His Duchess in Disguise: A Historical Regency Romance Novel Read online

  Mrs. Pearthorne glanced down the table, then gave a delicate little shudder. “No, I don’t want him in my book. I was quite glad to be on your sailing vessel rather than in our little cottage. Even France was better than spending month after month repulsing his advances.”

  “Advances? And you a married woman?”

  She nodded. “But only to a mere Captain. He outranked Jemmie, so we chose to run away, and I became a camp follower. It was quite interesting, really.”

  “I’m sure,” Leo said, a somber scowl on his face.

  “Oh, do not look so! He will see and make life difficult. Right now, I think he is on the . . . oh, how do you say it? Hunt? Prowl? For a rich wife, or at least one with advantageous land.”

  “And what kind of land would he find advantageous?” Leo asked quietly.

  “Oh, a bit of seacoast, I believe. Cleweme is quite landlocked, you know.”

  “Yes, I know. And I am grateful for it. Seacoast, is it? That is quite an interesting tidbit, my dear Mrs. Pearthorne.”

  “It is, is it not? One almost wonders what he might be up to.”

  “Yes, one does wonder. Still, I am out of it for now. I’ve made my leg in Parliament today and hope to soon go home to Menhiransten. I have had to give up command of one ship of that name, now I shall go see what sort of mess my father made of the other.”

  “Was he not provident?”

  “Well enough, very much a man of his day. Thank goodness neither he nor my brother were part of Prinny’s inner circle. I’ve heard that it can be quite ruinous.”

  “Since I do not move in such rarified society, I really have no idea. But I do understand that there are those who profit from their behavior. Truly, I do believe it best to stay away, if at all possible.”

  “You are a wise woman, Mrs. Pearthorne. Now, I must go bid adieu to Her Majesty, for it is my hope to make an early start for Menhiransten in the morning.”

  “Must you go so soon? I have a young protégé here tonight. I had hoped to make her known to you.”

  “I am sorry, m’lady, but I truly must go. It has been a trying day and attempting small talk with a miss fresh out of the schoolroom is not on my agenda.”

  “Very well,” said Mrs. Pearthorne. “Another time, perhaps.”

  “Perhaps,” he agreed and went to make his excuses to the Queen.

  Leo had not quite made it to the Queen’s chambers when he was accosted by Captain Arnault. “Admiral!” the captain called jovially. “You are just the man I want to see.” Leo groaned inwardly but turned to face the man with a polite smile on his face. “Captain. To what do I owe the honor?”

  “To chance, that fickle servant of fate, but I could use your help.”

  “In what way can I serve you, Captain?”

  “Is it true that you are now the Duke of Menhiransten?”

  “Yes.”

  Captain Arnault opened his mouth, then closed it. “Pray excuse my boorishness, You Grace, but I’m flummoxed as to whether I should congratulate you or offer condolences on your loss.”

  “I believe condolences would be correct, Captain, since I only just came from my father and brother’s funeral this morning. And for acquiring the title as well, since I suspect that having it will be a dead bore. Again, how is it that I might serve you?”

  Captain Arnault reddened slightly at the rebuke. “Begging your pardon, Your Grace, I’m just a plain army captain come up through the ranks. It was not my intent to give offense.”

  “Roger, that is a bit too ripe. You’ve never been ‘just’ anything. Tell me now, what is it that you need?”

  “Horses, sir. I’ve caught wind of an estate that is being auctioned off, and that has some prime ‘uns. What with battles and all, my cavalry unit is all but riding on each other’s shoulders. But if I go nigh it, the prices will shoot sky-high because they know that the army is a reliable buyer.”

  “Now it all begins to make sense. Well, Captain, for such a cause I am yours to command. When do you want to make a dicker for these steeds?”

  “Tomorrow, sir, ah…that is, Your Grace. The auction is to be tomorrow. Down in Cheapside. They are putting up a temporary paddock and auction tent. Some merchant or other went bankrupt, and all his goods are being put on the block to pay his duns.”

  “It will delay me a day, but I understand your desire to get mounts for your men and not leave it to chance. I’ll be glad to meet with you in the morning. For now, I’d like to pay my respects to Queen Charlotte and be on my way to my bed.”

  “Of course, Your Grace. I am in your debt.”

  Leo’s stiff expression softened a little. “Think nothing of it. I am glad to see our brave men well mounted if it is possible to do it.”

  Chapter 4

  Sir Hoskins was waiting for Emma when she arrived at home. He was sitting in his study, swirling brandy about in a large snifter. “Making an early night of it, daughter?”

  “I am not feeling well, Father. Something happened tonight, and I am more than a little distraught.”

  “Could that something be that the Earl of Cleweme has asked for your hand in marriage?” her father smiled jovially.

  “I have no idea. He approached Aunt Alicia, and she told him he must approach you.”

  Gilbert Hoskins took a deep swallow of his brandy and made a face as the strong spirit went down. “He already has. I have been trying to recover our fortunes. Sadly, the horse lost, and I had bet my grandfather’s signet ring. I tried to recover it by challenging the winner to cards, but I lost.”

  “What did you bet, Father?” Emma’s voice was low and intense, her eyes blazing.

  “You, Emma. I bet your hand in marriage to the Earl of Cleweme.”

  She looked at him in horror. “You bet me in a card game?”

  “Emma, Emma, it is not that bad. The man is rich. He will cut me in on his business, and I can recover all my losses and put Calber back into trim.”

  “Not that bad! Father! You bet me in a card game! To recover a ring, that you yourself know has been paste for this year or more.”

  “It’s not like that, my girl. I’ve bartered you into having a future.”

  “No. No, you haven’t. You’ve sold me like a slave, like a broodmare to a man with a bad reputation, a man who is rumored to poach on other men’s marriages when they are at war. Well, I won’t do it. I’m nineteen years old, and I do have some say in who I will or will not marry. You will simply have to find some other way to square your debts with the Earl.”

  “Listen to me, girl. Where do you think the money I give you comes from? The money that you were supposed to use to buy yourself something to make yourself beautiful in the eyes of the world. Well, let me tell you, young lady, I won that money and I gave you half of it. And what do you do? You pay the butcher bill and the greengrocer. And here you are, in a borrowed gown, yes, I do know where you got it, and slippers that are showing where your dog gnawed on them.”

  “Let me tell you, Father, I have been paying the household bills so that we can manage to eat. You were out and about, dining at your club, but what were we to live on? Air?”

  “And what else was it you bought, young woman? Paper and colors, I’ll be bound. And books. Why do you want to read books? I told your aunt that a girl doesn’t need to do more than sign her name to her marriage papers, but no. No, she insisted that you be educated. Well, no man wants to marry a bluestocking.”

  “Education is not what is hurting my chances, Father. What is hurting my chances is being the daughter of a tyrant who has run his estates into the ground, gambled and plundered his way into ruin. Now you want to marry me off to a Bluebeard, a pirate . . .”

  “Privateer,” her father corrected.

  “A pirate,” Emma insisted, “who takes advantage of other men’s wives while they are serving king and country. No, I won’t do it. I won’t!”

  The Baron of Calber then did something he had never done in all of Emma’s life. He lifted his hand and slapped her a
cross the face. For a moment, father and daughter stared at each other.

  “Go to your rooms!” he thundered. “Get out of my sight, you ungrateful little wretch. You stole my wife from me, and now you won’t even give back security for yourself and for my old age.”

  Emma put her hand to her face, in utter disbelief and horror. Then she picked up her skirts and fled to her room.

  Chapter 5

  When Leo returned to his club, he found that sleep was an elusive beast, so he went downstairs and found a card game. He studied the cards now in his hand. He held an ace, but the rest of the hand consisted of a deuce and a pair of sixes. No matter what game you might be playing, it was scarcely a winning sequence. Still, it was a way to pass the time.

  His partner, an older man who had been one of his father’s cronies, sighed and folded his hand. “I am done, gentlemen. I believe I am a trifle in my cups, and I am not so young as I once was. I shall go to my rooms and lie down.” So, saying, the fellow took up his cane and rambled off in the general direction of the stairs to the sleeping rooms above. A waiter hurried over and solicitously aided him up the steps, for he was decidedly tipsy.

  A shadow loomed over the table, and the Earl of Cleweme placed a hand on the back of the vacant chair. “May I sit in? It would seem that Sir Dunnegan is somewhat indisposed.”

  Keeping a close eye on the Earl, Leo gestured ascent. “If it pleases you. I daresay I’ll not be here much longer myself.”

  “I understand. The hour does grow late, and the tables are few.” The Earl accepted the hand given to him by the stolid dealer.

  Leo nodded, then discarded the pair of sixes. He watched the Earl closely.

  “Tell us, if you can, Your Grace,” Lord Harlow asked, “what is the current state of the Continent?”

  “Frankly, Lord Harlow, I have no idea. Nor would I be so injudicious as to discuss military matters in a card game. Were you thinking to sell the information or use it on the ‘Change to better your fortunes?”

  “Tsk, tsk,” the Earl of Cleweme clicked his tongue, “I had neither in mind. But if you have some juicy tips for the Exchange, I would certainly not find it amiss.”

  “Buy English bonds,” Leo replied. “They might fluctuate, but in the end, they are always good value. Patriotic, besides.”

  The Earl gave a snort. “And provide Parliament with money to cushion the Prince Regent’s lavish spending?”

  “I heard that they put him on an allowance,” piped up the other occupant of the table, a twiggy little man, dressed in a yellow silk suit with a lavender waistcoat. His high tenor spiked with excitement, “Can you imagine? A prince on an allowance, like a callow schoolboy.”

  “Regardless of how Parliament decides to spend the bonds, they, like taxes, are our obligation as loyal citizens,” Leo commented, scowling at his cards. He had been dealt a four and a five. He discarded them both and pushed two markers to the table.

  The play went around another time, then the Earl spread three aces on the table. “My trick,” he said.

  Leo’s hand shot out and gripped the Earl by the wrist before he could scoop up the markers on the table. “I think not, Lord Harlow.” Leo deliberately spread out the cards he had been holding since before the Earl sat down. “You will observe that I also have an Ace of spades. Dealer, if you will examine the hand my partner discarded, I believe you will have an Ace of Hearts. Therefore, it is not possible for the dealer to have given you two of the Aces that are now spread on the table.”

  The Earl glowered at him, as the dealer examined the discard pile. “Quite right, Your Grace,” rumbled the dealer. “There is an ace of hearts in the discard.”

  “Isn’t it an amazing thing,” Leo said silkily, “That there should be two extra Aces in a deck that was newly opened less than an hour ago. You are a card shark and a cheat, Percy, just as you were when we were boys.”

  “That is Lord Harlow to you, Your Grace,” the Earl snapped, struggling to free his hand from the Duke’s grip.

  “Why, of course,” Leo said lazily, deliberately shoving the hand back across the table. “I would not dream of depriving you of the title that you poisoned and assassinated your way into achieving.”

  “You are a fine one to talk, having just laid both father and brother in their graves.”

  “Indeed. But my alibi is impeccable. I was at sea when the fever took more than half the inhabitants of Menhiransten, including my father and brother. It is my good fortune that I was not there to be claimed by the same foul humors. Whereas yours, Earl of Cleweme, was not. It is equally amazing how all the possible witnesses met with footpads or botched house burglaries in the same week.”

  “You impugn me, sir! I challenge you!” The Earl drew off one spotless glove and flung it in Leo’s face. The dandy dressed in the yellow suit drew back with a squeak.

  Leo caught the glove before it touched his face. “I accept. My seconds will call on you. However, before I face you on the field of honor, I must put my house in order. Two weeks hence, Lord Harlow. My seconds will work with yours to set the time and place.”

  Chapter 6

  Emma sat on the edge of her bed and wept. In her initial shock and outrage, she was not only speechless, but her thoughts also ran together in a jumble of images and pain. She was alone. There was no one to turn to. She could not run to her Aunt Alicia. Uncle Zacharias Brown, the parson, would never hear of it. She might go to Mrs. Pearthorne, but that would be one of the first places her father would look.

  The one thing she could not do was stay here. She would not be cozened or forced into marrying a seducer who forced other men’s wives.

  More than that, she dared not wait until morning. By then, her father would have sobered up and would be more aware of her movements. Emma quickly stripped out of the ball gown and donned one of her shabby, old walking dresses. Digging in the bottom of her closet, she found a cloth valise and packed her spare chemise, extra corset, and started to pack her spare petticoats.

  Changing her mind, she pulled them on under the dress, even though they made a rather bulky fit. She shrugged into her spencer and laid out her shabby, worn cloak. She then packed the gown and her mother’s shawl. It seemed like an abuse of Mrs. Pearthorne’s generosity, but perhaps she could sell the dress for a reasonable sum.

  She then looked about her rooms to see what else she might sell. Her eyes fell on her beloved copy of Sense and Sensibility and her new copy of Pride and Prejudice, which she had not quite finished reading. They were indulgences. She should not have bought them, but she had hoped to be able to take them home at the end of the Season.

  She opened the tin box beneath her bed and put the remains of the money from it into a pocket, which she tied securely around her waist, placing only a few coins in her reticule. That she tied to her wrist.

  Picking up her valise, she took the pillow slip from her bed, slipped down into the silent kitchen and placed a loaf of bread, a hunk of cheese and a cabbage into it.

  Rags! She could not leave her dog to her father’s tender mercies. She had felt exactly how much compassion he had for others. Quickly, she opened the door to the kennel and scooped the little dog out. He licked his mistress’s face and snuggled quietly in her arms.

  Slipping back into the kitchen, she appropriated some dried meat and hard biscuits from the crock in the pantry. Rags cuddled down in her arms. He didn’t bark, although he whined softly once.

  Emma then went out the back door and took a circuitous route away from the townhouse, heading toward Cheapside. There was a clothing store that sometimes bought finery from the great houses, and a bookstore where she had often purchased paper, colors and books. It was patronized by students who frequently started things they could not seem to finish. Perhaps the proprietor would buy her books.

  It was a terrifying journey from the townhouse to Cheapside. Emma slipped like a shadow down the streets, avoiding drunken revelers, panderers and tawdry, faded ladies who were trying to sell themselves. Woul
d she end up like that? She hoped not. First I must get out of London, then perhaps somewhere that I am not known, I can find work. But I will not be sold off like a mare or a cow, especially not to the Earl of Cleweme.

  Chapter 7

  It was just beginning to be daylight when Emma made her way to the secondhand clothing store and bookshop she often frequented in Cheapside. She used one of her precious coins to purchase two meat pies from a stall. She fed one to Rags and ate the other while she waited for the shops to open.

  The clothing store opened first. The clerk knew her, and after a little haggling, she was able to get three one-pound notes and a farthing for her ball gown. By that time, the bookstore was open.