Read A Scandalous Charade Online
Authors: Ava Stone
A Scandalous Charade (40 page)
She arched one eyebrow. “Lucas Beckford, you don’t for one moment think I’ll let you go see him without me, do you?”
Well, he had hoped she would, but then again Juliet never shied away from anything. Luke tucked her hand in the crook of his arm and met the butler’s eyes. “Where is he, Dunsley?”
“The yellow salon, sir.”
They left the breakfast room and started down the corridor. “Juliet,” he said softly, “I’ve been thinking about this situation, and regardless of what Robert thinks, I do take it seriously.”
“I know you do. You’d never have proposed otherwise.”
He stopped walking and pulled her into his embrace. “Only because I thought you’d refuse me.”
“Oh, Luke.”
“Do you believe that I love you?”
“Yes, of course.”
“And do you believe that I only want to protect you?”
She nodded, her brown eyes pooling with tears.
“Then trust me, princess. No matter what. Follow my lead.”
“I suppose,” she smiled widely, “that since I promised to obey you, I don’t
have much of a choice, do I?”
As if that would last. Luke kissed the tip of her nose. “After you, wife.”
When Juliet opened the door to the yellow salon, Lord Albert glared at her with barely concealed disgust. Then he raked his gaze over Luke. “Found her, did you?”
“Obviously,” he drawled.
After a silent, assessing moment, Lord Albert straightened his shoulders and met Luke’s eyes dead on. “I’d like a word with you. Alone.”
Luke couldn’t agree more. He’d sworn to protect his wife, and he couldn’t stomach the way her awful uncle looked at her. “Be a good girl, Juliet, go help Lydia and Caroline do whatever it is they do, and leave us men to settle things.” She was going to kill him later for that statement, of that he was certain. He could tell by the murderous look she threw him. But it was for her own good, and she had promised to follow his lead. “Go on, princess,” he whispered.
She hesitated, only briefly, before she stormed out of the room and slammed the door behind her. Of course, she then cracked it open so she could hear. Luke smirked. He adored every delectable, stubborn bone in her body.
Lord Albert, however, was not so enamored. He huffed indignantly at his niece’s exit. “That girl always needed a stronger hand. Too full of herself by half.”
“I’ll take care of my wife as I see fit, St. Claire. And I’ll thank you to stay out of it.”
Albert hardened his gaze on Luke. “You don’t honestly think this marriage will stand? I’ll get it annulled and—”
“Too late for that.” Luke smiled menacingly. “Our marriage has been well and thoroughly consummated—with witnesses in the next room, if you doubt me. Both that girl and her money belong to me now. And you’ll never get your clutches on either. You’ve lost, Uncle.”
An angry vein pulsed in Lord Albert’s neck and his face turned red as he sputtered for a reply to that. But he had come up with something, because his icy blue eyes twinkled. “Think so, do you? I’ll be awarded Edmund and control of the dukedom. It would be a shame if Juliet never got to see him again. But perhaps we can work something out.”
Something monetary, no doubt. Luke laughed. St. Claire was out of his league—he just didn’t know it. Yet. “Putting your cart before the horse, aren’t you? I highly doubt you’ll gain custody of Edmund.”
Lord Albert snorted. “I am a well-respected gentleman. You, on the other hand, are a profligate gambler who managed to slip between my niece’s sheets. No one in his right mind would award you custody.”
Perhaps. Then again, perhaps not. He was a profligate gambler—but so were many other men who made important decisions in the government. Luke had friends in high places. Though it was possible that St. Claire did too. However, none of that was neither here nor there. “Who said I wanted custody of the boy?” he lied with a smirk, watching a look of confusion settle on the old man’s face. “I wouldn’t waste my time with the courts, not when Carraway will be the obvious winner.”
“C—Carraway?” The color began to drain from Albert’s face. It was apparent he hadn’t considered the viscount until now. Most likely Luke and Juliet’s marriage had disrupted whatever his nefarious plan was and he hadn’t yet formed a new one.
“Of course,” Luke lazily responded. “Carraway has more clout and political connections than both of us combined, and he adores the boy. He won’t let you touch him. Especially after my wife tells him exactly how Lady Teynham died at your hands.”
Albert didn’t understand the depth of the meaning of that threat and he blinked his confusion. “I had nothing to do with Georgie’s unfortunate illness.”
“You had everything to do with it. I don’t think you’ll find a safe place to hide on Earth when Carraway learns you killed his betrothed.”
“His what?” Albert demanded loudly.
Luke laughed then dropped onto the settee, his legs kicked out in front of him, like a man who held all the cards. “Really, you should have paid more attention to details before you just went about poisoning your niece willy-nilly. Carraway and Georgie were waiting until he and Edmund returned to make a formal announcement of their engagement.” When St. Claire blanched, Luke shrugged. “He’ll see you hanged, and I’ll be right there next to him.”
“Juliet is confused. I did nothing—”
Luke cocked his head to one side, as if considering Albert’s denial. “Well, I suppose you could always tell your side of the story when Carraway returns from India. If it was me, I’d pick up and leave before he returned. America, Australia—someplace. But perhaps he’ll believe you over my wife. That’s always possible, I suppose.”
It wasn’t possible at all, and Albert St. Claire knew it. His fingers twitched, as if he was suddenly anxious to leave. Just then the door opened and a hoard of people piled in—Juliet, Robert, Lydia, Caroline, Staveley—but it was Hugh St. Claire that caught Lord Albert’s eye. The old man’s face went white. “Hugh, what are you doing here?”
“It’s over, Father. Luke Beckford need only ask for my testimony.”
But Luke knew that a scandal would come from such a thing, and that it would make life difficult on his wife. And after everything she’d been through, he would never subject her to that. “I believe Uncle Albert was considering the possibility of relocating.”
“Australia.” Juliet firmly put in. “Not America.” She had a sister there, and it was obvious she didn’t welcome the idea of him sharing a continent with her of any of her siblings.
“Australia it is,” Luke seconded.
Lord Albert didn’t have a choice.
~ Epilogue ~
Edmund rushed through the doors of Prestwick Chase and into the drawing room, Luke close on his heels. They found Juliet reading a letter from Felicity, but when her husband and brother raced inside, she put her letter in her pocket. “You look as if you’re running from the devil.”
“Jules—” Edmund tried to catch his breath— “we’ve had the best day. We finished patching the holes on Mrs. Anslow’s cottage, and...” He went on to tell her about all the repairs that were taking place at The Chase. The estate was starting to return to its former glory from when Juliet was a child, and she was thrilled that Edmund was so enthusiastic about participating with the restoration of their ancestral lands and home.
Georgie had been right. Traveling to India had helped him grow up a bit. And though Juliet sometimes missed the precocious boy he had been, she was so very proud of the young man he’d become.
She felt her husband’s eyes on her and she stepped toward him with a smile. “Did you patch holes too?”
He wrapped his arms around her and grinned rakishly. “Absolutely. You know how I adore manual labor.” Then he looked over her shoulder at Edmund. “Go on and change for dinner.”
Edmund smirked. “You just want to be alone with my sister.”
Luke chuckled. “How perceptive you are, Edmund. I would like a few minutes with my wife.”
“Very well—” the boy started toward the doors— “but I’ll check on Uncle Fin first. I don’t think he should spend so much time by Georgie’s grave.”
Then he was gone, and Juliet turned her attention back to her husband. “You wanted my attention?”
“Always.” He kissed her neck and ran his hands along her arms.
“Luke.” She giggled. “I have something to tell you.”
He stopped mid-kiss and stared at her with those crystal green eyes of his. “Yes, princess?”
She really shouldn’t toy with him, but it was so much fun. “A small crate of elephant tusks arrived today.” After Caroline had told her the whole story behind that situation, she’d nearly laughed herself silly. Though Luke still didn’t find it remotely humorous.
He was scowling at her, but there wasn’t any heat behind the look, and she simply grinned at him.
“And it couldn’t have come a moment too soon,” she told him. Then Juliet waited for him to process what that meant, laughing when realization finally lit his eyes.
He stumbled a bit and then clasped her to him. “You’re with child!”
Juliet nodded her head against his chest. She no longer had any doubts about whether he would tire of her and find his pleasures somewhere else. There was a deep bond between them that she knew would never be broken. This child—their child—was an extension of that bond, and she’d never been happier in her life.
About the Author
Ava Stone first fell in love with Mr. Darcy, Jane Austen and Regency England at the age of twelve. And in the years since, that love has never diminished. If she isn’t writing Regency era romance, she can be found reading it.
Ava loves to hear from readers.
You can send her an email at [email protected]
A Scandalous Wife
© 2011 Ava Stone
Looks can be deceiving, the same is true for reputations
As the head of his family, Robert Beckford, the Earl of Masten, was accustomed to dealing with various problems his siblings had caused of one sort or another. However he wasn’t prepared when his cad of brother ruined and then abandoned a young lady. To right the wrong, Robert married the girl himself; but his chivalry only went so far. He didn’t want a wife, and most certainly not a scandalous one. So after repeating his vows, he sent her packing, off to a secluded estate and expected her to stay put.
After years of mistreatment at the hands of her family, Lydia was prepared to be an accommodating wife; but her rigid and unforgiving husband asked too much of her. After languishing for years in her opulent prison, Lydia leaves her country estate for the glamour and excitement of London—and unfortunately her husband’s path.
A Scandalous Secret (novella)
© 2011 Ava Stone
Is the second time the charm?
Chester Peyton, the Marquess of Astwick, has never forgotten his first love. Nor has he ever gotten over her. But now thirteen years later, time has come for him to finally settle down and do his duty as far as both his title and his dragon of a mother are concerned. Everything would be so much easier if Chet’s heart didn’t still belong to the enchanting Scot he gave it to once upon a time.
After following her late-husband’s regiment from one end of the continent to the other, Lady Hannah Campbell returns to London a very different woman than the naïve lass she once was. With her two sons in tow, she now has to navigate the waters of the ton, which seem more foreign than the lands she has traversed the last dozen years. And all the while, she has to keep hidden the scandalous secret that made her flee England so very ago.
A Scandalous Pursuit
© 2011 Ava Stone
When the best made plan goes awry
Even the most ruthless of rogues live by their own code of honor, and for Alexander Everett, the wicked Duke of Kelfield, his includes not seducing the ward of his oldest and dearest friend. However for a man who is accustomed to getting what he wants, the lure of the forbidden fruit is enough to drive him wild. When he finds himself under the same roof as the enchanting Olivia Danbury at a summer house party, he discovers the temptation of the lady is more than he can resist.
Olivia, on the other hand, has the rest of her life all mapped out. When her fiancé returns from the Peninsular Wars, they’ll get married, settle down in the country, start a family, and live happily ever after. The sinfully sexy Duke of Kelfield was not in her plans. But when she stumbles headlong into a compromising position with the passionate duke, her carefully constructed live quickly begins to unravel. In no time, Olivia must choose between the life she’s always planned and everything she never knew she wanted.
A Scandalous Past
© 2011 Ava Stone
At cross purposes
After years of abuse at the hands of her mother, Cordelia Avery knows the only way out is marriage to the perfect man. A man who will allow her all the freedom she has ever craved. And she has the perfect man picked out. The scandalous Marquess of Haversham might not be perfect to anyone else, but taking the man’s black reputation under consideration, Cordie believes she’ll enjoy all the freedom she’s always wished for in his disreputable arms. If only she could get her heart to go along with the plan and to stop leaping whenever Lord Adonis…er…the Earl of Clayworth is nearby. But the very proper earl is most assuredly the wrong sort for her purposes.
Brendan Reese, the Earl of Clayworth, has no intention of ever marrying again. He’s still trying to clean up the mess his first wife left him, even years after her death. To all the world, Clayworth is the epitome of the perfect English gentleman, and he so wishes that image was the truth. But the truth, as it often can be, is ugly. After all, a perfect English gentleman would never have a traitor for a mother. And unless Clayworth can find the evidence his late wife hid, he could face the gallows himself. But a chance encounter with the reckless Cordelia Avery gives him the best lead he’s had in years to finally putting his family’s past to rest. Unfortunately, focusing on anything other than Miss Avery seems a nearly impossible task.