A Lady for the Taking Read online

  “I’ve heard of the place.” Nick reached over and took the newly filled glass of scotch that Harry offered. He took a long sip from the cut glass tumbler before continuing. “There is a school for young ladies there. Very private and not at all the sort of place a young lady of good breeding should be sent. It is more for the…troublesome types of females on the edges of Society, shall we say. Which is why it is so far away from any sort of civilization.”

  That made Harry frown with something close to worry at that assessment. “I would hardly call Miss Marshwood troublesome. A bit fearful, perhaps, but certainly not troublesome.”

  Nick shrugged. “I will look into it. I have contacts there. Though I doubt anything will come of it, for I feel that is merely a dead end. Still, it will not hurt to look.” He waved his glass in Harry’s general direction. “Continue.”

  Harry wanted to argue that point, but from the firm set of Nick’s chin, he knew the duke’s mind was made up. “Very well. After her week in Sharpe-on-Edgecombe, Lady Penny, as she prefers to be called, returned to Juniper Hall where she spent another week being measured for a new wardrobe. Best of everything money can buy and at her uncle’s direction I am told, even though his other daughter, Josephine is of an age to make her own come out this Season as well. Lady Josephine made her bows at court, I am told, but that is all. No official Season.”

  “Family matters? Complications?” Nick asked and Harry could only shrug his shoulders in response. He had no idea. Nor did any of his contacts, for that matter.

  “No idea. Wish I did know. After that, however, Miss Marshwood traveled on to London where she and a rumored cousin or aunt that I can find no record of even existing supposedly moved into the Earl of Willfield’s townhome as the earl is presently abroad,” Harry continued. “I suspect the cousin slash aunt story is a ruse, though I’ve no idea why anyone would go to the bother unless they are up to something. Especially as there is every indication that Miss Marshwood has come to London in search of a husband, which we knew, of course. There is also some indication that the current Lord Telford and Lord Willfield know each other in some capacity, which is likely why she is residing there, though why, if she needed a husband so badly in general, she would not wed Willfield’s idiot son, as the man is desperate for an heir to secure the line, I have no idea. Meaning that is yet another point in favor of her being involved in some sort of plot against Phin. And unfortunately, that is the end.”

  As far as reports went, that was not the most scintillating but it was thorough and it was also a start.

  Harry’s report was also rather spotty in places, but that was deliberate. Harry knew a bit more about Penny than he was willing to reveal to Nick just yet. Too much risk of Nick simply taking matters into his own hands and threatening to dismember people or something of that nature so that he could be done with things. Or because he was bored.

  Harry firmly believed this situation required a more delicate touch. And not simply because he wished to bed the delectable Lady Penny. Oh, and save her from her uncle’s plans. That too, of course.

  “Nothing on a possible connection between Telford and Fullbridge?” Nick asked as he scowled.

  “Not as of yet,” Harry confessed, “but my man in Keswick has yet to report back. He says he has something but wanted another day or so to see if he could learn more. Didn’t want to make a report in error or encourage a false accusation.”

  “Hmmm.” The duke rifled through the papers again, frowning now. “May I have these? I’d like to study them further. There is still an unknown connection to Fullbridge and we need to find it. Quickly. Before one of us does something unforgivably stupid like bedding the Marshwood chit.”

  Harry ground his teeth in frustration. Nick was pushing him close to the edge. “I am not going to bed Lady Penny! She is a…a…”

  “Suspect?” Nick supplied helpfully and far too cheerfully for Harry’s liking.

  “No, she is not a suspect! I am not sure what she is, other than a young woman likely caught up in something far greater than she can control!” Harry shouldn’t be defending Penny nor should he be shouting at Nick – but he couldn’t help himself. The man drove him to madness! Honestly!

  To Harry’s annoyance, Nick just grinned. “That is a rather passionate defense of a woman you claim to care nothing about, Harry. You, a man who says that he has no passion, nor strong emotions.”

  “This is not passion! It is…it is…” Harry again struggled to find the right words.

  “Stupidity? Thinking with your cock?” Nick was not about to let the matter rest, though he could tell Harry was becoming annoyed because he hefted himself out of the chair and made his way to the door.

  “I am not sure what this is, Nick,” Harry confessed as he leaned back against his desk in resignation, his shoulders slumped, some of his earlier anger gone. Nick was only trying to help – in his own way. “Other than something I should likely not be doing.”

  Pausing at the doorway, Nick turned back to Harry and this time, he was completely serious. “Or perhaps it is precisely what you should be doing, Harry. Men don’t live on work and subterfuge alone. They need a woman, and…more. Flesh and blood. That sort of thing. I, of all people, have learned at least that much over the last few years. And I am notoriously thick-skulled about such matters.”

  Then the duke was gone and Harry didn’t have the strength to call the man back and argue. Not that it would have done any good. It wouldn’t have. Nick believed what he believed and nothing Harry could say would change his mind.

  And perhaps – just perhaps, mind you – Nick wasn’t completely wrong.

  Perhaps Harry had been thinking with his cock rather than his head as of late. Lord only knew, it had been long enough since he had lain with a woman. Since around the time he had met Lady Dory, actually, knowing full well that if he bedded another while it was believed by all and sundry he was courting the middle Tillsbury daughter, Frost would have had his head on a pike, his ballocks right beside it. And rightfully so.

  Was that all this attraction to Lady Penny was all about? The need for bedsport with a willing female?

  Maybe. At least Harry hoped that was all it was.

  He didn’t want to think of the complications that would arise if this peculiar feeling in his gut was anything more than a desperate need for a good fuck.

  Unable to concentrate on the reports still cluttering up his desk, Harry all but followed Nick out the door and made his way to the little park across the street from his house. The park was nothing elaborate, not like Hyde Park, but it was generally calm and quiet.

  Today the park was completely empty for once, not even a governess escorting her charge out for a bit of play time. Instead, there was nothing but the warm sun on Harry’s back – a refreshing change from all of the rain they had endured as of late – and the sweet scent of springtime flowers in the air, their blooms a riot of colors set off by the rich blue of the April sky that was dotted by white, puffy clouds. The songbirds chirped softly in the trees and he could hear the taller grasses, so fresh and green right now, rustling in the breeze.

  This park was his own little paradise right at the moment.

  It also afforded Harry a place to think in relative peace. Also in quiet and without interruptions from well-meaning but still interfering dukes.

  In this case, mostly to think about what on earth was wrong with him. Because something certainly was. He had never lost control around a woman before, not like this anyway. Yes, Penny looked like a goddess and he would have bedded her in an instant if he thought she would allow it, but she was also extremely suspicious of him. She didn’t trust him. That was hardly an ideal pairing.

  She also had every right not to trust him. He was both following her and investigating her, after all.

  More to the point, he didn’t trust her either. At least not completely.

  Penny was hiding something, something big, and that bothered Harry greatly. She was clever, too, careful no
t to reveal too much of herself and always keep him guessing. That alone should have been enough to put him off of her completely. Instead, all it had seemed to do was increase his interest, most likely because it meant she had a brain in her head.

  And, of course, she kissed like a goddess. Full of passion and the promise of so much more. A lot more, if Harry had his way.

  This was not good. He should have somehow convinced himself that he was in love with Dory when he had the chance. He should have done more to court her and stick to his original plan from the previous fall to wed her if the opportunity arose. She was the safer choice, after all. The steadier choice. But had she been? Really? What with her behavior as of late, behavior that hinted there was far more to Lady Dory than any of them suspected? Did that still make her safer?

  Yes. Yes, it did. Maybe. Possibly not. Or was that just another lie Harry was telling himself now in an attempt to put Penny out of his mind?

  Harry suspected that it was little more than another lie, and one he should probably stop telling himself. For when he had kissed Penny the other night, it had been the first time in his life that he had ceased to think about anything other the woman in his arms. More than that, he had found his passion. Or at least a small taste of it.

  Penny had awakened something in him that no other woman ever had. That made her different. No to mention both intriguing and irresistible.

  Harry had found his passion in the arms of an ice blue-clad goddess who made his blood race and his pulse pound. Who wore dresses cut just a bit too low and who seemed to always be searching for someone that wasn’t him.

  And who might also be involved in something more than a little nefarious.

  And who he was attracted to far more than was wise.

  And who he would kiss again – and more – if given the opportunity.

  And who he likely wouldn’t be able to get out of his mind unless he did something a little drastic.

  Because he wanted to do something drastic. With her. Sooner rather than later.

  Which he could do. If he was so inclined. And he was. Oh, yes, he very much was.

  So now the question was, what was he going to do about it? About her?

  And the truth? Well, the truth was that Harry had no bloody idea.

  Or maybe he did.

  Even if it wasn’t wise. Though he thought he just might do it anyway.

  Because he wanted to.

  Chapter Eight

  She had been linked with Harry in the papers again. That was not good. Then again, there was little Penny could do about such matters. It wasn’t as if she was in control of the press, something that she would be sure to remind her uncle when he arrived on her doorstep in the very near future. He might not be here today, but he would be soon. Likely as soon as the first of this week’s gossip sheets arrived in Cumbria. For even though Uncle Charles didn’t read the Tattler, Josie did, and she hung on every breathless, salacious word.

  On the other hand, until Lord Fullbridge returned to London – something that was seeming more and more unlikely as the days passed – there was little Penny could do to entice him into bedding her, short of hiring a hack and driving to the man’s country estate in hopes of seducing him. While she was certain her uncle would approve of such tactics, the duke likely would not, and such an action would only humiliate and ruin her while doing nothing much of import to the duke’s reputation.

  Meaning that Josie would still be sacrificed for her uncle’s plans. Sweet, innocent Josie who had never met anyone she didn’t like and who still believed the world was good and kind.

  Unlike Penny who had learned long ago that the world was anything but good and kind.

  No, Josie had to be spared and kept safe. Penny couldn’t allow her to be hurt.

  Over the course of her four and twenty years, Penny could count on one hand the number of people she had cared for deeply. Her parents, certainly, as well as her infant brother, Thomas, who had died when he had only been three months old. There was also her best friend and confidante from Mrs. Fitzherbert’s school, Beatrice Roundtree, who was the bold and brash daughter of a viscount, and, of course, Josie – her cousin who had been more like a sister to Penny than a mere relation.

  Josie who would be forced to wed the maybe-possibly-wretched Duke of Fullbridge.

  No. That couldn’t happen. Josie – bright, kind, wonderful Josie – deserved more. She deserved better than being forced to wed a man she didn’t know and didn’t love just because Penny had failed.

  Which meant that Penny simply had to wait for the duke to return to London. Until he did, there was little she could do to further her uncle’s plan and little she could do about what the papers printed regarding her activities. She simply had to hope that her uncle saw the matter in the same light, which he likely wouldn’t. However, she would worry about that when the time came. For now, she simply had to keep up the charade.

  That was precisely why Penny was attending Lady Ardenton’s ball this evening. She needed to be seen out and about in Society in order to keep up the pretense that she was still seeking a husband, one that wasn’t Lord Fullbridge. That, of course, was the primary reason.

  Well, that and there was a very good chance that Harry would be there. Harry. The man who had kissed her until she nearly fainted and who had all but made her swoon in the storage closet of a Drury Lane theater. Hardly the most romantic of settings, but one could not argue with the way he had made her feel for the first time in her life.

  Alive.

  There was no other word for the sensations that had washed over Penny when her lips met Harry’s. For the first time since her parents had died, she felt alive.

  She felt young again as well, not to mention hopeful. She felt pretty and desirable and she also felt as if there might be a future for her after all. A future where she was free to choose. Choose a man like Harry. Or, quite honestly, Harry himself, for he did make her toes curl so deliciously in her slippers when he kissed her as if she was the only woman on earth.

  It was simply too bad such a lovely fantasy could not last. It was also too bad all of that was an illusion that could be shattered in an instant, destroyed if Harry ever learned the truth.

  For Penny couldn’t really tell Harry why she was in London and why she lived in an empty town home with only a maid for company. She couldn’t tell him about her uncle and his threats. After all, Harry valued honesty and if Penny was to admit her part in her uncle’s wicked plan?

  Well, she wasn’t certain, but most likely he would never speak to her again and the fire that he ignited inside of her when he simply looked at her as he had the other evening would die. Oh, and she might also be tossed in Newgate. There was that possibility as well.

  Penny wasn’t certain how those types of things really worked but she could not imagine that she would escape punishment completely if her part in her uncle’s scheme came to light.

  Still, Penny’s greatest fear, even greater than the possibility of jail, was that Harry would no longer look at her as if she was worthy. Worthy of being with someone kind and noble like him, which again was foolish because that was an impossible dream that could not happen anyway. Her uncle would likely kill her first before he allowed her to be with someone like Harry, someone who could end his plans for revenge against Fullbridge.

  On the other hand, her uncle didn’t know the truth of the matter yet and for the moment, Penny was free to indulge in her fantasy world for just a little longer. The world where she was free to choose whom she kissed and where Harry found her attractive enough – wanted her enough – to court her, even if only for a little while.

  Maybe even desired her enough to kiss her again. She could only hope and right now, that hope was all she had to sustain her. And sustain her it did.

  That was why Penny had instructed Janie to help her into her new LaVallier gown for the evening, the one made of deep, rose-colored silk with the plunging neckline and the crystals sewn into the bodice that were design
ed to catch a man’s eye and entice him into wanting to see more. It was also why she had asked the maid to put her hair up and twist strands of pearls through the otherwise dull blonde locks, hoping to give her normally plain hair some luster. That was why Penny had selected the Telford rubies to wear this evening, even though they were a bit too showy for an unwed young woman like herself.

  She chose those things because the noose was soon likely to close about her neck and she would be gone from London. Banished to Lord only knew where, if she lived at all. Penny had the strong suspicion that her Uncle Charles was not above murder, especially when he was enraged.

  And he was likely to be very enraged very soon. If he wasn’t already.

  Two stories in the Tattler alone linking Penny to Harry. Plenty of other London gossip rags reporting far worse about them. No sign of Fullbridge. The strong possibility that rumors regarding her and Harry would soon begin to spread, most certainly even as far away as Cumbria. Once word of her failure reached her uncle, Penny’s time in London would be over and her life likely forfeit.

  So tonight Penny would attend the Ardenton ball and waltz with Harry as he had requested.

  She would dream about another life, one that could never be hers, and wonder what it would be like if she were free to choose a man of her own to court her.

  Would Harry even wish to court her if he could? He seemed to desire it, or rather desire her, but then, there was the little matter of him not fully trusting her and his on-going suspicions that she was about to do something nefarious at any moment. Which, of course, Penny was. At least as soon as Fullbridge returned to London. But Harry didn’t know that. Or did he? Was that why he was sniffing around her skirts? To get close to her and learn the truth about her activities?