Czytaj książkę: «How to Tame a Lady»
Dear Reader,
Would you attempt a five-barred fence on horseback? Were you “born for adventure”? Willing to try any dare, reach for any star, challenge any rule?
If so, Nicole Daughtry is your sister. If not, then she’s what we all wish in our heart of hearts we could be, even just once in our lives.
When Nicole runs into Lucas Paine—literally!—the sophisticated marquess is for the first time in his life totally at a loss for words.
He looks at her and thinks marriage (and a few other things men tend to think about when presented with an unimaginably beautiful woman!).
She unabashedly looks back at him and thinks adventure!
And an adventure they will have: one fraught with danger from an unscrupulous man’s ambition to their own desires—their all-consuming hunger for each other that will defy convention, thanks to a mutual passion that cannot be denied.
I hope you enjoy How to Tame a Lady. How to Tempt a Duke, the story of Nicole’s brother Rafe Daughtry, came prior to this story.
Nicole has a twin, by the way, the much more circumspect and careful Lydia. Stay tuned for her story, coming soon. And don’t forget to visit my website at www.kaseymichaels.com for information about all my books!
Enjoy!
Kasey Michaels
Praise for Kasey Michaels
A Reckless Beauty
“A Reckless Beauty [is] a cannon shot. Drama by the boatload, danger around every corner, and heart-wrenching emotion await readers.”
—A Romance Review
A Most Unsuitable Groom
“From the first page to the last this continuation of the Beckets of Romney Marsh saga is a well-crafted novel. Emotional intensity, simmering sexual tension, characters you care about and political intrigue—plus touches of humour and a poignant love story—all come together in this hugely entertaining keeper.”
—Romantic Times BOOKreviews
The Dangerous Debutante
“Her characters shine as she brings in fascinating details of the era, engaging plot twists and plenty of sensuality.”
—Romantic Times BOOKreviews
Shall We Dance?
“Brimming with historical details and characters ranging from royalty to spies, greedy servants to a jealous woman, this tale is told with panache and wit.”
—Romantic Times BOOKreviews
The Butler Did It
“Michaels’ ingenious sense of humour reaches new heights as she brings marvellous characters and a too-funny-for-words story to life. (…) What fun, what pleasure, what a read!”
—Romantic Times BOOKreviews
USA TODAY bestselling author Kasey Michaels is the author of more than ninety books. She has earned three starred reviews from Publishers Weekly, and has been awarded the RITA® Award from Romance Writers of America, the Romantic Times Career Achievement Award, the Waldenbooks and BookRak awards, and several other commendations for her writing excellence in both contemporary and historical novels. There are more than eight million copies of her books in print around the world. Kasey resides in Pennsylvania with her family, where she is always at work on her next book.
How to Tame a Lady
by
Kasey Michaels
To Missy Augustine, who keeps it all together so I can fall apart.
Thanks!
Available from Kasey Michaels and Mills & Boon
THE BUTLER DID IT IN HIS LORDSHIP’S BED
(short story in The Wedding Chase)
SHALL WE DANCE?
IMPETUOUS MISSES
MARRIAGEABLE MISSES
A RECKLESS BEAUTY
LORDS OF NOTORIETY
LORDS OF SCANDAL
HOW TO TEMPT A DUKE
and in the Beckets of Romney Marsh series
A GENTLEMAN BY ANY OTHER NAME
THE DANGEROUS DEBUTANTE
BEWARE OF VIRTUOUS WOMEN
A MOST UNSUITABLE GROOM
THE RETURN OF THE PRODIGAL
BECKET’S LAST STAND
PROLOGUE
HORSE AND RIDER EMERGED from the trees in an explosion of unleashed energy that sent a pair of long-eared hares fighting to be the first to scoot headfirst into their burrow. Birds fled the treetops, their dark underbodies shadowed against the high, uncharacteristically bright blue sky.
Shod hooves encountered the soft, just-turned earth of the field. The mare momentarily scrambled for footing, and then gathered itself for the gallop.
The rider, head low over the mare’s neck, held the reins in both hands, elbows up and out, almost standing in the stirrups, knees tight to the horse’s flanks, rump slightly above the saddle, in the way of jockeys once seen racing at a country fair.
Horse and rider both knew the route. The hedgerow first, followed by the low gate at the end of the second field. The stone wall, wide if not that high, which fronted a good three-foot drop-off and rather boggy landing.
Another long, liberating gallop would follow, and then the five-bar gate. That was the test, the five-bar gate. The undeniable challenge. The ultimate triumph once it was behind them.
The mare was strong, and fleet of foot, but it was the rider who held the control. Control was important; it might be everything. Control of your surroundings. Control over your own mind, heart and destiny.
And the freedom that control gave you.
The minor obstacles cleared, the five-bar gate was now visible in the distance. It was not a jump for the faint-hearted or those of only mediocre talent. Skill and confidence were needed. And perhaps a measure of luck.
But the rider had always been lucky.
The mare’s head bobbed and stretched as its strides lengthened, the muscles in its neck straining, its hot breath sending puffs of white vapor into the cool morning air.
The rider melted into the mare, their movements meshing, feeling the precise snap of the mare’s knees as it dug in one last time and then launched itself into the air.
Horse and rider became one in the jump. Soaring. Flying. Free of the earth and all its cares. The world waited below them, completely silent for one long, sweet moment in time.
And then the mare’s front hooves touched the earth once more and the thunder of its hooves, the steady thud, thud, thud, matched the heartbeat of the rider who now stood up completely in the stirrups. One gloved hand went to the soft wool toque and lifted it high into the air, waving it like a victory banner.
Masses of coal-black hair, no longer confined by the toque, tumbled free and blew about in the breeze. A full-lipped, wide mouth fashioned for smiling, for flirting, for kissing, formed to deliver hopeful dreams and crushing disappointments opened, and a delighted whoop of triumph echoed across the field.
Dark-lashed eyes the color of drenched violets sparkled and danced above a pert nose and highboned cheeks dusted with freckles that enticed, hinted of an innocence the sensual mouth denied.
The same breeze that danced in those midnight tresses caressed the high, pert breasts outlined beneath a man’s white lawn shirt that was tucked into a pair of tan breeches even a hardened libertine might call licentious.
Eighteen-year-old Lady Nicole Daughtry knew many would call her beautiful. And different. She reveled in the facts that she was young and brave, heart-whole and achingly alive. Marvelously, gloriously free.
Today was for celebrating that youth, that joy, that freedom. Tomorrow was for saying goodbye to one world and hello to another as she set out on her first London Season, approaching it just as she would a five-barred fence.
Head-on, and certain of the outcome.
CHAPTER ONE
March 1816
LUCAS PAINE, MARQUESS of Basingstoke, was classically handsome, with his thick dark blond hair, clear blue eyes and leanly muscled body. He dressed impeccably, had excellent manners, cherished his widowed mother and was good to his dogs.
He tipped his hat to all when out on the strut, and he belonged to the best clubs. An accomplished horseman and premier whip, he was also no stranger to the boxing saloons, where he excelled, although he would say that he was better with the rapier than his fists. He did not take snuff, affected no airs, graciously danced with all the wallflowers, flattered the dowagers and never gambled above his considerable means.
If there was even a breath of scandal still attached to the memory of the marquess’s late sire, that scandal did not touch the son.
In fact, as his friend Fletcher Sutton, Viscount Yalding, pointed out that mid-March day as the pair sauntered along Bond Street, one eye on the low, threatening sky, if the marquess could only manage to control the weather, he would be elevated to the status of near-god.
Both Lucas and Fletcher knew the reason for this pervasive unpleasant weather, the near constant rain and cold, the lack of sunshine. Although it boggled the mind to believe that a volcanic eruption nearly a year ago and halfway around the world in some benighted spot called Tambora could cause such prolonged misery for most of England and Europe.
“You’re quiet,” Fletcher said as they paused to unfurl their large black umbrellas, for the mizzle had moved on to a drizzle that was sure to become a steady downpour in a few minutes. “Still chafing at what Lord Harper said yesterday at White’s? That wasn’t nice of him, Lucas, saying he’d heard cheerier speeches at funerals, and then he and his friends all but turning their backs on you. Although I will admit he had a point.”
Viscount Yalding was referring to the incident that had taken place at one of London’s premier clubs. Lord Harper, a buffoon even in the best of times, had made a comment about the “ruffians and other low creatures accosting him for coins each time he stepped outside.”
Lucas—surprising even himself—had launched into an impassioned defense of the cold and hungry and frightened populace, and had even warned the gentlemen within earshot that if no steps were taken to assist their fellow countrymen the consequences could be serious.
It had been a very good argument, perhaps even bordering on the inspired. Not that anyone had listened.
Lucas looked at his friend, one eloquent eyebrow raised. “The day I am cast in the glooms by that buffoon’s opinions I shall have to race home and slit my throat.”
Fletcher acknowledged this with a tip of his head. “All right, what is it, then? The weather? No sense repining on that, according to you, as it’s not going to change any time soon. Your new boots pinch? But they’re Hoby’s, correct? So that can’t be it. Yet you look like you’ve just watched your very last friend walk away from you, which you haven’t, because I’m still here. In fact, please feel free to make a cake of yourself again any time you wish, and I’ll stand up on my chair and cry hear, hear as I lend you my support.”
“Is that so? How gratifying, Fletcher, truly. Except I’m now left to wonder if you are pledging your support or hoping to goad me into making a cake of myself again, as you so tactfully put it.”
Viscount Yalding, a handsome young man of five and twenty, a man with a sparkle in his light brown eyes and a pair of impish dimples in his cheeks, threw back his head and laughed aloud. “And that’s the real beauty of the thing, because you’ll never know which, now will you?”
“You know what it is, don’t you, Fletcher? We don’t learn. It wasn’t that long ago that our dear Prince Regent was hatching escape plans, sure his loyal subjects were going to rise up the way the French did against their king. Now, thanks to that damnable volcano, we face high prices and farmers losing their positions, our brave soldiers suffering, our children falling sick because there are no fresh vegetables for them to eat. We’re not preparing for that eventuality, or its inevitable result. Civil unrest.”
“Yes, yes, I remember what you said, but please stop now. Not the cheeriest thing I’ve ever heard, to quote Lord Harper. And you’re not completely correct, Lucas. Our government is taking steps, although probably not in a direction you’d approve—Watch out!”
Lucas looked down the flagway to see a young woman running toward him, looking back over her shoulder at another young woman who had stopped beneath a canvas awning to wait for a female servant to raise an umbrella.
“Oh, don’t be so missish, Lydia. The coach is just down here—you won’t melt. It’s only a little—Oof”
Lucas caught the female by the upper arms and held her in front of him, saying, “Steady there, young lady. And far be it from me to stand in the role of teacher, but it is usually deemed equally important to see where you are going as where you have been.”
The female, who stood only as high as his chest, lifted her head so that her face was visible beneath the wide brim of her bonnet, and looked him square in the eyes.
When had he seen eyes like these? Had there ever been eyes like these, so darkly blue as to be closer to sun-washed violet, so alive, so fearless and amused, daring him to—to what? The heart-shaped face in its frame of wonderfully dark hair, the perfectly centered nose, the slightly bee-stung lower lip, the single dimple that came and went in her right cheek. The skin that spoke of fresh peaches doused in cream, and sprinkled with a dusting of freckles that invited him to touch, to trace them with his fingertips, the tip of his tongue…
“Yes,” she said, biting that bottom lip between her fine, small white teeth for a moment as she ran her gaze over his features, “I believe I can see the wisdom in that statement. Although, as I already know where I’ve been, I’m always much more interested in what lies ahead. You may let me go now.”
Lucas, a man who could not remember the last time he’d been flustered, and knowing the answer was never if the other person involved was a female, was finding it difficult to think of anything to say.
“Lucas?” Fletcher gave his friend a gentle jab with his elbow. “She says you can let her go now.”
He brought himself under control, but not without conscious effort. “Yes, of course. Forgive me, young lady. I merely wanted to be certain you hadn’t been injured by our…collision.”
“I believe I shall survive, sir, thank you. Ah, and here is my sister, frowning, and with a good scolding eager to escape her lips as she points out, for at least the tenth time, that we are not at Ashurst Hall anymore, and I cannot just behave as if London is our familiar village. Although I don’t see why not, do you? It’s not as if a person is likely to encounter anyone too dastardly right here on Bond Street.”
“I wouldn’t say that, miss. We could be quite dastardly, I’m sure, if we just put our minds to the thing,”
Fletcher said, winking at Lucas, who believed his friend was enjoying himself entirely too much.
“Ashurst Hall, you said?” Lucas pursued, turning back to the young beauty, whose luscious skin was now lustrous with the misting rain. She was fresh as a strawberry just plucked from the fields, yet the intelligence evident in her eyes told him she might be young, but she was neither shallow nor silly. “Then I may assume that the Duke of Ashurst is known to you?”
“You might assume that, yes. Rafael is our brother. And now that you have the advantage of me…?”
“A thousand pardons,” Lucas said as the beautiful young blond woman who’d been addressed as Lydia joined them beneath their now trio of umbrellas. Sisters? Yes, he could see the resemblance, but at first blush this one seemed to lack the dangerous fire of her sibling. “Lady Lydia, if I heard the name correctly? Please allow me to introduce myself and my friend here.”
“My lords,” Lydia said moments later, dropping into a graceful curtsy while motioning for her sister to do the same. “And in return may I present my sister, Lady Nicole Daughtry.”
Nicole. From the Greek, Lucas was fairly certain, and meaning “victorious people.” Yes, it suited her. He could see her riding at the front of her own army, rather like Eleanor of Aquitaine. The queen, to inspire her troops, was rumored to have ridden barebreasted.
Lucas shook off that disquieting thought and bowed to the young woman.
“A distinct pleasure, Lady Nicole.”
“Yes…” she said, smiling at him as if she totally agreed that the pleasure was his, the minx. It was difficult to believe that the duke let this one out without a leash. She looked down the length of his body and back up again. “Did you happen to notice, my lord, that you’re standing in a puddle?”
Fletcher gave a bark of laughter as Lucas looked down to see that a drainpipe aimed toward the gutter had been emptying rainwater the entire time they’d been standing here, and a dip in the flagway had served to collect quite a bit of that rainwater around his new boots.
“Why, yes, Lady Nicole, I did know that. I’ve made it a point to always stand in puddles. They’re rarely crowded, you understand.”
The dimple appeared, and that small, quick bite at her lower lip came and went almost before Lucas could see it. Almost.
“But I’m standing in it, too, my lord.”
All right. If she wanted to play, he would not disappoint her. “Which now makes it our puddle, doesn’t it, Lady Nicole?”
“I’m not sure. As my twin here could tell you, I have never been all that comfortable with sharing. You might wish to step back, my lord.”
She was giving him a warning? Him? He was the Marquess of Basingstoke, and she was a young miss fresh from the country. He should be warning her, although of what, he couldn’t be sure.
Fletcher nervously cleared his throat. “Yes…ah, um, yes indeed. Well, stap me if I haven’t just remembered something. We have that appointment, Lucas, as I recall. Going to be late, and you know how his lordship frowns when we’re late. And the ladies will take a chill, there’s that, as well. We shouldn’t keep them.”
“Indeed, no, we shouldn’t,” Lucas said, agreeing with his friend’s fib, as he already had a plan in mind to see Lady Nicole again. He turned to Lady Lydia, who might not have much influence over her sister, but who probably could be relied upon not to scramble his brains and tie his tongue into knots. “It would be our distinct pleasure to wait on you ladies tomorrow, if your brother will give his permission for the four of us to drive out to Richmond. Would you be amenable to such an arrangement, Lady Lydia?”
“If she knows what’s good for her, she will,” Lucas heard Lady Nicole whisper under her breath as she covered her mouth with one gloved hand, and once again Fletcher cleared his throat, this time to cover a laugh, no doubt.
“I should imagine you will have to apply directly to our brother, my lord,” Lady Lydia said, earning herself a weary shake of the head from her sister. “We dine at home in Grosvenor Square this evening, and if you and Lord Yalding are free, we would be honored if you’d join us. You can ask him then.”
Lucas glanced toward Lady Nicole, who was now looking at her sister in some astonishment. He quickly agreed, thanked Lady Lydia and then escorted the ladies to their waiting coach, the one with the ducal crest on it.
“What a mischievous piece of work that one is,” Fletcher said as they watched the coach pull off into the light afternoon traffic. “And what was all that ridiculousness about puddles? Not that it wasn’t all innocent, I suppose, but I was beginning to feel like a voyeur, listening to the pair of you. She’s nearly a child, Lucas. Not your usual sort at all.”
“A child, Fletch?” Lucas turned to head to his own coach, for he needed to go back to Park Lane, spend some time alone to consider all that had just happened to him. “That one has never been a child.”
“No, I suppose some females are like that. But they aren’t usually sister to a duke, if you take my meaning and no offense intended. And I’m supposed to be keeping the other one occupied so that the two of you can keep on speaking whatever private language you were spouting back there?”
They both handed their umbrellas to the waiting groom, who would return them to the nearest umbrella shop to be dried and refolded and be supplied with replacements. Umbrella shops were probably the most prosperous enterprises in the city this year.
“If you wouldn’t consider it a hardship, yes.”
“Absolutely not,” Fletcher said. “Lady Lydia is a beautiful young woman. Such a contrast to her sister, though, don’t you think? It would take a special eye to see her quiet beauty when matched up against the fire and flash of Lady Nicole.”
“And you have a special eye?”
“Hardly,” Fletcher said as they settled into the coach. “As you well know, I can’t afford one. Although I have observed that your mood has improved by more than half since our encounter with Lady Nicole. I thought you said you weren’t chafing about that business at White’s.”
“I’m sorry. Although I will admit that I am rather disappointed in my fellow man at the moment. Nobody wants to hear anything but good news. We’d rather close our ears and eyes and go on repeating the same mistakes over and over again.”
“Well, I agree with you there, I suppose, at least with that business about making the same mistakes. For instance, m’father might have thought to learn that a Faro bank in a gaming hell is a harlot’s tease. We all could have benefited if he’d taken that particular lesson to heart. But that’s not what you mean, is it? You’re angry with the way we’re treating the populace.”
“More than I thought I could be, yes. An iron fist is never a good ruler, Fletcher, when a helping hand benefits us all in the end. Why can’t our fellows in the House of Lords see that?”
Fletcher shrugged. “Perhaps because they’re in the House of Lords, and not scratching out a meager existence on the fringes of Society? Still, perhaps you should drop the subject now? You’ve said what you felt needed saying, and nobody seems to care.”
Lucas considered this for a moment, and then shook his head, deciding not to tell his friend about his early morning visit from Lord Nigel Frayne, a contemporary of his late father, and what that encounter might mean if Lucas chose to throw in his lot with the man.
“You’re probably right. But I wish I could do more,” was all he said.
Fletcher was silent for some moments, until the coach slowed and finally stopped outside his rented rooms in Upper Brook Street. He had his hand on the inside latch of the door before he turned to his friend and said, “If you’re set on finding ways to help the downtrodden, and much as I’m certain I shouldn’t tell you, you probably want to hear this.”
Lucas, suddenly lost in thoughts of his dead father, merely lifted an eyebrow. “That sounds ominous.”
Fletcher sank back against the squabs. “I didn’t think so, to tell you the truth, not when I heard it. Perhaps you’ve softened my heart? At any rate, I happened to overhear something about our dear friend Lord Sidmouth at my club last week.”
“Our illustrious Home Secretary is no one’s dear friend, Fletcher. I doubt his own mother enjoyed him.”
“True enough. Do you want to know what I heard, or not? Because after you surprised me with that passionate defense of the common man yesterday, I haven’t been all that hot to tell you. After all, it was only rumor, and I overheard no more than snatches, at that.”
Lucas gave a small wave of his hand. “Go on. I promise not to launch into another hot-blooded speech anytime soon.”
“And thank God for that. What I heard was that, between them, lords Liverpool and Sidmouth are determined to introduce new punitive laws and sanctions against those unhappy with the government. You know, those persons you were so staunchly defending in your magnificent but probably ill-timed comments.”
“I see. And did you happen to hear how they plan to get the whole of Parliament to agree to these new laws, considering that we’ve been introducing reforms this term, not new sanctions?”
Fletcher shook his head. “No, sadly, I did not, but I suppose they know. I’m sorry I can’t be of more help.” He took hold of the latch once more. “Should I be ready by six, do you think? Or is that too early?”
Lucas was once again deep in thought, lightly tapping the side of his fist against his mouth. “Excuse me? Oh, yes. Too early by half. I doubt the duke sits down much before eight.”
“Then seven it is. Perhaps the lovely Lady Nicole can serve to take your mind off what I’ve just told you?”
“Fletcher, that young woman could take a man’s mind, period.”
Fletcher laughed and exited the coach, at which time Lucas’s smile disappeared as he thought about his strange encounter with Lady Nicole.
She had knocked him off balance, not physically, as a result of their small collision, but mentally, muddling his brain in a way that had never happened to him before that moment.
She was astonishingly beautiful. She was astoundingly forward and impertinent.
She possessed the most kissable mouth he’d ever seen. And clearly she knew that, or else why would she have affected that quick, enticing bite of her full bottom lip, if not to drive a man insane?
She was also a distraction. With what Lord Frayne had just asked of him, with the information the man had just that morning dangled in front of him so unexpectedly, did he need a distraction at this moment in his life?
No. No, he did not.
Darmowy fragment się skończył.
