Regency Scandals: Touch Me, Tempt Me & Take Me Box Set

by Lucy Monroe

“We are discussing it now.”

  She could not gainsay him. They were discussing it and he was being incredibly forthright with her. Perhaps he was less a stickler for proprieties than she had thought.

  “I suppose I may have acted a trifle hastily.”

  “A trifle hastily? No, my dear lady, you acted bloody foolishly! Do you have any idea what could have happened to you that night?”

  “I was careful to keep my disguise.” She saw no need to mention the way it had been compromised by the wet night. “My reputation was quite safe.”

  “Your reputation? That is all that worried you? You could have been attacked by footpads. You could have been raped or killed, or both. As for your reputation, you’ve shown you’ve got little enough concern for it.” Although he started his tirade in a near roar he ended it in a calm tone, laced with disgust.

  Irisa felt tears prick the back of her eyes. She did not want him to see her weak emotions and averted her face. When had she turned into such a watering pot? She never cried.

  At least she hadn’t before meeting Lucas. “I will, of course, understand if you choose to withdraw your offer, my lord.”

  Her mind registered the fact she had said the phrase that Lucas found particularly annoying a split second before he loomed over her, all outraged male.

  His arms caged her in, his body so close she could feel his heat. “What I am going to do, Lady Irisa, is marry you as soon as possible. If I don’t take you in hand, there’s no telling what sort of trouble you might get yourself into. I’m doing the rest of the ton a favor by accepting responsibility for you. Heaven knows your father and mother are incapable of doing a proper job.”

  The first thing that registered as Lucas talked was that she did not like Lucas using the more formal address either. Close on the heels of that discovery came the second one. He had insulted her.

  “I do not need taking in hand,” she said with outrage. “Surely you must see that recent events have been quite out of the ordinary. I made it to the age of twenty without so much as a single incident marring my pristine reputation.”

  “For which we can only be grateful to Providence.”

  She did not appreciate his sarcasm one bit.

  “There is no need to take that tone with me, sir.” Her words were less effective than she would have liked as they came out in an almost breathless whisper due to the fact that he had inched forward and his upper body now touched hers.

  Her shawl, gown and chemise might not have been there for all the notice her body took of them. “Furthermore, it appears you are the one who has no care for my reputation now.”

  He glared, but backed away and she took a steadying breath. She did not move as he stood up and once again adjusted his clothes to proper order.

  He extended his hand to her. “Come, it is time we returned inside. Too much sun is bad for a lady’s complexion and you’ve forgotten your parasol.”

  Indicating her cheek, she said, “My complexion is already quite ruined right now and I’m enjoying the sun.”

  He did not withdraw his hand. “Come now or I will once again join you on the quilt and I make no promise to take care of your reputation or your feminine sensibilities.”

  With blinding clarity, she realized he was not bluffing. She had pushed The Saint past the point of his control and she could either retreat or pay the price of surrender. She stood without his assistance. Nothing was settled between them, but in his present mood it wasn’t going to be either. They might as well retire to the house.

  “Come inside then and visit with my aunt. She rarely gets out anymore, but she adores company.”

  ***

  Lucas had already discovered the elderly woman’s preference for company. Although she had refused his requests to see Irisa, claiming his fiancée needed rest more than company; Lady Upworth had not allowed Lucas to leave her townhouse without taking tea on each occasion he called over the past three days.

  “Good afternoon, my lord. I trust you and Irisa had a convivial visit in the garden.” The mischievous sparkle in Lady Upworth’s eye made Lucas wonder just how much she knew about what had transpired between him and her niece outside.

  He felt unaccustomed heat in his neck.

  “Irisa and I smoothed out some wrinkles between us,” he said as he seated his fiancée on a small sofa and then as had become his custom, took his place next to her. “Has anyone else attempted to call on Irisa since we spoke?”

  “Her mother came by yesterday, but as per your instructions, I had my butler tell her that Irisa was not yet receiving visitors.”

  A small gasp came from the woman beside him and he turned to face Irisa. “Did you want to say something, sweeting?”

  She frowned. “Do not call me endearments in front of my aunt. It isn’t proper.”

  He smiled and did not state the obvious, that she was a little past worrying about such paltry considerations. “Is that all?”

  “No. I don’t like you giving orders where I’m concerned. It should have been my decision whether or not I saw my mother. I’m sure she was terribly offended to have Aunt Harriet turn her away. It would upset me greatly if my presence here caused a rift between my aunt and my parents.”

  “And it would upset me if Lady Langley had been allowed to interrupt your recuperation with another tirade.”

  “Ashton is quite right, Irisa, dear. You needed your rest,” Lady Upworth said.

  “My face is bruised. I am not convalescing from the fever or a war wound.”

  “What’s done is done,” Lucas replied, earning him a set of narrowed golden brown eyes for turning her words back on her.

  “I suppose you’re right. I’ll send a card to Mama, inviting her to call again, or perhaps I should call on her. It would sooth her dignity for me to make the effort.” Irisa bit her lip, clearly deep in thought on the matter.

  Lucas felt irritation swell and tamped it down. She still did not understand the full extent of her new circumstance.

  “Impossible. You will not call on your mother.” When it looked like Irisa would argue, he compromised. “You may invite her here, if you wish, but I will be present.”

  “That is absurd, Lucas. Mama will be much more likely to forgive Aunt’s offense if I call on her.”

  “You will not go to Langley House. Is that clear?”

  “No, it is not clear. You cannot dictate to me in this fashion. I won’t tolerate it.”

  Lady Upworth laughed, a soft melodic sound. “Children. Calm yourselves. Irisa, you must realize that Ashton is only looking after your best interests.”

  Beside him, Irisa stiffened. “I can look after my own interests just fine.”

  This time Lucas laughed. He could not help it. She sounded so sincere. There she sat with a shiner that would make Gentleman Jackson proud, her reputation in tatters and yet she claimed she could look after herself. She did not appreciate his amusement and let him know with an elbow in his side. There was nothing for it, but for him to slide one arm around her waist and pull her against him, thus preventing further attacks from her sharp little appendage.

  “You belong to me and you might as well accept that I take my responsibilities seriously. You will not see your parents again unless I am present.”

  This time Irisa’s gasp of outrage was drowned out by the sounds of new arrivals in the hall. The sitting room door flew open and Mrs. Drake rushed inside closely followed by her husband. She made a beeline for Irisa and fell on her knees in front of her younger sister. “Sister-mine, are you all right?”

  Irisa looked helplessly at Mrs. Drake and Lucas could feel the tension in her. He saved her the effort of answering. “She is fine, but for one nasty bruise.”

  Drake met Lucas’s gaze. “Is it true? Did Langley hit her?”

  Suddenly every pair of eyes in the room was on him. Lady Upworth looked curious as to how he would answer. Irisa looked pleading and Mrs. Drake looked like she was about to be sick.

  CHAPTER NINE

/>   “He lost control, but as I was just explaining to Irisa, he will not have the opportunity to do so again.”

  Drake nodded, his eyes mirroring masculine understanding. “I tried to call on him today and was informed that he is indisposed. I assume he will take longer to heal than Irisa?”

  “Lucas, you did not beat Papa?” Irisa’s tone echoed her inner turmoil.

  Entirely too tenderhearted, she would not understand the need for his violent response to her father’s despicable behavior. He could not resist the emotional appeal in her voice or the worried frown marring her pretty features.

  “I did not beat him, little one.” He did not lie and say he had not hurt Langley, but a few solid punches and a harsh warning did not constitute a beating.

  The man had still been able to walk afterward.

  “I do not understand. Why did Langley hit you, sister-mine?” Mrs. Drake asked, still kneeling in front of Irisa.

  “It’s a long story and I’d rather not go into it.”

  Mrs. Drake did not look pleased by the answer and Drake asked, “Did it have anything to do with the drive you took through the park with Clarice de Brieuse?”

  “Yes,” Irisa said with a sigh.

  Mrs. Drake looked confused. “Who is she?”

  Lucas realized that the questioning would not end until she had her answers. For Irisa’s sake, he decided to give them to her. “Drake, seat your wife and I will explain everything.”

  Irisa turned so that she could whisper close to his ear. “I don’t want to talk about it now, Lucas.”

  “Putting it off will not make it any easier,” he replied.

  She gave a disgruntled sigh. “You are probably right, but I hate all the fuss.”

  He did not remind her that she’d brought it on herself. Somehow he did not think she would appreciate the sentiment. Once Drake had seated both himself and his wife in chairs, Lucas gave a succinct, but edited version of the events.

  “Irisa overheard some gossip to the effect that I kept a mistress. She did not want to believe it, but being the curious creature that she is, she decided to talk to the woman in question. Her name is Clarice de Brieuse and she is my niece’s mother. Irisa chose to do her talking in an open curricle in Hyde Park. Lord and Lady Langley did not approve of her curiosity or the manner in which she assuaged it.”

  His fiancée sagged against him in obvious relief that he had not divulged the more awkward details of her adventure.

  “Oh, Irisa,” Mrs. Drake said.

  “My dear niece, when one is satisfying one’s natural penchant to know, one must use circumspection. It is, I fear, a habit that develops with age and is often lacking in the young. You are very lucky to have such an understanding fiancé in this matter.” Lady Upworth reached out to pat Irisa’s arm in an obvious attempt to soften the rebuke.

  “I suppose,” Irisa grumbled.

  Lucas had the distinct impression that his lady did not agree with her aunt’s assessment.

  “This understanding fiancé has decided to be married by special license in three day’s time to prevent further occurrences like this one.”

  His words were met with varying reactions. Drake nodded in complete understanding. Mrs. Drake looked thoughtful, but Lady Upworth shook her head sadly. “That just won’t do. Irisa’s reputation has already taken a beating. If you cancel the wedding, you are as good as announcing to the ton that her parents have disowned her.”

  Mrs. Drake nodded. “That’s true. The best thing to do would be to act as if nothing has happened, to have the wedding on time and show a unified front as a family.”

  “But Papa has disowned me. He said he wished I wasn’t his daughter and I know he’ll refuse to come to the wedding.” Irisa turned to meet Lucas’s gaze, her own troubled and filled with lingering pain from her father’s callously uttered words. “Not that I’m going to marry you in three days. We still have a great deal to discuss.”

  She could talk until she ran out of words, but she was going to marry him. Her aunt and sister’s opinion had merit, however.

  “How do you suggest we go about pretending nothing has happened?” He knew how he had done it with his mother, but he hoped to avoid the scandal of a dawn appointment.

  “You will have to be seen at entertainments in one another’s company and in the company of Langley and his wife,” Mrs. Drake said.

  “That could be a problem right now,” mused Lady Upworth, looking at Irisa’s bruised face.

  “Well I suppose they could arrange a trip to Langley Hall to make arrangements for the wedding. That would only be natural,” Mrs. Drake responded.

  “No. Irisa will not stay at Langley Hall.” Lucas had no intention of backing down on that particular issue and they might as well know it now.

  Irisa grumbled something, but it was too low for him to hear. “What did you say, sweeting?”

  She scowled. “You’re dictating again.”

  “Do you want to stay at Langley Hall?” he asked.

  “No.”

  “Then why are you complaining?” he asked with barely concealed exasperation.

  “Because I think it should be my decision,” she retorted.

  “Regardless of whose decision it is, it leaves us looking for other alternatives,” Lady Upworth said with some asperity.

  “What about a trip to Ashton’s estate?” Drake suggested.

  “I suppose that would be expected this close to the wedding. It’s quite common for a prospective bride and her parents to make such a visit,” Lady Upworth said.

  Mrs. Drake nodded. “Yes. That would do the trick. There will still be talk, of course. However, Ashton’s place in the ton is unassailable if I understand these things correctly and once it is clear he still intends to go through with the marriage, tittle-tattle will die a natural death.”

  ***

  Irisa breathed a sigh of relief as she quietly closed the door to the tower room. Her ear to the weathered wood, she waited for sounds indicating her escape had been discovered. She thought one of the footmen might have seen her and gone to alert Pansy or Lucas to the fact that she was unaccompanied, but she heard nothing on the other side of the door. No rushing footsteps. No masculine voice raised in irritation.

  Alone at last, she relaxed and glanced around the sparsely furnished room. It would make a wonderful private sitting room with its round walls and romantic atmosphere. Like most English country houses, Ashton Manor had bits and pieces of several past eras in its sprawling architecture, including two matching towers, both of which had roof walks. She had escaped to the east tower and not without a certain amount of ingenuity.

  Pansy thought she was riding with Thea and Drake. Thea, on the other hand, believed that Irisa had gone to her room to rest...with her maid.

  Thea’s children were napping in the nursery and Lucas was closeted in his study in the west tower going over estate business. Mama was hiding in her room trying to pretend that Thea, Drake and their family did not exist and Papa had gone for another of his brooding walks. He hadn’t spoken a word to Irisa since Lucas had carried her from Langley House.

  She thought that might be because Lucas refused to leave her alone and Papa would not berate her in front of witnesses. It simply wasn’t done. And for that reason alone, it had taken Irisa more time than usual to chafe against the uncommon strictures Lucas had imposed on her.

  He had allowed her parents to come to Ashton Manor, but only with the understanding that Irisa was not to be alone in Papa’s company. She had readily agreed, not wanting another ugly scene with her father, but she had not anticipated Lucas interpreting her agreement to extend to no time alone whatsoever.

  Lucas refused to take the slightest chance that Papa’s aberrant behavior at Langley House would be repeated and thus Irisa’s need to escape.

  Irisa liked her own company. In it, she did not have to live up to the expectations of perfection placed on her by others. Since coming to Ashton Manor, she had not even been allowed to s
leep alone. Lucas had insisted Pansy be installed on a cot in her bedchamber. Irisa had spent a great deal of her life in her own company and felt stifled by the constant presence of another person with her at all times – particularly since that other person was not Lucas.

  He had avoided her almost as assiduously as her Papa since arriving at Ashton Manor and absolutely refused all efforts on her behalf to discuss the termination of their engagement. It irritated and amazed her that she had not realized in all the time she had known him how stubborn he could be. She was certainly aware of it now.

  He insisted with absolute arrogant assurance that their engagement stand. And because he was so adamant, no one listened to Irisa when she said she wasn’t sure she wanted to marry him. Her mother thought her an ungrateful wretch after the way she’d made a spectacle of herself. That was no more than she had expected, but even Thea was convinced Irisa suffered no more than typical bridal jitters.

  Perhaps if she had spoken more forcefully at least Thea would have paid attention, but then that was the problem. She wasn’t sure she didn’t want to marry him either. She simply was not sure about anything right now. She needed uninterrupted time to think. So, she had snuck away. No one would be the wiser until Thea and Drake returned from their ride and from the way Drake had been looking at her sister, Irisa assumed that would not be for quite a while.

  With a novel and quilt tucked under one arm, she climbed the circular stairway. Placing her burdens on the top step by her feet, she pushed the heavy bar from its loops and opened the door leading to the roof walk. Her book and blanket once again tucked under her arm, she walked out into the afternoon sunlight and her breath caught at the absolute glorious stillness surrounding her.

  Breathing in the fresh spring air, she let her gaze sweep over the rolling hills surrounding Lucas’s estate. She felt as if she could see for miles and perhaps she could. Was that not the church spire from the local village? She walked the entire circumference of the tower roof, soaking in both her solitude and the magnificent view, before spreading the quilt and sitting down with her back propped against the stone wall.