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

by Lucinda Nelson

  He knew that he couldn’t wait to have her. He couldn’t wait until after her father’s trial.

  In any case, it would be dangerous to wait, Harvey reasoned with himself. If I stay too long in this place, at this apothecary, the chances of being discovered are too high.

  He doubted that Duke Cumberland had realized who he was, just yet. He had no desire to allow the lord to realize the truth.

  He should take her tonight, he decided. In some abandoned alleyway. Where was the harm, anyway? He had a place where he could bring her. She would never be able to escape from him. Besides, who would notice that she was missing? Who would manage to discover her?

  Young women disappeared all too often, in these parts of town. It was why most sensible women did not go out without a man’s escort, not when they looked to be as pretty and well-bred as Miss Ellington.

  No one would remark on her disappearance. In fact, most of her erstwhile companions would probably believe that it was good riddance for her to disappear like that. They would never have to face the truth that they had convicted an innocent man, no matter what evidence the Duke of Havenport managed to discover.

  Harvey smiled to himself as he thought of what he would do. Yes, he would take her tonight. From this night on, until her death, she would be his plaything.

  A fitting revenge, for his having had his life stolen away from him. Harvey had no prospects left, and neither would Charlene. He would never practice medicine again in any real capacity, and neither would she.

  Yes, that was the perfect plan. He only needed to wait until she was alone and out on the streets.

  Chapter 31

  Mrs. Helene Wynter

  Helene hunched her shoulders and drew her shawl more tightly around her shoulders. She avoided making eye contact, as best she could, with anyone else on the streets. The last thing she needed was to be recognized in this part of the city.

  Of course, what did it really matter? Her family, and their reputation, was in tatters by this point..

  She swallowed hard. She had lost her whole family once, and she refused to lose it again. Yet she feared it was already too late.

  She was grateful for the additional pause on Aldric’s trial. The circumstances were not ideal, of course. They were the sort of circumstances that would ruin her family’s reputation further, she was certain.

  She smiled grimly as she thought back to that scene with the judge. She was proud of her actions, whatever they might mean for her family’s future. She would do things just the same if she had another chance.

  The trial had begun. She had been appalled to see how haggard and weak her brother looked. He was being kept in a nice cell, but it seemed his time there still had not been kind to him. Small wonder, with the vicious rumors cycling about his involvement in Lord Henrich’s death.

  Lord Ambrose had mounted evidence against the doctor, seeming extra-vicious in his attempts to discredit the man and prove his guilt.

  So Lady Helene had asked for a private audience with the judge. She had told the judge of Lord Ambrose’s indecent proposal.

  She had furnished proof of that proposal, in a letter that Lord Ambrose had written to her, threatening to send poor Aldric to the gallows if the doctor’s daughter refused his suit.

  It was a gross misuse of power, and the judge had been furious with the chief investigator. Helene knew that they had not seen the last of the man, but for now, the trial was paused while a new chief investigator could look into the situation.

  Everyone was talking about the strange turn of events, although no one seemed to know exactly why the marquis had been removed from the trial. The judge was keeping things quiet so that it wouldn’t affect the trial.

  Helene certainly appreciated that.

  Now, it was time for Helene to locate her wayward niece and bring her back home. It was safe for her now.

  The trouble was, rumors of Charlene’s whereabouts had become few and far between. She had been seen helping Miss Anne, one of the favored perfumers of London.

  Unfortunately, it sounded as though the woman had chased Charlene out upon discovery of who the girl really was.

  How foolish, Helene thought. It was easy for those of the ton to misjudge someone due to baseless rumors, when they themselves are not affected by it. Miss Anne was no different from the rest of them.

  Still, that was as good a place as any to begin.

  Helene pretended to browse the small shop as Miss Anne helped another client find the perfect scent to “make her desired fall madly in love with her”. Helene did her best not to snort at such foolishness.

  The women of England seemed to become increasingly vapid as the years went by. Sometimes, Helene wondered if she had made a mistake in bringing Charlene to London. Perhaps life would have been different if her niece had remained in Bath rather than coming to London.

  She could not change the past now, however. Best to think about the future.

  Finally, she was alone in the shop with Miss Anne. She stepped forwards, drawing back her hood. Miss Anne’s smile faltered. “I’m afraid I – ” she began, but Helene didn’t let her finish. Nor did she allow the woman to retreat, snaking out an arm and catching the other woman’s wrist in an iron grip.

  “My niece,” she said flatly.

  Miss Anne tossed her head, her eyes narrowed. “You mean the witch?” she asked. “She left, days ago. She no longer works for me.”

  “I heard she did not leave, but that you chased her out,” Helene said evenly, tightening her grip slightly. The other woman gasped, and Helene smiled cruelly.

  “Well, if I chased her out, it was only because she deserved it,” Miss Anne countered. “She tricked me into hiring her in the first place.”

  “Do not blame my niece because you only desired her talents until the rumors became too much,” Helene snapped.

  “She disguised herself!” Miss Anne cried. “She used her wicked witchery to fool me into believing that she was some other poor young woman in need of a place to stay.”

  “What is this foolish talk of witchery?” Helene snorted scornfully. “My niece is no witch. There is no reason to slander her.”

  “No witch?” Miss Anne challenged. “With mismatched eyes like hers? The child should have been burned the moment her queerness became apparent.”

  Helene barely refrained from slapping the woman. She leaned in close, her eyes flashing with fury. “Where is she?” she asked. “I know that you know where she has gone. Now tell me, before I use my own witchery on you!”

  Miss Anne recoiled in horror, her eyes slipping away from Helene’s as though she was afraid to look the other woman in the eyes. “I have heard rumors that she is working for a different apothecary,” the woman reluctantly admitted. “In Whitechapel.”

  It was Helene’s turn to feel horror course through her body. Whitechapel was not the sort of place for a young, pretty woman like Charlene to go to.

  Of course, it was the perfect place for someone to disappear. None of Charlene’s peers would ever find her there. Helene only hoped that she would be able to find her niece. That the woman wouldn’t have disappeared for good.

  Not that she would risk going into that part of the city by herself. As much as Helene desired to find her niece there, she knew that that was a risk that she could not take. She would need to send someone. Her most trusted friend. The man she had once thought she might marry.

  She would beg him to look for Charlene, as a favor for her. That meant the only project left to her was Aldric’s case.

  She frowned as she thought about it. She had managed to convince herself that if there was such strong evidence against her brother, then he must somehow be guilty of having poisoned Lord Henrich.

  In light of Lord Ambrose’s actions, however, she wondered if that was truly the case. Was it possible that the chief investigator had created this whole case against her brother, in a desperate bid to blame someone and, in doing so, gain something for himself?

&nb
sp; She wished that she had listened, before, when Charlene had insisted that her father was innocent and that they must prove that. She couldn’t talk to her niece about that now, but perhaps there was someone else.

  She remembered the way Duke Cumberland had shown up at her doorstep looking for Charlene, the night that the young woman had disappeared. Perhaps he had known something about Aldric’s innocence. Perhaps he had discovered something.

  If not, if he even had a hunch as to who might have really killed Lord Henrich, perhaps Helene could be of service. Her family’s reputation was in tatters, but she still had considerable influence in the city, plus money. And perhaps she would know some information that could help.

  She pulled her hood over her head again. Oh, she didn’t mind if anyone remarked on her visit to the duke’s manor-home. She had nothing left to lose. Her worry was more that the duke’s reputation would be tarnished with a visit from her. She remembered the way they had talked after Charlene visited the man, after all.

  The man had already jeopardized himself enough to help her family. Sometimes, she wondered what it was for.

  Of course, she wasn’t a fool. The duke would never risk himself for nothing in return. He fancied her niece, Helene was certain of it. The trouble was that the two of them would never end up together. The ton would make certain of that.

  The best that the two could hope for was that the duke would marry someone more befitting of his stature, and then he would take Charlene as a mistress.

  Once, that thought would have horrified Helene. She wanted more for Charlene. She wanted the woman to have a family, not bastard children that she had to birth in secret. She wanted her niece to experience all the pleasures of a love that knew no bounds.

  Yet now, she simply wanted to know that her niece was going to be taken care of. And if that meant birthing bastard children for a duke who had married someone else, then perhaps that was for the best.

  Helene couldn’t help but feel that she had let the woman down. After all, it was her fault that her niece had to go into hiding in Whitechapel, of all places.

  If Helene had really done her duty as the young woman’s guardian, then she would have put a stop to Lord Ambrose’s courtship before things had gone too far.

  She felt sick just thinking about that now. She had counselled Charlene to accept the Marquess’ hand in marriage. She had reminded her niece that she ought to do whatever she had to out of loyalty to her family.

  That hadn’t been fair. The truth was that if Helene had done whatever it took to save her family, then… Well, then she wouldn’t be here alone now. She had left all the familial responsibilities to her brother, for all these years. And when she found out that her brother was up for trial, she had wondered if perhaps he deserved it.

  The truth was, perhaps, that Helene had never forgiven Aldric for leaving her alone all those years prior. Helene had still been mourning their parents’ death, and Aldric’s newfound passion for medicine had been seen as a way of abandoning her.

  It had never been that, Helene knew, and it wasn’t fair to blame Aldric for his passion. This might be the only chance she ever had to make things right between the two of them.

  She had to find her niece. She had to prove Aldric’s innocence. She had to save them both.

  She had to save them all, herself included.

  She shifted uncomfortably outside the duke’s house. It seemed as though there was no one home. Or perhaps Duke Cumberland simply refused to see her. She stared up at the high windows, imagining she saw the twitch of a curtain in one of them.

  They knew who she was, and they knew her reputation. They wanted nothing to do with her. They weren’t going to help her, and with Charlene gone, it would be impossible for Helene to discover the truth about any of these dark matters.

  She felt sick to her stomach as she turned away from the door.

  Just then, however, the door swung open behind her. “Lady Ellington,” the serving-man said quietly, his tone nervous. His eyes darted from side to side, and he licked his lips in agitation. “Come in.”

  Helene frowned, but she would not refuse his offer. Immediately upon entering the hall, though, she turned to the man. “My Lord-Duke of Havenport?” she queried.

  The man was silent for a moment, and it was clear that he wasn’t certain whether or not he should trust Helene. Then, he sighed. “The duke disappeared two days ago,” he admitted.

  “What do you mean?” Helene asked, scandalized to hear it. First her niece, and now the duke?

  Surely the two disappearances couldn’t have anything to do with one another. But there was a dark thought in the back of her mind.

  If Aldric was innocent, then perhaps there was someone who was targeting the Ellington family. Someone like the Marquess. She felt cold dread inside her body. It would make a certain amount of sense.

  Lord Ambrose would have known that Charlene would never give her hand to him in marriage. So he had come up with an offer that the young woman couldn’t refuse.

  Only Charlene had refused him, even at the possibility that her father would be hanged.

  That would only have amplified Lord Ambrose’s desires. What if Charlene hadn’t disappeared but had instead been kidnapped? Helene had never considered the possibility, and she now felt like a fool.

  And Duke Cumberland? Had he gone after Charlene in an attempt to find her? Or was he a victim to the same plot?

  If Helene had noticed the two youngsters’ attraction to one another, then she couldn’t be the only one. Perhaps Lord Ambrose knew exactly who was competing with him for a place in Charlene’s heart.

  Perhaps even after kidnapping Charlene and holding her hostage, he hadn’t been able to win the young woman’s heart.

  Charlene had always been stubborn. Helene had never been so proud of that fact as she was now.

  Suddenly, though, she deflated. No, this couldn’t be right.

  First, would she really accuse a chief investigator, a Marquess, of having kidnapped her niece?

  Lord Ambrose was a cunning man, but surely he wouldn’t be that desperate to marry an aging spinster like Charlene, no matter if he couldn’t find anyone else who would overlook his reputation and marry him.

  Moreover, if Charlene had been kidnapped, Lord Ambrose surely wouldn’t have allowed her to work for Miss Anne, or to find further work in Whitechapel.

  Charlene had run off. Helene didn’t know what the duke’s disappearance could mean, but like as not, it had nothing to do with the disappearance of the young Ellington woman.

  The duke’s servant ducked his head. “I’m sure Duke Cumberland will return shortly,” he said, and there was a fierce loyalty in his voice. As though he would have something to do about it if his lord didn’t return.

  Helene was touched by that sense of loyalty. It seemed to be altogether too lacking in this current state of affairs in the city of London. There was no loyalty, and there was altogether too much corruption.

  She suddenly longed to leave the place for good. She did not know where she would go, but if it was true that her family was doomed, then perhaps she would finally cut all the ties with this city.

  Not that there would be any remaining ties to cut. With her family gone and her reputation in tatters, there would be nothing to keep her here. Nothing to keep her anywhere.

  She couldn’t help but feel that the future was incredibly dismal. She sighed and nodded at the servant, flipping him a coin that she likely could ill afford with her family’s current state.

  She didn’t say a word as she headed back towards her house. Out on the street, she pulled her shawl ever tighter around her shoulders, although it did nothing to ward off the chill that she felt in her heart.

  Chapter 32

  Miss Charlene Ellington

  Charlene absolutely hated working late nights like this. The sun was down long before she was released from the apothecary. She knew that in this part of the city, she shouldn’t be out on her own. Yet she al
so did not have any way to avoid that consequence.

  She pulled her hood down over her hair, hoping that no one would see her face. She wore a bulky cloak over her dress, and it was all that she could hope for others to mistake her for a male.

  She couldn’t shake the feeling that there was someone following along behind her. She tried not to glance back over her shoulder. Even if there was no one following her, that would only invite someone to attack. That would but let them know that she felt vulnerable.

  She hated feeling vulnerable.

  Charlene thought back to when she was younger and collecting plants in Raven’s Hollow. Everyone had said that she was mad to go there on her own. But she had never been so scared of those woods.