  “Then I’ll wait,” Charlene hissed. “He can’t be in meetings forever, can he?” She tried to push past the man into the hallway.

  The man didn’t seem to know what to do. “Miss Ellington!” he said, as she marched past him. He rushed after her, but it was too late; she was flinging open to the door of the receiving room.

  There, she froze, staring into the room. Of course, she had heard the voices, and she knew that Eric wasn’t in there alone. But she couldn’t have imagined this.

  There was Eric and his mother, on one side of the couches. And on the other side? Lady Annabelle and her own mother, plus a few other guests.

  Charlene immediately felt her cheeks flame with heat. Before she could apologize, though, Eric’s mother was on her feet. “How dare you!” she said, sounding aghast.

  “I had thought that in spite of recent gossip, your family had raised you to be a proper young woman. Not the type of woman who burst into a young man’s receiving room on
her own and demanded an audience with him.”

  Charlene stumbled back a half step, looking desperately at Eric. But he was doing his best to avoid her gaze. What was this meeting anyway? Charlene was only too certain that she knew.

  Eric must be getting engaged to Lady Annabelle.

  It made her want to cry, but damned if she was going to let Annabelle see her in that sort of position.

  All this time, though, Charlene had believed that she and Eric had a special connection. But that was a foolish fantasy concocted by a young girl who thought that a kiss meant a promise.