Captivated by the Viscount (The Captivating Debutantes Series Book 1) (3 page)

He turned
before Lucy could make any more comments so she had to follow him into the
study.

The room was
the nicest she’d seen in the house. A fire roared rather then whimpered in the
grate, and the room was cosily furnished with books, pictures of approving
relatives and long deep burgundy curtains that must lead to French doors. There
was also a tray of bread, cold meats and cheeses and a rather delicious looking
bowl of strawberries.

Lucy just
managed to refrain from snatching up some bread, and instead seated herself on
a small chaise lounge by the table of food.

“Please help
yourself Lucy. I partook of something earlier.”

“So I see,” Lucy
retorted, eyeing the half empty decanter on the table. Her Aunt Augusta had
been partial to a wee dram of whisky as the maternal branch of her family
hailed from Scotland, however it was rarer for an Englishman to drink it.

She helped
herself to a selection of everything. It briefly crossed her mind that the food
might be drugged, but she was honestly too hungry to care. Jasper had sat back
to drink the rest of his whisky in his study chair, his eyes were half closed,
but she doubted he was dozing, she could almost feel his alertness. He looked
horribly handsome. At some point in the evening he had said goodbye to decency
and shed his coat and waistcoat, it was most improper. He now lazily slouched
in his chair. He had loosened his cravat baring his throat which had a tan to
it like his face. Most men of her acquaintance were white as a lily, the sun an
anathema to the night-time existence of the Ton, especially during the season.
However Danbury had been on the continent in the war and had acquired a
permanent bronzed tinge to his skin. She wondered if he was that colour all
over and then blushed at her own thoughts, just as the man opened his dark eyes
enquiringly. Or had the annoying man been studying her all the time, just as
she had been him. Lucy looked down and nibbled some more cheese trying not to
look at that throat again.

Jasper
watched Lucy eat. He liked the way she ate. Small nibbles at the food much like
a mouse. He wondered what it would feel like to have those sharp teeth nibbling
on his neck. He had no idea what had caused her to blush, although merely being
in a room alone with a man was enough to send some debutantes into a swoon. He
didn’t think this was the case with Lucy anymore after her attempted escape and
angry questions. She wasn’t afraid of him at all.

He was
currently debating how much to tell her. He’d considered merely locking her in
her chamber for a week without explanation, but why should he forgo the
pleasure of her company.

He decided on
a half-truth.

Since the
change of the original plan he could afford to be generous, the kidnapping had
been quicker and easier. Of course he would not mention his own personal quest
for vengeance, but concentrate on Lucy’s current problem. Why, she’d almost see
Jasper as her…saviour.

“Did you know
your brother has signed contracts for your betrothal?” Jasper asked as Lucy
started tucking into the strawberries. He found it most distracting.

Lucy stopped
eating mid-strawberry. No she didn’t know. Her brother rarely told her anything
and they had never been close. Their parents had died together in an accident
when she was five years old, Richard had been ten. It was hastily decided that
they would live with separate parts of the family, especially as Richard had to
start Eton at some point. Lucy was shipped off to her spinster Aunt Augusta in
Dorset and Richard had ended up with Uncle Cosmo in London. Privately Lucy
thought she’d ended up with the better end of the deal; Uncle Cosmo she’d
always suspected had not been a very nice man.

“No, I didn’t
know,” she replied as she realised Jasper was still waiting for a reply. She’d
be dammed if she was going to ask the arrogant pig who this betrothed was. He
seemed to revel in keeping her in suspense. She finished the rest of her
strawberry in calm acceptance.

“Do you want
to know who it is?” he seemed to smirk.

“I’m sure you’ll
tell me in your own time,” Lucy said and started on another strawberry.

Jasper
grinned and loosened his cravat even more – he felt unaccountably hot as he
watched her devour another fruit. He’d never expected Lucy to be so obstinate,
it was delightful. She’d always been so polite in company. He knew he enjoyed
her humour, but to know she could also be stubborn was a joy. His brother Simon
would have loved her; he always said Jasper had a perverse attraction to wilful
women.

However the
thought of his brother wiped the smile from his face. This was Lazenby’s
sister. She may be delightful but she shared blood with the man who had led to
the death of his brother and ultimately his father’s death as well. She was
already ruined merely being alone in the study with him but at least he could
save her from an even worse fate

“The Duke of
Ketridge.” Jasper announced.

“Wwwho?” Lucy
couldn’t help but stutter out, she’d never heard of him.

“No, he
doesn’t go out much,” Jasper answered, “and there’s a reason for that.” He
paused as though gaining courage. “Excuse my coarseness Lucy, but it is
necessary. Have you heard of Syphilis?”

Lucy blushed
again and looked down. She shouldn’t know anything about the condition, except
she had eavesdropped on her aunt and a friend once talking about the local
squire.

“Things drop
off,” she blurted out.

That wasn’t
quite the answer that Jasper expected and a hoot of laughter escaped him before
he could suppress it. She shouldn’t know anything, and he had hoped to shock
her with an explanation, thus ensuring her compliance.

 “Anything
else?” he prodded. He was almost afraid to ask.

“I know…I
know it’s a very nasty disease that’s usually fatal.” Jasper raised an eyebrow
as though expecting more. Oh hell Lucy thought just say it. “I know it’s caught
through… through relations between a man and a woman.” She rushed on.
“Especially prostitutes,” she added for good measure, remembering where her
aunt had surmised that the squire had caught it.

“Dare I ask
how you came about that information?”

“I ..erm…hear
things.”

“Ah,” Jasper
said “I’ll have to remember that you are an eavesdropper then.”

Lucy felt her
face redden, remembering how she had listened upstairs whilst pretending to be
asleep.

Jasper
cleared his throat. “Well, I don’t know how much information you have heard,
but there is a disgusting concept that bedding a maiden will cure the disease,”
ignoring Lucy’s gasp he carried on. “You have been betrothed to the Duke to
solve his ‘little’ problem and to bare him a son. Killing two birds with one
stone, so to speak. In return your brother, on your wedding day, receives a
large amount of money.” This had silenced Lucy, and Jasper felt a pang of
regret for the treachery laid before her and the treachery that he would be
continuing by not telling her the whole truth. He quashed the pang ruthlessly
and clenched his fists. Richard needed to be taught a lesson and unfortunately
Lucy was in the crossfire. He knew that in every war there were innocent casualties
– it was an irrefutable truth. He continued. “I couldn’t see that happen to you
Lucy. You are most likely to contract the disease as well and die an agonising
death.”

No need to
lay in on, Jasper thought to himself, seeing Lucy go white.

“Why me?” Lucy
whispered.

“Ketridge
believes the maiden needs to be of pure blood as well as a pure body. Although
only a baronet, your lineage is long. The disease causes madness Lucy and
Ketridge is well on his way to that point. His condition is well known and most
peers keep their daughters away from him. Your brother…saw an opportunity. I’m
sorry.”

Lucy felt
sick “Why am I here then?”

“I have come
to like you Lucy….as a friend. I couldn’t see that happen to you. Ketridge
already has a marriage license, so there was no time to do anything else but to
kidnap you.” That at least was also the truth. “You can stay here for a time
and then go back home. The Duke will consider you ruined. He won’t want someone
who is ruined in the eyes of the Ton, and especially not if he suspects you’re
not pure anymore,” he explained.

“So I’m
either to be ruined in the eyes of everyone or marry a man who wants to infect
me with a deadly disease?” Lucy’s voice had faltered at the beginning but now
it gained strength. Strength and anger. “Isn’t that all a tad gothic?” she
demanded. “And what happens afterwards? How can I just ‘go home?’ ”

Jasper
paused. He had expected Lucy to be grateful to him in some way for saving her
from the clutches of Ketridge, but she was enraged by either option, and put so
bluntly he didn’t blame her.

“I’m sure the
gossip will die down eventually.” He knew it wouldn’t.

“Eventually,”
Lucy whispered. “I suppose I should be grateful that you’ve saved me from this,
but I find this option untenable as well, especially given that the choice was
taken out of my hands. I may have thought of another way out.”

“He’s a Duke,
Lucy” Jasper replied. “There are not many places he cannot reach.”

Jasper stood
and came to stand by Lucy, placing his hand on her shoulder. “I’m sorry Lucy.”

Lucy didn’t
want his hand on her shoulder. Although horrified by the situation, the phrase
that kept playing on her mind was ‘I like you as a friend.’ What an insipid
emotion. She ‘
liked
’ her pianoforte back home, she ‘
liked
’ the
colour blue, and she even bloody well ‘
liked
’ dancing even though her
aunt said she looked like a duck. She didn’t want Jasper to like her. She
wanted him to kidnap her because he wanted her, because he felt something more
than ‘
like
’. God, he’d probably start talking about honour in a moment
and Lucy would have to grit her teeth and say thank you.

“Well,” Lucy
said shrugging off his hand and standing. “There’s really not a lot else to say
then is there. I will retire. I need to think.”

Jasper was
standing closer than she thought and she bumped into him as she stood. Their
bodies almost touching. Self pity took hold for a moment, her brother wanted to
sell her and Lord Danbury, he was just being compassionate towards her. She
felt stinging tears behind her eyes, and not wanting Jasper to see turned
quickly. She wasn’t quick enough and she felt his hand on her face. He cradled
her cheek and tried to move her head up but she resisted. His other hand came
up behind her head and rested on her scalp, it trailed down the back of her
head till it was at her nape, the fingers gently caressing. Lucy suppressed a
shiver, repeating the word like,
I like you Lucy…as a bloody friend.

“If there was
any other way…” Jasper murmured, he sounded heartfelt. Lucy couldn’t help
herself and leaned towards the comfort before her. “It was the only honourable
thi…” he started to say. Lucy flung herself away from Jasper.

“There’s no
need to beleaguer the point Lord Danbury, I will see you in the morning, good
night,” and with that Lucy hurtled out of the room.

Jasper stood staring at the door.
“I’m a bastard,” he said to himself. “I’m a dishonourable, lying bastard who
also wants Lucy Lazenby in my bed, naked, willing and definitely not as a
friend.”

He sighed disgustingly at himself
grabbed the decanter and sank back down in his chair.

►▼◄

“Everybody
lies….except dogs.” Aunt Augusta.

Lucy opened
her salt encrusted eyes slowly, and looked blearily around the room. For a
moment she panicked wondering where she was. Then it all came back to her and
she closed her eyes again. Her brother’s betrayal, Jasper’s ‘honourable’
kidnapping and the fact that she was utterly ruined….although she hadn’t even
had that full pleasure.

At least she
wasn’t dead - which she would be if she had married the ‘Duke of Death’ as she
liked to call him. Her aunt had always said humour helped all situations but a
shiver ran through her at the thought of marrying such a man.

She supposed
Jasper had saved her, although why he hadn’t spoken to her first, or been in
the carriage and explained the situation she didn’t know. She might have had
more options. She could have appealed to her other relatives in Scotland or left for the continent (although she had no money that was true) or….or become
a highly paid courtesan (being a country girl she’d seen animals mating, surely
it couldn’t be too difficult).

But now she
was stuck.

When Jasper
had mentioned the Duke’s intentions, her first thought was that Jasper had
stolen her away for himself, that he would propose marriage - how foolish.
Viscounts did not marry lowly sisters of a baronet…especially a mousey haired
one.

He ‘
liked
her as a friend,’
how humiliating. She had thought he was courting her
previously, how could she be so bloody wrong.

She said
‘bloody’ again just to assuage her anger. Her aunt had always had a colourful
vocabulary but had told Lucy that only she was only allowed to say words like
‘bloody’ out loud as she had been a spinster, was over forty years, and didn’t
give a ‘bloody damn’ about society. However Lucy, being young, delicate (Lucy
had snorted) and mostly likely to marry (she had snorted again) could only say
those words in her head….so Lucy did….frequently.

Lucy’s mind
whirled and she remembered the past month. It made no sense, and Jasper had
‘acted’ as though he was courting her. Sending posies, dancing with her and generally
being very attentive. No, something else was going on, something smoky she was
sure of it. She wondered if her brother had anything to do with it. She still
couldn’t rule out a stupid bet, or maybe money was involved. Was her brother
looking for her? Had he even noticed she was missing?

Lucy rolled
over and opened her eyes again, only to be met with a pair of lurid cherubs
looming down at her from the edges of the four poster bed.

God, where
did the man get his furnishings. She peered around the chamber now it was
light, it didn’t look any better. In the daylight she could see the peeling
paperhangings and the damp patches in the corners of the room. She buried her
face in the pillow, wondering if it was worth getting up when a knock came at
the door.

“Who
is it?” Lucy asked

“Tis Elspeth
Miss. Come to help you dress and I have some chocolate and toast to break your
fast.”

At last, Lucy
thought, something to get up for, and she could interrogate the maid for information.
She bade her enter and a fresh faced young girl, who managed the unenviable
task of opening the door with a breakfast tray balanced on one hand, entered
the chamber.

Lucy
scampered over the bed and started on the feast. At last, she felt more the
thing once she was fed and watered. She tried asking the maid questions but
despite her general air of innocence she declined to answer anything. The only
information she was given was that Jasper (she had given up totally on calling
him Lord Danbury in her head) would be out for most of the day seeing tenants
and organizing repairs in the village.

If the
village was in any way like the house they were probably urgent repairs.

The maid
informed her that a bath would be drawn in the afternoon and Lucy realised how
dirty she felt. She mumbled that a change of dress would be nice and the maid
possibly with the hearing of a cat opened the closet to show a small array of
dresses, folded chemises, petticoats and stockings. Lucy fingered the nearest
beautiful muslin day dress.

“Where did
they come from?” she asked. And then wished she hadn’t. What if they belonged
to a ‘lady friend’ of Jaspers?

“His Lordship
had them done in the past few days by the local seamstress – rush job it was
too, had them working all hours. There are still a few pieces waiting.”

“It’s
so…kind.” Lucy finally came out with. She really didn’t know what to think.

The maid made
a humphing noise and closed the closet door, obviously not thinking much of the
master having clothes made for strange women.

She was then
informed that she wasn’t to go outside of the perimeter of the garden and that luncheon
would be served on the terrace. She could also, thank goodness, make use of the
library, because surely otherwise Lucy felt she would go mad cooped up for…however
long she was going to be entombed here.

►▼◄

The day
passed surprisingly quickly, and Lucy realised how little time she actually had
to herself at home. She had ended up managing the household for her brother,
which included doing the housekeeping ledgers. He had no interest and without
her penny-pinching in the last year she suspected they would all be in the dun.

She bathed,
which was delightful as there was a jasmine scented bar soap. Her favourite
perfume. Lucy’s mind was in even more confusion. It could only be Jasper that
had ordered her favourite things – jasmine soap, blue dresses and even the
softest leather shoes. Why had he gone to such extremes of kindness? She let
out a confused sigh; perhaps she would receive more answers tonight.

She dressed
for the evening in a vibrant blue crepe dress. It was a little daring for a
debutante but the colour mesmerised her and she delighted in the new clothes
which fitted surprisingly well.

Dinner would
be very interesting.

She had been
informed that dining was at seven and she concluded that Jasper’s day must have
taken longer than usual as this was a relatively late hour for the country. She
made her way downstairs an hour earlier hoping for a quick chapter of ‘Sense
and Sensibility’ before dinner when she heard voices in the study. She bit her
lip. She knew eavesdroppers never heard well of themselves but she always
thought that non’eavesdroppers never found anything out either. That decided
she leaned close to the door.

“I am taking
care of the situation Eloise,” she heard Jasper say tightly.

“You didn’t
inform me of the change of plan,” she heard a woman’s voice say. It was
cultured and high but with a fair amount of waspishness to it.

“There wasn’t
time. He had a special license and I had to act quickly. I do not answer to you
Eloise.” Jasper said the last sentence with steeliness and it brooked no
argument.

“Of course
not darling,” the woman now replied, sounding more conciliatory. “I just want
to make sure we are still of the same mind.”

“Nothing has
changed; the outcome is still the same. Now, I have been with tenants all day
and need to quickly change and freshen for dinner. Shall I call your carriage?”

“I’ve sent my
groom to the tavern; I thought I’d stay the night. I’m sure you have a bed
free, don’t you Jasper?” The woman purred.

 Lucy’s face
flamed as she heard rustling and what sounded distinctly like kissing.

“Eloise…”
Jasper started saying but Lucy didn’t hear the rest as suddenly the ‘big oaf’
came in through a side door. He was not an ugly man; just a very big one and he
had caught her standing by the library door. She thought about donning an
expression of innocence and instantly rejected it. Why should she? She hadn’t
been doing anything wrong and from what she had just heard, something more
havey-cavey was going on.

Bill was
glaring at her, but Lucy merely gave him a superior look and made her way to
the library. He may glare all he wanted, but she took satisfaction from the
three scratches down his face. Hellcat indeed!

Lucy read
some and then placed her mark back at the beginning of the chapter. She
couldn’t remember anything she had supposedly just read. She had been too
preoccupied ruminating over the conversation she had just ‘overheard’. Instead
she went and waited in the drawing room, quietly seething, for Jasper and
his..his…paramour. What plans did they have previously and how did it change,
and in what way did it concern her.

After a good
twenty minutes in which she tried not to imagine what Jasper was getting up to
with the harlot, Jas…no, Lord Danbury she amended, finally made an entrance.
He’d obviously bathed, and a lovely smell of sandalwood pervaded the room. Lucy
gritted her teeth in response to the smell and the sight of his still damp
hair.

He was
wearing a beautiful bottle green coat; the waistcoat was in the same colour but
with thin strip of silver running through it vertically. His snowy white cravat
was immaculate white but simple, no complicated oriental neck cloths for
Jasper. Lucy didn’t look any further down.

“Lucy, my
apologies for being late, the tenants took longer than I thought. A broken
fence and marauding cows were to blame.”

Lucy fisted
her hands to stop herself responding to the light banter and the impossibly
attractive lopsided smile that accompanied that statement. More like finding
some space in his bed for his mistress Lucy thought.

“Really, my
lord. How fascinating,” she managed in her best bored tone. She was pleased to
see Jasper’s smile slightly drop but he held her eyes and she couldn’t seem to
look away. A tense silence descended the room, and staring into his eyes Lucy
felt a horrible yet exciting hot sensation run through her body.

It was Jasper
that broke the stillness in the room. He took her hand from her side and
brought it up to his mouth, gently skimming the back with his lips, brushing
back and forth, back and forth. He looked up; his eyes had almost darkened to
obsidian.

“Have I done
something to displease you Lucy? I am most sincere in my apologies for my
tardiness,” he murmured, his voice sounded deep and throaty. Lucy felt
paralysed both by his touch and the sound of his voice. His lips found her hand
again, but this time he turned it over, landing a soft kiss on the sensitive
palm. He was just about to say something else when the door burst open.

“Jasper
darling, do introduce me.” They both turned, Jasper dropped her hand at the new
voice and Lucy saw the woman for the first time.

She
was…stunning. Annoyingly, horribly stunning. She had proper blonde hair. That
was Lucy’s first thought. A lovely light colour, like a ray of sunshine she
thought disgustingly. Cat like brown eyes looked at her enquiringly, eyebrows
raised. Her figure was exquisite, a thin svelte clad in a dark green gown that
matched Jasper’s coat. It showed off a normal sized bosom, with slender waist
and hips. She also looked vaguely familiar, but from where she could not say.

It took a
moment to realise Jasper was introducing them.

“Lucy this is
Mrs Eloise Hamilton, a friend from London. She was on her way there, but was
delayed by an obstruction in the road. She has been travelling all day. Considering
the lateness of the hour and knowing the manor was close by she thought she
would curtail the rest of the journey till tomorrow.” Jasper smoothly said.

Liar, liar
liar
ran through Lucy’s mind. Although she supposed he could hardly
introduce her as ‘Mrs Hamilton, my bit o’muslin’ or ‘Mrs Hamilton the harlot’ (Lucy
quite liked that one). However what did strike her was that if the man could
lie that well, what else did he lie about so well.

“Pleased to
meet you Mrs Hamilton, is your husband not with you?” Lucy asked, smoothing her
face to an innocent concern.

“Unfortunately
I’m a widow. My poor James died in battle quite a few years ago,” the woman
smiled benignly, “but dear Jasper here keeps my spirits up.” As she said this
she passed her arm through Jaspers.

“I’ll be sure,”
Lucy muttered under her breath.

She looked to
Jasper who actually looked…angry. Lucy was surprised; she thought he’d be happy
to have his harlot here for the night, but his face seemed to tell a different
story. Unlike when he first entered the room, his body was now tense and he
looked at Mrs Hamilton with something akin to dislike. Something was rotten in
the state of Denmark, Lucy thought smugly to herself.

Dinner was
fortunately called by the butler, bringing an end to the uncomfortable
introductions.

They were
seated very informally with Jasper at the head of the table and herself and Mrs
Hamilton on either side. As there was only the three of them the dinner had
been set all at one end so they wouldn’t have to shout to be heard over the
enormous table that must have seated at last thirty people. To be honest Lucy
would have preferred it like that than to be seated so close to Jasper and then
to have Mrs Hamilton’s sneering face opposite her.

The
conversation mainly flowed over her, Mrs Hamilton talking of the current gossip
to Jasper with the occasional innuendo. Jasper looked decidedly bored.
Occasionally she felt his eyes rest on her and although it took all her
strength, she merely sat serenely eating her dinner. She honestly had no idea
what she ate.

During desert
there was a polite cough from the doorway.

“There is a
Mr Edwards to see you my lord,” the butler Robinson said. “His apologies for
the interruption, but he just wants to have a few words regarding the
watermill.”

Jasper looked
to both of them before removing his napkin to the table. “Excuse me ladies, I
will be not be long.”