If you like this online read you'll enjoy Julia Justiss's books!

Wicked Wager
 £3.39
 £3.39

From Waif to Gentleman's Wife
 £3.39
 £3.39

Regency Secrets
 £6.39
 £6.39

Jenna Montague spoke little with Lieutenant Lord Nelthorpe during the ride to the monastery, the shouts and shots still emanating from Badajoz too sobering to foster conversation.

As they approached the old stone building, Jenna was surprised to find it apparently deserted.

“You are sure they were to bring the injured here?”

“Yes, I’m certain. Let’s wait for them inside.” He held out a hand to help her dismount. “I suppose it’s taking longer than expected to…coax some of the victims to trust the rescue party.”

Knowing what must have transpired, Jenna could believe that. “I’ll organize the supplies,” she said, following him into the building.

While she prepared, Lord Anthony propped himself against the window frame. “I must confess,” he said, his tone conversational, “I was rather surprised at your decision to marry the major. I would have thought you too intelligent to choose a man still pining for another woman - even if you do fancy yourself in love with him.”

Caught off guard, Jenna threw him a sharp glance.

Lord Anthony laughed. “Oh, our cloth-headed major may not have seen it, but I have. The sighs. The longing glances.”

Anguish and anger ran through her in equal measure. “If you are going to be insulting, you may leave.”

“Oh, I intend quite the contrary! I agree with the general consensus that you marry. I simply urge you to claim a different man.”

“You, for instance,” she jeered, too stung by his all-too-perceptive remarks to mask her distress.

Instead of returning a mocking reply, the lieutenant strolled over to her. “Yes, my sweet. Me.”

“Should I thank you for considering my sunburned, unfashionable self worthy of becoming your wife?“

He chuckled. “Piqued by that, were you?”

“I’m afraid I do not believe we would suit. Indeed,” she said, suddenly making the connection, “the only reason I can imagine for your unexpected interest is the fact that I am now reputed to possess a fortune.”

He bowed. “That is, of course, the primary impetus. I embarked upon my military career to escape some rather pressing financial embarrassments. But after Badajoz…”

His words fading, he stared into the distance. “We were just behind the Forlorn Hope when the Frogs blew the mines in the ditches, then let loose a hail of grape and musketry. Hundreds of our soldiers simply…vanished.”

Then his mocking tone returned. “The experience rather tarnished the allure of soldiering. I find myself pining instead for my homeland - decent food, clean beds warmed by willing maids, streets one can stroll without being shot at. But for that…I need money.”

“My money.”

He shrugged. “Yours will do. It will not be so bad a bargain. I’ll introduce you to the delights of London and allow you the freedom to enjoy them as you choose - once the necessary heirs are produced. Doing that, my sweet, you shall enjoy.”

His heated gaze roved over her figure. “I recognize a passionate nature when I see one - even when cloaked in the respectable guise of the colonel’s daughter.”

With a frisson of alarm, she slipped a hand into her cloak pocket. “My father taught me that the man I married must be imbued with a sense of duty and honor. You, I’m afraid, do not seem to possess either. And so I will not marry you.”

His face reddened - whether with anger or chagrin, she could not determine. “Ah, your father - an estimable man, but naive. Honor is an ideal cherished by schoolboys and simpletons, my dear. Stronger taking weaker is the way of the world, a truth I learned at my sire’s knee - or slightly higher, given his predilection for debauching nursery maids in the schoolroom closet.”

Jenna felt a stab of pity. Lord Anthony Nelthorpe might bear an ancient name and have been raised in luxury, but he’d never been taught what was truly important.

“Regretfully,” he said, sighing, “I can’t give you the luxury of choice. Submit or resist, when we leave here, you will no longer be fit to become wife to any man but me.”

Though a flash of fear momentarily stole her breath, the anger coursing in its wake stiffened her resolve. This man will not dictate my future, she vowed. And closed her hand around the stiletto in her pocket.



chapter: 1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11  12  13  14  15  16  17  18  19  20