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

by Lucy Monroe

  Could Miss de Brieuse be in love with Lucas? No. She had marriage plans herself and was moving to France. Surely, she would not attempt to circumvent Lucas’s plans now. Besides, she’d been much too upset about the drive through Hyde Park. If she wanted an end to Lucas and Irisa’s engagement, she would have been pleased by Irisa’s notorious behavior – not scandalized.

  There were other ladies of the ton who would be pleased to marry an earl as wealthy as Lucas. Cecily Carlisle-Jones among them. Her husband had lived for but a single year of marriage and the other woman’s plans to better her station with a more advantageous second marriage were not exactly a secret.

  She had a personal dislike of Irisa and her family, but how would she, or anyone for that matter discover the scandalous truth?

  Papa had been so careful to keep the second wedding hush-hush. No one outside of the family and the elderly vicar who had performed the ceremony should have known about it. It was on the parish records of course. It would not have been legal otherwise and therefore pointless, but how had anyone known to look?

  Perhaps they had not known. Perhaps discovery had been a fortuitous circumstance for someone wanting revenge, or as she’d first considered, to get Irisa out of Lucas’s life. Whatever had led to its discovery, the fact someone in the Polite World knew her secret changed everything.

  She could not marry Lucas and in that moment wondered how she’d ever believed she could. The blackmailer had got at least one thing right. A paragon of male virtue like Lucas would eventually find marriage to a woman of her past a liability. The secret would out one day, just as Aunt Harriet had warned her parents so many years ago.

  Irisa would always be the bastard daughter of a man who did not love or want her and no amount of proper behavior could change that.

  Lucas had said he did not care, that she was not responsible for her family’s actions, but she was responsible for her own. In her reckless desire to break off their engagement, she had already damaged her reputation, just as the blackmailer had alluded to.

  Out of a sense of duty and honor that she could not help admiring, Lucas was prepared to wed a lady almost as notorious as his mother. Irisa could not let him make such a sacrifice.

  The blackmail letter put everything into perspective.

  She must cry off the engagement and not because she was afraid of marrying a man who did not love her, but because she loved him too much to saddle him with an improper wife.

  She set aside the piece of white parchment that held such painful words and drafted her own note to Lucas asking him to call on her at his earliest convenience.

  ***

  Lucas arrived at Lady Upworth’s townhouse a scant half hour after receiving his fiancée’s summons. Although her note had been polite and brief, he had sensed an underlying agitation. If her father had been visiting and upset her, Lucas would not be responsible for his actions. He still thought Langley the most likely culprit for locking Irisa onto the roof walk.

  He was shown into the library and was surprised to note that Irisa was alone. She stood with her back to him, seemingly wholly occupied by the book filled shelves. The yellow silk of her gown fell in graceful folds from the high waist, accentuating her femininity in an utterly charming way.

  “Where is your aunt?” They had taken enough risks with Irisa’s reputation.

  Besides the presence of the white haired dowager would keep his lust in check.

  Irisa turned to face him, her body stiffly erect. “I told her I needed to speak to you privately.”

  “What is this about?” He hoped she wasn’t going to insist on another discussion regarding their mutual passion. He did not think his self-control was up to it.

  She indicated one of the chairs near the fireplace. Though the day had been warm, a fire blazed in the grate. “Please, sit down, my lord.”

  His eyes narrowed at the formal words, but her subdued air discouraged him from taking issue with it. Something was terribly wrong. He waited for her to take her own advice before seating himself.

  She fixed her gaze on the clasped hands in her lap. “I am afraid that I have decided we will not suit, my lord. I have no choice but to end our engagement.”

  He could not react. Not yet. Had she sounded even a trifle hesitant, he would know what needed to be said. Her certainty tore at his insides like the sharpest rapier blade.

  “May I ask why?”

  “It would be a misalliance, my lord.”

  “Look at me, damn it. If you are going to break your vow to me, the least you can do is look at me while you explain your reasons for doing so.” Fury and fear fought for supremacy. The mere thought of losing her made his insides feel hollow. “Is this because I don’t spout romantic nonsense? Do you want me to tell you I love you?”

  Her head came up and her eyes were glassy with unshed tears. “Do you love me?” she asked and then shook her head. “It would be better if you didn’t.”

  Why? “I’ll take care of you, Irisa. I will be faithful and you will have my protection. Is that not good enough?”

  “Thank you. You honor me with your willingness to align your life with my own, but it cannot be.” Her voice broke and she had to take a deep breath before going on. “I’m very sorry, Lucas. I should never have allowed you to court me. I can see that now.”

  She sounded bloody pitiful and that was the only reason he didn’t shake her. What was going on in that muddled brain of hers? “You aren’t crying off from our engagement, Irisa.”

  She took another deep breath and then met his gaze squarely. “Yes, I am. It’s the only honorable thing to do.”

  “Is this about your ridiculous idea that I only respond passionately to you when I am angry?” he demanded, feeling as if he had been pulled into one of those awful plays guests put on at house parties, but he had not been given the script and he bloody well did not know his lines.

  “No. It has nothing to do with that.” She bit her lip and then tensed as if shouldering a heavy burden. “I’ll place the announcement of the end of our betrothal in the paper tomorrow.”

  “If you do, I’ll sue the paper for printing lies about a lord of the realm.”

  Her eyes widened. “You can’t do that. It isn’t a lie.”

  “It is. You’re going to marry me. You gave me your word.”

  “I can’t,” she wailed and then the wetness swimming in her eyes spilled over.

  He jumped up and pulled her from her chair as well, then took his seat again, tugging her into his lap.

  She buried her face in his waistcoat. “Please, Lucas. Do not make this any harder than it already is.”

  “Are you still concerned about my relationship with Clarice?” he asked.

  “No,” she said, her voice muffled by his chest.

  That left only one alternative. Wedding nerves. He had heard that many brides were subject to them and Irisa’s engagement had been more eventful than most.

  “It’s all right, little one. You will overcome this upset and our marriage will go forward as planned in four day’s time.”

  “But, Lucas—“

  He wouldn’t let her finish. “Trust me.” He tipped her chin up with his index finger. “You can, you know.”

  “I know. You are the most honorable of men.”

  He smiled. “Then how can you help marrying me, my love?”

  “I don’t know.”

  ***

  Irisa paced the drawing room carpet, waiting for her sister to arrive. Thea was in the nursery, tucking the children in for the night. Normally, Irisa would have gone up to tell her nephew and niece goodnight as well, but this evening she was too agitated. Children had a way of sensing upset in an adult, particularly her nephew. Irisa did not want to disrupt his bedtime. So, she waited in the drawing room and tried to formulate her plans.

  She’d already decided she needed to share the blackmail letter with someone in the family.

  Her brother would have been the best choice, but that wasn’t an o
ption. He had foregone the Season and was not due to arrive until the next day for her wedding. By then, she hoped to be out of Town.

  Thea, with her practical approach to life, seemed the best alternative. Besides, Irisa admitted that she was a coward. If she told her parents, they would blame her. It was, after all, her fault. If she told Lucas, he would insist on marrying her anyway, if only out of a continued misplaced sense of duty.

  She could not bear to think he might love her. It hurt enough to turn her back on life with the man she loved more than her own life, to think she was also giving up his love would be too much to bear. However, she could not allow him to make the same mistake his father had made in taking an inappropriate bride. She had to protect Lucas from his own chivalrous nature.

  Drake came into the drawing room with his wife and Irisa considered that complication. It was difficult enough to expose her guilt and pain to her sister, but she did not see a polite way of disposing of her brother-in-law’s presence.

  Perhaps he would have insight on how to deal with a blackmailer. Thea said that Drake could be quite ruthless and dealing with a blackmailer required that trait. Ending her engagement would protect Lucas, but the rest of her family needed to be sheltered from the scandal coming to light as well.

  Drake looked at her questioningly. “I thought you had plans to attend the Wickham ball with Lucas tonight.”

  “I am in bed with a sick headache.” Now that she’d tried it on two occasions, even amidst her pain, it awed Irisa how exceedingly easy it was for a lady to fake illness and sneak from the house.

  “You do not look ill to me, but you do look worried,” Drake remarked, his eyes seeing far too much.

  Irisa nodded. She had to stay calm, but the knowledge that someone knew her family’s secret and would blackmail her with it kept eating at her composure.

  She had to hold her hands and knees together to keep from falling apart. “I need to leave Town immediately.”

  Thea’s eyes narrowed. “Why?”

  “I cannot marry Lucas, but he won’t let me cry off.”

  “I think I’ll leave you two with some privacy,” Drake offered.

  Irisa shook her head. “No. Please. If you do, it is likely I will not find the inducement I need to hang on to my composure,” she admitted with a shaking voice. “Besides, I would welcome your advice on another matter.”

  She was trying to be strong, but it was so hard.

  Thea forced Irisa to take a seat before finding one herself. Drake remained standing. His towering presence was almost as comforting as Lucas’s. The thought brought a fresh wave of sadness and she blinked at fresh moisture that came to cloud her eyes.

  “Are you entirely sure you want to cry off?” Thea asked.

  Irisa removed her gloves, concentrating on the task in a bid to gather her composure. “I have no choice.”

  Her sister looked like she was about to argue, but Drake laid his hand on her arm and she remained silent.

  “Tell us why, Irisa,” he instructed gently.

  She didn’t think she could say it out loud without breaking down, so she pulled the blackmail letter from her reticule and showed it to them.

  As they read, Drake’s face tightened with rage and Thea gasped. “This is awful. Who could do such a thing?”

  Irisa twisted her hands together, mangling her gloves. “I don’t know. I cannot imagine how they found out about Papa and Mama’s recent wedding or why they care if I marry Lucas, but they have and they do. I won’t let him be hurt.”

  “You’ve decided to accede to the blackmailer’s demands?” Drake asked.

  “Yes. I have no choice. If I don’t, everyone will be hurt again because of me and I could not bear it.” She choked on the last words. She had never been much of a crier, but lately it seemed as if she had no control over her wayward emotions.

  Thea left her chair and wrapped her arms around Irisa. “It’s going to be all right, sister-mine. Even if this person tells the ton about the Langley’s marriage, it will not be the end of the world.”

  Irisa could not respond. Thea didn’t understand. She’d only lived among the ton for the past few years. She did not know how cruel they could be. Papa and Mama would be ostracized. Jared, Thea, Drake and even their children would be hurt as well.

  “Did you tell Ashton about this?” Drake asked, pulling his wife back into a chair. He seemed to sense that Irisa needed some distance right now.

  “No. He would insist he still wants to marry me, but I realize now I should never have encouraged him in the first place.” Her voice came out barely above a whisper.

  “Why do you say that?” Thea asked. “I was sure you loved him.”

  “He deserves more than what I am.”

  “How can you say that? You are a wonderful woman! Ashton is very lucky to have snagged you.” Thea’s staunch loyalty touched Irisa, but it did not sway her.

  She turned to her brother-in-law and she saw understanding in his eyes.

  “You believe that because you are illegitimate you aren’t worthy of The Saint.”

  “Irisa could not possibly believe something so preposterous, Pierson.” Thea glared at her husband.

  But he just shook his head. “Ask her.”

  Thea turned to face Irisa. “Is that true?”

  “I will always be a potential source of embarrassment for Lucas, just as I am for Papa. Whatever fondness Lucas may have for me now will eventually be choked out by the reality of my circumstances.”

  “That is not true,” Thea insisted.

  “It happened with Papa.” Irisa’s feelings were choking her, but she forced herself to go on. “Even if no one ever discovers the truth, it will always stand between us. He wants to marry a paragon and I am nothing but a bastard.”

  Her sister gasped in outrage. “How dare you call yourself such a name?”

  Drake actually smiled. “Your sister has an aversion to that particular phrase, especially when applied to someone she loves.”

  Irisa sighed. “I am sorry. I don’t mean to upset you, Thea. I thought about leaving Town without coming by here first, but I wanted to warn you about the blackmailer. I know I am weak, but I hoped Drake would inform Papa. I don’t think I could face him knowing that I am once again causing my family distress.”

  Thea frowned. “That’s the second time you’ve said that. I get the feeling you are not talking about your drive through Hyde Park with Miss de Brieuse.”

  “I believe your sister holds herself responsible in some way for past hurts in your family, Thea.”

  “It’s not important.” Irisa wanted to focus on the matter at hand. Dealing with the blackmailer. “I must make arrangements to leave Town tonight, tomorrow morning at the very latest. I will have to ask you to take care of sending an announcement of the broken betrothal to the papers.”

  Before either Thea or Drake could reply to Irisa’s statement a familiar voice interrupted their discussion. “I thought I made myself clear this afternoon on that matter. There will be no announcement. No broken engagement and you bloody well aren’t leaving Town before the wedding.”

  Irisa turned stricken eyes to the doorway. “Lucas.”

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  Lucas ignored her exclamation of his name and turned to Drake. “Thank you for sending for me. I see my presence is indeed required.” The civility in his tone was at complete odds with the banked fury in his eyes.

  “How could you have known to alert Ashton that Irisa would be here this evening?” Thea asked.

  “When the footman told us she waited in our drawing room, I sent for Ashton.”

  “You had no right,” Irisa said, anger and a sense of betrayal adding to her already overset emotions.

  Drake looked wholly unrepentant. “Ashton is entitled to know what has happened and make his own decisions accordingly.”

  Lucas moved into the room, taking a leaning stance against the fireplace mantle nearest where Irisa sat. “Perhaps you would care to tell me w
hat this is all about.”

  “Someone is trying to blackmail Irisa into crying off from your engagement,” Drake replied.

  “I see.” Lucas turned to her. “What precisely is the blackmailer using to threaten you?”

  Irisa felt the deep probing of Lucas’s regard. If she did not tell him, Drake would, but she could not make her mouth form the words.

  “Read this.” Thea handed Lucas the letter.

  Irisa wanted to snatch it from his grasp. It said such awful things about her, but they were true and she could not hide from that reality any longer.

  Lucas’s eyes narrowed as he read. Finally, he finished and raised his gaze to her. Instead of condemnation, she saw confusion. “I realize that these threats are ugly, little one, but surely with no proof to substantiate them, they cannot do you or your family any real harm.”

  “The marriage is recorded in the parish register. That is proof enough, but if someone cared to, they could send word to Thea’s former home in the West Indies and find record of the first countess’s death six years after I was born.”

  Lucas’s face lost all expression. “You’re telling me this is the truth? Your parents’ marriage twenty-one years ago was a sham because the first countess was still living?”

  Sudden, sickening realization poured through Irisa. “You said you knew. When you asked me to marry you, you told me Papa had discussed the matter with you. You said it didn’t matter.”

  “Langley spouted some idiocy about the embarrassment of your sister marrying Drake.”

  “You mean you didn’t know that Irisa is illegitimate?” Drake asked.

  Lucas answered Drake’s question without shifting his regard from her. “No.”

  “Well, now you do and we need to decide what’s to be done regarding this matter of blackmail.” Thea’s tone implied it was all very simple.

  Irisa knew it was anything but. Her father had tricked her and Lucas. She wasn’t sure how, but she knew he was responsible. Which meant that Lucas had not known her awful secret and now he did.

  Pain and grief crushed her heart. At least before, when she had believed Lucas knew the truth, she had drawn comfort from the fact that he cared enough for her not to be swayed by it. Even if she had to give him up, she had that. Now, she had nothing.