by Matilda Hart
“My love,” he whispered breathlessly into her ear when her tremors finally subsided, “you will always find a blazing fire here to warm you.”
He held her against his heart until she dozed off, and then he rolled with her, keeping her snugly against his chest as he too let go and slept. They made love twice more before morning, and when his valet knocked and entered, he sent him away with instructions to return in an hour. And then he ravished her again, making her scream in ecstasy. He kissed her as she screamed, enjoying the wildness of her response. She lay beneath him, her legs wrapped around his waist, panting as though she had been in a foot race.
“You have worn me out, my Lord,” she whispered, a pretty blush staining her cheeks.
“I’m sorry. Did I not mention that retaining the title of Duchess of Monsey brings with it certain responsibilities, one of which requires frequent and exhausting intimate contact with the Duke?” He chuckled as he spoke. “In fact, 95% of your responsibilities lie entirely within that field of activity.”
“My Lord, you failed to mention it,” she said, grinning at him.
“And will that requirement pose a problem for you, wife?” he demanded, nipping her lips.
“Only if the frequency diminishes without good cause,” she admitted. “In fact, were it not for the fact that my parents are probably awaiting us in the dining room for breakfast, I would ask that you let me lie here and recover so that you may ravish me again.”
He smiled into her eyes. “Oh my darling, I promise that I will grant your wish every day for the rest of our lives. But you are right...we must needs go below to enjoy breakfast with your parents before they depart.”
So saying, he rose with her and wrapped her pelisse around her before letting her slip away to her own chamber to bathe and dress. He himself made was ready before she was, and he begged admission to her room to watch her finish dressing her hair. Then they went down together, and found her parents waiting for them, as she had said, in the dining room.
“Good morning Mama, papa,” she said, and Robert echoed her greeting.
“Good morning! Did you sleep well?” This question from her mother, who noted the sweet blush that stained his wife’s cheek.
“We did indeed, ma’am,” he answered for her, chuckling to himself at his mother-in-law’s not so subtle digging for information.
“We shall be leaving shortly,” her father said, “and I wish to thank you for your kind hospitality, Your Grace…”
“Please sir, you must call me Robert. We are a family now. My title has no place in family conversations.”
“And what have you decided to do, Lavinia?” her mother asked. “Will you be returning home with us, or will you remain with the Duke?”
“I will be remaining, Mama,” she said, smiling at Robert.
“I am pleased,” her father told her, and shook hands with Robert.
He summoned the butler, who had their things taken to the waiting carriage, and after a fond farewell all round, he saw his in-laws off, relieved that things had finally turned his way.
“Shall we go for a stroll around the garden, my love?” the Duke asked his wife. “There are some roses I would like you to see.”
As he expected, Lavinia gladly agreed, and when he stopped by the now-silent fountain in the center of the rose garden and went down on one knee, he saw the shock that spread over her face at his gesture.
“Although you are already my wife by law, I need to do this,” he said. “I spoke with your father, and received his consent, as I ought to have done before. I have the blessing of both your parents. And now that you have also consented to remain my wife, I wish to present you with the Monsey sapphire. It was my mother’s ring, and now, it is yours, my love.”
He pulled a gold ring with a large sapphire ringed by diamonds from his waistcoat pocket and slid it onto her finger.
“Oh Robert, it is beautiful!” Lavinia exclaimed, holding the jewel up so that it could catch the light. “Thank you. I am honored that you would give this to me.”
“You are the Duchess of Monsey, my love. Who else should have it but you?” he asked, rising to his feet.
“We shall have a formal in my London home at which you will be presented. You will meet the rest of my family, and have a chance to mingle with the ton. It will probably be overwhelming for you at first, but I know that you will be the belle of every ball before too long.”
“How long will we be staying in London?” she asked, and Robert smiled.
His Lavinia was a country girl at heart, with simple tastes, and he would not change her for the world.
“We shall remain for as long or as short a time as you wish, my love,” he answered, putting an arm round her waist and pulling her close.
He had one last thing he had to tell her that he knew would let her view the time in London in a different light. It would bring an end to this sad period, and allow a decent man to keep his dignity.
“William Thacker has decided to move to a larger town to take over as innkeeper for his uncle, whose health is failing, and who has no natural heirs. He has already made arrangements to sell the inn, which will be run by a new man in town. When we return as husband and wife, the gossips will no doubt make up stories as to how I stole you from the hapless innkeeper, and no one will make them any the wiser.”
Lavinia frowned. “That cannot be good for your reputation, now can it, my Lord?”
“Perhaps not,” he replied on a laugh, “but I have lived through far worse. And they will be pleased that at least I made an honest woman of you. No one else needs to know of the terrible events that tore us apart.”
She nodded in agreement, turning her face up for his kiss. “In case you still don’t know, my Lord, I will tell you now. I love you.”
Robert stopped and pulled her round to face him, swooping down to capture her lips. At last, his Lavinia was back where she belonged, and she loved him. She may never remember what they had had before the accident, but it was enough for him that she had fallen in love with him again. He would keep her safe this time, and he would never let her go.
THE END
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The Rogue Duke
Introduction
Lady Madalene James does not want to be in Scotland. When her family’s carriage is waylaid by brigands, she thinks that that will be the most exciting thing to happen to her for the summer. Until she meets Andrew Dunn, Duke of Annadale, and her whole world is turned upside down. He is the son of noble houses in both England and Scotland. He has a great deal of influence and a large circle of friends, among whom is numbered an infamous highwayman. As he works to help his friend, he falls deeply in love with Maddi But when she sees him with a strange woman with two children in tow, she thinks Andrew is committed to another, and so she refuses his proposal of marriage. Will she discover her mistake before she makes a fool of herself? And once he discovers what the cause of the misunderstanding is, will Andrew be able to persuade her to give him another chance?
Chapter 1
The coach ride was interminable. Lady Madalene James and her parents were on their way to visit the James clan of Edinburgh, a yearly trip that she had begun to hate from the moment of her
coming out at age eighteen. The London parties were a lot of fun, and the young men who tried to entice her each Season made her feel so beautiful and special. But the summer visits to Edinburgh had increased in length, and Maddi knew it was her parents’ fondest wish that she find a nice Scottish laird to wed. She preferred the parties and the social scene in London, and at Winthrop Manor, where the local peerage resided in late summer. By the time they got back from Scotland, the marquess and marchioness would have returned to London, and the parties would almost all be over.
She sighed disgustedly, hating the way the carriage swayed and fell into the ruts in the poorly tended road. The conveyance was sturdy enough, and well appointed for long-distance traveling, but in her present mood, Maddi was not prepared to see any virtue in her surroundings. She settled her shoulder against the corner of the carriage seat and closed her eyes. Her parents sat across from her quietly observing the countryside, or speaking to each other in low tones, either oblivious to her pain, or uncaring of it. Neither one made her feel any more charitable toward them as they ignored her. She sighed heavily again, cocking an eye open to see if her sulking was having any effect. Remorse or guilt would have been nice, but her parents had now moved on to reading. Disgruntled, she closed the observing eye again and tried to sleep.
She thought of her relatives whom they were journeying to see. Lord John and Lady Fanny Darrow, the Earl and Countess of Oakley, were her mother’s brother and sister-in-law, and they and their children lived in drafty Cumberland Castle on the outskirts of Edinburgh, where each summer they hosted a number of parties of lesser quality, Maddi believed, than those in London. They were pale imitations of the real thing, in her view, though to be fair, the fact that she did not really know most of the gentry who were invited to attend did make for some difficulty in fully enjoying the entertainment. And as if to add insult to injury, all the handsome young men invited each year were already taken, or evinced no interest in her whatsoever. Maddi did not enjoy being sidelined by buxom Scottish lassies with heavy burrs and ruddy cheeks
A short time later, before Maddi had had a chance to fall into sleep, the carriage gathered speed and swayed rather recklessly, as though the coachman were being chased by the hounds of Hell. Wild cries urging the horses on sounded in her ears, along with the heavily pounding hooves of the racing animals. The carriage tipped perilously, and Lady Mary James, Maddi’s mother, squealed in fright. The vehicle righted itself and slowed to a stop, but the cacophony of sound continued, as more horses’ hooves pounded up and scattered around the conveyance. Then she heard a man’s voice.
“Stand and deliver!”
The gruff voice ordered the coachman to step down from his perch, while what sounded like a barrel of monkeys seemed to be scrambling all over the vehicle.
Maddi went to look out the window, and Lord Henry James, her austere father, hissed at her.
“Madalene, keep yourself within! These highwaymen need not know there is a young woman aboard. I cannot keep you safe if you expose yourself to their attention.”
Maddi smiled amusedly, though she hid it behind a gloved hand raised to her lips to feign a yawn, being rather of the opinion that her dear papa could not keep her safe in any event, and protested,
“Oh Papa, what would they want with a slip of a thing like me?” she quipped. “I just want to see what’s going on. There’s so much shouting and carrying on. What do they seek?”
“Our valuables, my dear,” her mother interjected. “We are carrying some money with us, you know, as well as gifts for Cousin Fanny and Cousin John and the twins. I pray they do not seek to enter the carriage.” Lady Mary’s voice shook with suppressed fear.
Maddi listened harder, trying to determine how many brigands had waylaid their coach, and whether or not they sounded like desperadoes. More shuffling, thuds and bumps, and raucous laughter intrigued her, and before she could stop herself, she put her face to the window. All was ordered chaos without. There were about four men in the band, three in ragtag vestments, the fourth better dressed and clearly the leader. He was directing his gang of thieves as to the distribution of the items they had stolen, and once that was done, he invited the coachman to resume his seat and be on his way. Maddi’s cheeks flushed with color at the excitement of it all. This was probably going to be the most exciting thing to happen to her all summer, she thought, unconcerned for the inconvenience that a lack of money would mean for them. She was sure her mother had some hidden away somewhere on her person. She couldn’t imagine her parents being foolish enough to put all their valuables into the trunks.
“My men and I thank ye for your kindness today, Jack,” he said sardonically, giving their coachman a nickname, and tipping his hat in a mocking salute. “God smile on ye!”
Turning his horse, the highwayman saw her as his men rode off into the tree line. Maddi’s heart beat a rapid tattoo in her chest. He was the most handsome man she had ever seen, with his dark, wavy hair and gray eyes, one of which winked at her as he smiled and rode after his partners in crime. The coach started up abruptly, the coachman no doubt shaking with relief that he had not been more hard used by the brigands. He moved the horses along at a fast clip, shaking the passengers’ bones with little regard for their comfort as if he were trying to put distance between their conveyance and the brigands. Maddi watched as her parents strove to come to terms with the morning’s events, and she wondered how much they had lost. Time would tell. For now, they had to make the most of a bad situation. A visit to the local constabulary would no doubt be the first order of business once they had settled in, but there was little else they could do about things.
Cumberland Castle loomed like an enormous ghost ship in an ocean of gloom as they approached. It was dusk, and Maddi had had more than enough of the uncomfortable ride. Three days in a carriage, with stops at inns where the beds had been lumpy and the food mediocre, and a robbery, had made for a very trying journey. She was more than ready for it to be over, and no doubt so were her parents. Her mother was dozing against her father’s shoulder, and that gentleman stared into the gathering darkness outside his window. Maddi straightened her spine, and stretched.
“Papa, we must be almost there now,” she said, looking out the window herself.
The darkness had claimed the land, though a faint gray tint still lingered in the sky. As though to confirm her observation, the carriage turned off the road between two high iron gates onto a long entryway, and the coachman slowed the horses. Maddi could see the castle to her left, lit up against the now complete darkness, growing larger as they approached. The carriage made the last turn, and they were soon stopped in front of the dwelling. Lord John and Lady Fanny stood in the chilly evening air, accompanied by their servants with lanterns in their hands, waiting to greet them and escort them indoors. Maddi was helped down from the carriage at last, and stood with her parents while the servants unloaded the coach, and she bore the hugs and kisses of her relatives with ill-concealed impatience.
“You grow more beautiful each year, young Madalene!” her Uncle John said, his whiskery kiss tickling her cheek.
He was a tall, gaunt man with a dour expression that made him seem a perfect match for the castle. That is, until he smiled, and then his countenance was transformed. Maddi liked him well enough, and was more comfortable with him than with her even more austere aunt.
“Thank you, Uncle John,” she replied, striving to be polite. “And you grow more whiskery.”
Her uncle laughed heartily and gave her an extra affectionate squeeze. Her Aunt Fanny, almost as tall as her husband, with a face that was rarely relieved of its frowning burden by a lighter smile, stood waiting to be greeted. Maddi knew the routine. There was no hugging her aunt, but a kiss on the cheek was required, followed by a solemn and impersonal greeting. The required kiss having been delivered, Maddi said,
“Good evening, Aunt.”
One never addressed her aunt by her given name if one could avoid it. Maddi wondered, as the
y all trooped inside behind her, whether her uncle called her ‘Wife’ instead of Fanny. That might be one way to relieve her boredom this visit...she could keep a tally of the number of times anyone called her aunt by name. The thought made her smile, and her aunt bestowed a more severe frown upon her for such lightheartedness before turning to escort her guests into the castle.
“We were set upon by bandits on the high road,” she heard her father say to Uncle John. “I am certain they took all our valuables, including the gifts that we were bringing you.”
A distressed sound escaped her uncle’s lips, and he and her father went immediately into his study, while the ladies were escorted into the sitting room by the butler. Maddi was hungry, and hoped they were not to be served a paltry supper. Trays were brought in laden with pies and sweetbreads, with meats and cheeses and fruit, and a separate tray was placed where the ladies could serve themselves tea.
“Buntin, please see if their Lordships are ready for supper.” Aunt Fanny’s voice was as distant as her face, and when Buntin returned a moment later accompanied by the gentlemen, it achieved a notable shift, from cold to merely cool. “We are so happy that you could join us, gentlemen,” she said, with absolutely no intonation at all, so no one could tell how she was feeling.
