Unleashed Desires 0f A Noble Lady (Steamy Historical Regency)

by Scarlett Osborne

  Donald was a bit flustered, and even possibly a little offended, but he could definitely understand wanting to protect Emma. “I would only ever want to protect and care for Lady Emma,” he assured her father.

  “Of course. I never thought anything less of you. I do have one last question, if you are willing to entertain this conversation just a little longer,” Lord Westfolk inquired.

  “Ask what you need to bring you peace of mind.”

  “Do you want to marry my daughter?”

  “I do,” Donald answered without hesitation.

  “And you want to marry her for love?”

  “I can think of no greater reason,” Donald said with the conviction that only gentlemen who have truly fallen so far can summon.

  “Then you have my blessing. More than that, even. Not only would you be a more than acceptable match for my daughter but I find you to be a respectable gentleman. I would be more than happy to have you as my son-in-law.” He leaned over and planted a reassuring, paternal hand on Donald’s shoulder. “You are already family as is, My Lord, might as well make it official, right?”

  The tension finally left Donald’s body as he was told he would be welcome as Lord Westfolk’s son-in-law. This was the second time in a day that he had been told that pursuing his love was the right thing to do, and it only reinforced his drive to marry Emma.

  “I can think of no one I’d rather give my blessing to,” Lord Westfolk added cheerfully.

  “And,” Donald was hesitant now, a bit uncertain, “I should ask her soon, yes? That is what would be best.”

  Lord Westfolk was thoughtful. “I would think so. The sooner the better even. The Countess and I were going to head back to the country estate too and, if you ask sooner rather than later, we can save ourselves a trip.”

  “Yes, right of course,” Donald nodded, half lost in thought, preparing already.

  “Lord Stapleton,” Lord Westfolk laughed. “That was a joke, you know. Ask when you are ready, but do not fret, young Lord. My daughter loves you just as much as you love her, I have no doubt. I don’t even think she will even bother turning down your first proposal.”

  “Turning down my first proposal?” Donald asked, terrified at the possibility of any sort of rejection.

  “Yes, of course. Many young ladies work hard to keep up the appearances and it is quite common for them to reject the first couple of proposals from a young lord.” He smiled a bit wistfully. “If I recall correctly, my wife rejected me a total of four times before finally accepting my proposal.”

  “I was aware of the practice but I must confess it never occurred to me that it would come up in my proposal.”

  “How presumptuous of you, My Lord. To think my daughter had no other suitors.” Lord Westfolk was really giving Donald a hard time now that he had him sorted out. Donald always appreciated Lord Westfolk’s boisterous ribbing, a stark contrast from the somber evenings he had spent with his own father.

  Still, Donald hoped that Lord Westfolk was right. He didn’t know if he could endure a rejection from Emma, even if it was just for formalities sake.

  “If you want I could send someone for her now, you could tell her of your intents,” Lord Westfolk offered.

  “No thank you, My Lord. I appreciate your enthusiasm, truly, but I would like some time to prepare for such an important question.”

  “Of course, how foolish of me, a hopeless romantic like you will probably want to think of just the right thing to say.”

  “Quite right, My Lord.” Donald shifted as if he were ready to stand, believing this conversation would soon come to an end, as he wished to go home and begin thinking of his plans. Lord Westfolk appeared to have missed the cue.

  “Can you believe there are gentlemen that propose by writing letters?” Lord Westfolk scoffed. “I know it is proper, but to think that you wouldn’t want to see the look on someone’s face when you ask them such a question. Baffling to me.”

  “Certainly much more suited for people who are matched for reasons aside for love,” Donald answered earnestly and shifted in the chair again.

  “Yes, well, politics must be a part of everything, mustn't it? But let’s not keep each other any longer, My Lord. I am sure we both have important business to get to.”

  Business! Oh bloody damn it!

  Donald stood and turned quickly to look at the grandfather clock that had been ticking away behind him. It was just a little after noon.

  Good. I still have time.

  In all the worry over the note from Lord Westfolk, Donald had forgotten he had promised to meet Matthew at the Atlantic Animal Fur Company’s offices at one. “Not to rush off, Lord Westfolk, but I have forgotten a previous engagement. If you are satisfied, might I have your leave?”

  “Of course, if you have previous business, don’t let me keep you.”

  “Thank you for having me in your lovely home, as always,” Donald said while rushing out and then stopped to turn back. “Your blessing means the world to me. I am very excited to start a family with your daughter.”

  The Earl of Westfolk smiled and waved goodbye as Donald departed to his coach hastily.

  Chapter 14

  “I wish you were rushing into good news,” Matthew said from a desk covered with ledgers as Donald practically ran into the office. Baldwin stood behind Matthew, waiting in the event that he needed assistance with the books. He bowed to Donald when he entered, but allowed the two lords to continue their conversation uninterrupted.

  “Yes, well at least I gave you some small warning about the business being stolen from us last night. It’s not a lot, but it’s enough that I have been working continuously to counteract the damage that Lord Gallanville is doing.” Donald sighed, not wanting to own up to his failures in front of Matthew.

  “Well, it is actually worse than that, since this small business is what I was hoping would keep us afloat.” Matthew looked at Donald morosely.

  “Keep us afloat? What are you talking about? We have more than a dozen large supply clients for that.” Donald’s voice was a mixture of frustration and confusion, which was the harshest he had ever spoken to Matthew.

  “There is a shortage of fur in America. Some sort of plague going around and killing all the wild animals. Trappers are barely bringing in a tenth of what they used to,” Matthew explained, leaving Donald speechlessly staring at him.

  He almost couldn’t comprehend what Matthew was saying. “I talked, I bargained, I practically begged everyone I could. But what it comes down to is that the fur simply isn’t there. We might be able to get enough to fulfill orders for some smaller shops, but none of these bigger ones. And now, with our current needs…I just don’t know, Donald,” Matthew confessed.

  Donald stood silent in the office for a long time, with Matthew staring off into space.

  “Baldwin, how much time do we have?” Donald asked while pinching the bridge of his nose.

  “Time, My Lord?” the pudgy man asked uncertainly.

  “Time until the business formally goes under,” Donald clarified.

  “That is hard to estimate, My Lord, give me but a moment. May I take a seat?” Both gentlemen gestured simultaneously for their employee to sit. Baldwin cleared his throat and started to pore over the ledgers while doing scratch math on a piece of loose paper.

  “Do you have a plan?” Matthew asked in a tone that Donald would have sworn was incredulous if it had come from anyone but him.

  “Not a whole one. Not yet. But there are always solutions. We can look for fur elsewhere. America is not the only place in the world with fur.” Donald was speaking and thinking at the same time now.

  “Finding alternate sources takes capital. Capital we already invested in the trip to America,” Matthew countered. “The reason we went to America was because many of the alternatives are already in long-term contracts with other business owners. Other fur sources are not something we have access to.”

  “Fine, then we will increase our prices,” Do
nald offered.

  This time it was Baldwin’s turn to speak up. “In order to keep ourselves in the black we would need to raise our prices three hundred percent. Not infeasible with a proper reputation. Still we would be charging far more than almost any other fur supplier not relying on American traders.” Baldwin didn’t look up from the books as he talked.

  “Fine. We could avoid risking debt by buying out our contracts and investing in different goods with the remainder. Build ourselves back up again.” Donald was reaching now and he could feel it. He simply refused to let the failure of his fur trading business be a sure thing.

  “And irrevocably damage our reputation in the process, no doubt. No one likes flighty business owners. Plus we already have furs painted on the sign and I really like that sign,” Matthew quipped, his joke offset by his increasingly foul mood.

  “Well there is always something. I refuse to believe we have no options.”

  Baldwin closed the ledger and sat back, causing both Lords to turn to him. “Six months, give or take. That is how long you would be able to run your business with no cost-cutting changes. Nine months if you slowly bleed yourselves out, but I would discourage it. And not simply because it would involve cutting my pay. I would dare say the only thing investors hate more than a flighty business is one that dies noisily,” Baldwin remarked, a comment Donald found oddly revealing about his enigmatic employee.

  “Bloody hell,” Matthew whispered to himself and cupped his head in his hands.

  “Honestly, I thought it might have been worse. Six months is doable. We can come up with a solution in that amount of time,” Donald said assuredly.

  “And in the meantime, I get to deal with angry clients complaining about late or short shipments,” Matthew bemoaned.

  “And what do you suggest as an alternative?”

  “I say we realize when our jig is up, pay our debts and move on,” Matthew said and Donald was absolutely stunned.

  “Matthew, I am surprised at you. As long as I have known you, for years and years, I never once heard you suggest we give up on anything. Not when we tried to cross over your family’s pond in the raft we made out of gardening supplies. Not when we were being harassed by Anderson and his boys in school. Not when we did everything we could to make this business what it is. And now, this is the moment you want to call it quits.” Donald voice was full of genuine shock.

  Matthew stood up, almost as if he were prepared to act in defense of some terrible accusation, but then finally slumped back down into the wooden desk chair. “You are right. I am sorry, Donald. I became so wrapped up in my own perception of failure. I was the one who was supposed to secure finances from America and now I have made it so the thing we have built together will fail.”

  “This isn’t your fault, Matthew. Neither of us could have foreseen nature or its ways. Such as it is, in the fur business. But I know you don’t truly want to give up. I certainly don’t. And I am determined that we will see our way through this. The Atlantic Animal Fur Company will not breath its last in six months, or six years, or six hundred years, so help me.”

  Donald was working himself up quite a bit, but he needed to. He could not stand by and let his best friend doubt himself for one more second.

  “Donald, who knew you had such an uplifting speech in you.” Matthew stood up from his chair again, this time seemingly inspired. “You’re absolutely right. I won’t let myself give up on the business. I have a bunch of letters and leads I need to follow up on from my absence. Perhaps the solution to our problem lies in the stack of mail I have been avoiding.” He laughed, that wonderful old Matthew laugh.

  He strolled over to the door. “You can hold down the fort for one more day while I catch up at home, can’t you Donald?”

  “I suppose I could, as a favor to you,” Donald smiled and Matthew laughed hard again, shutting the door behind him.

  “That was certain inspiring, M’Lord,” Baldwin commented from his seat. “Would it be too forward to ask if you meant it?”

  “Every single word, Baldwin,” Donald informed him.

  “Well if it helps, M’Lord, I have known few people with better business acumen than you. If anyone could come up with a solution for your business woes in six months it would be you, Lord Stapleton. And the only persons who could probably do better than you are you and the good Lord Thetmont, such as it is,” Baldwin said with admiration.

  “Thank you for your vote of confidence, Baldwin. And yes it does help. Especially now.” Donald walked over to sit behind his desk. “Because I am going to need all the help I can get.”

  * * *

  Donald was surprised multiple times as the whole situation had played out. A tea invitation was a little more formal than Matthew usually kept things between them. A lot more, actually. Not only that, but he was surprised again when Emma accepted. Not that Emma wouldn’t want to go, but honestly this seemed stiff to the point of concern and he was going to bring up that point to Matthew, but Emma accepted the invitation before he could.

  Donald had arrived with Emma, Lady Henrietta and their lady’s maids, having offered them a ride from the Westfolk Estate so they could arrive together. The original plan had been to enjoy the comfort of his garden, but instead he had chosen to wait in a sitting room since the day had become oppressively warm.

  They all sat in the dark room, kept shuttered to keep the heat out. The tea was served with lemon and other cooler refreshments.

  It was awkward, Donald wouldn’t deny it. He didn’t sense any hostility per se, but it was clear to him that no one knew how to broach the sudden shift in dynamic. That was until Matthew suddenly spoke up. “Would anyone like to hear the story about how Leeland was marked by a skunk?”

  There was a pause before Donald was forced to ask, “What in all God’s green earth is a skunk?”

  “I heard of one of those. I think they had one at the London Zoo once. Little black and white cat-looking creatures, right?” Emma inserted. And just like that they eased back into their old ways. It didn’t feel exactly as it had, Donald would admit, but some things would have to change, that was the nature of things.

  This is exactly what I want.

  Being able to keep everything, his business, his friendship, and have the love of his life in his life. He could have it. A deep sense of calm and satisfaction rested on him, strong enough to ignore any nagging feelings of doubt that ate at the little parts of him.

  Chapter 15

  The thing that Emma loved most about her courtship with Donald was the frequency of his visits now. Before it had only been appropriate for him to visit once a week or so. Now he came to see her more often. She enjoyed the long languid walks in the park or family gardens.

  There were actually many instances of seemingly simple silence where they would enjoy each other’s presence simply for what it was. It was these times that Emma simply loved to stare at Donald, usually while he was busy looking away at some aspect of the garden or another. The way his face lit up when he was looking at a particularly interesting or beautiful plant. She had only ever seen him get that excited when he was looking at her, and it was too much for her to look at him in those times.

  This was also the perfect time to admire other things about Donald. The smooth musculature of his calves as he walked next to her. The broad strength of his shoulders. The strain of his hard chest muscles when he would lean down to pick a flower. Emma thought of Donald as perfection carved from flesh. And each subtle movement and moment just made her want to reach out.

  She wanted to touch him so bad. She caught herself unconsciously reaching out several times and was forced to pull away. Once she was incredibly embarrassed when Donald caught her reaching out to him. He blushed as well and gently brushed his hand against hers. And just that simple touch had set her aflame all over again.

  His hands always drew her attention the most, though. So large and strong, yet capable of delicately plucking the most fragile flower to give to her. Those han
ds were large enough to grasp both of hers in one of his. His hands were stained in ink, especially around the edges of his fingertips, and were surprisingly soft, despite looking well weathered.

  Those were the hands that suddenly grasped hers on today's walk. Despite knowing that Donald had met with her father a week ago, despite knowing that this was coming, she was still taken aback. She blinked and her voice caught in her throat in a choked squeak when Donald went down on his knees in front of her.

  “Emma, you haven’t just made me happy for our courtship. You have made me happy ever since we truly became friends. And for friendship to evolve, to grow and blossom into love. That is the way I imagine love growing into its most beautiful form. Like the flowers we both admire. To see the flower of our love as beautiful as it is and not reach out to pluck it would be a crime that I know of no fitting punishment for. That is why I, Donald Stafney, Marquess of Stapleton, promise to care for you for all of your days and love you for twice as long as that. Will you marry me?”