The School of Charm: Books 1-5

by Maggie Dallen

  If he wasn’t here for the reason she hoped…

  She huffed loudly and stomped her foot. “You had no right,” she snapped.

  His smile never wavered and she clenched her hands into fists as her palms tingled with the urge to rush over and smack him.

  “Ladies,” he said politely, his gaze never leaving Delilah’s. “Would it be alright with you if I have a moment alone with Miss Clemmons?”

  Miss Grayson was the first one out of her seat, grinning broadly as she rushed the others out of the room. “I’ll just be…” she started as she pulled the door halfway shut behind them. She seemed to realize that neither of them were listening because she added softly. “Holler if you need me, dear,” before slipping out of the room.

  The door was open and she knew without a doubt that her friends hovered nearby, but they were for all intents and purposes…alone.

  Her heart was beating so quickly she had to fight the urge to clap a hand to her breast to hold it in place.

  “What are you doing here?” she snapped. It came out far angrier and much less desperate than it had sounded in her head. That was a relief.

  His smile faded a bit and he moved toward her. Slowly. Cautiously.

  Smart man.

  When he came close enough that he could reach out and touch her, he stopped. “I am sorry I stayed away so long.”

  She glared at him. Did he really think that would suffice? She clamped her lips shut, telling herself she would not say another word until he gave her some sort of explanation.

  He looked down at his boots—well-polished and seemingly new. “I, uh…I was afraid….”

  “You were afraid?” she echoed, her voice rising alarmingly. She took a deep breath and tried again. “You, the man who has devoted his life to chasing after criminals and who singlehandedly took down Lord Everley—”

  “I would not say singlehanded—”

  “You were afraid?” she continued as if he hadn’t interrupted, her voice filled with disbelief. “Of what? Me?” Something inside her slipped a bit. Some of that righteous anger faltered with the realization that perhaps he had been afraid of her.

  Her own gaze dropped now so she was the one studying the toes of her slippers. “I know I am not exactly…” She flailed her hands as she sought the right word. “Approachable.” She shifted uncomfortably. “I may not be as delicate or…demure as most ladies of your acquaintance, but I don’t see—”

  His fingers beneath her chin, tilting her face up, made her words freeze in her throat.

  His grin was all rueful amusement. “Delilah, I am not afraid of you. If you’d let me finish, I was going to explain that I wanted to give you time and space so you could think and reconcile yourself to everything that had happened.”

  She blinked up at him dazedly, her mind struggling to sift through his words, searching for hidden meanings or something that might hurt her.

  It was difficult to use reason at all when he touched her like this. All her mind wanted to do was focus on the feel of his rough, calloused fingertips on the sensitive skin of her cheek as he held her face in his hands now, cupping her jaw like she was some fragile, cherished treasure.

  “I was afraid…” He gave a little sigh of impatience as he shook his head. “I did not mean to make you worry or to hurt you in any way. I merely wanted to give you room so you could sort out your feelings for me without the heightened emotions that can come with the sort of ordeal you just underwent.”

  Much as it pained her, she took a step back until his hands dropped. She needed a little distance to make sense of that. Once she did, his reasoning clicked with a startling clarity. “You thought I would have said yes to you because I was grateful.”

  His smile was small and a little too sad for her liking. “Something like that.” He moved closer but kept his hands to himself. “I did not want you to make a hasty decision you might regret.”

  She blinked up at him, shaking her head in confusion as a million emotions flooded through her at once.

  He wanted her. He was only looking out for her. He was afraid she’d reject him.

  “Why would I regret choosing to be with you?” she asked. “I…I care about you.”

  He groaned as he moved toward her, this time taking her in his arms and pulling her close. “Do you, really, my love?” He pressed his lips to her temple. “Were you in earnest when I walked into this room? Did you really fall in love?”

  Her lips quivered with a smile as ridiculous tears swam in her eyes. And yet, it was a smack she delivered to his chest as she pulled back to meet his gaze. “Of course, I love you. Do you think I let just any man kiss me?”

  His grin toward roguish as he held her tighter still. “I hope I am the only man who ever has the privilege of kissing you.” He leaned down and pressed his lips to hers, his soft groan making her want to weep because it echoed the same desperation she’d been feeling all week.

  And here, now… She finally had him where she wanted him.

  Kissing her, holding her—and he’d better not even think of ever letting go.

  When at last he pulled back to meet her gaze, they were both breathless and holding one another tight.

  “That wasn’t the only reason I stayed away,” he said quietly. He stroked a hand over her hair, likely mussing it but she found she did not care. His gaze was unnervingly serious, his eyes deliciously dark with emotion.

  She steeled herself for whatever he might say, still wary of the happiness that threatened to drown her if she gave into it. “What is it?” she asked.

  He dropped down to one knee as he clutched her hands in his.

  “Rupert, what are you—”

  “I want you by my side, Delilah. Now. Always. Forever.”

  Her heart exploded with joy. Tears overflowed and she was unable to keep the tide at bay any longer. That happiness swept over her so fast, so fierce, it left her trembling. “I want the same,” she said. Tugging him to stand, she kissed him with all of the emotion she was feeling.

  The kiss turned desperate as her lips clung to his. Her tears mixed with the taste of him and he pulled back abruptly.

  “I love you, Delilah. I wish to make you my wife. However…”

  She pulled back as well with a sudden frown. “What ‘however’? Why a ‘however’?”

  He gave a short laugh as he wrapped his arms tightly about her waist. “Let me finish. I merely realized that you deserve better.”

  “Better than you?” Her frown intensified. “Never. No such thing exists. Not for me.”

  He tipped his head back with another laugh before he met her gaze with eyes filled with more affection than she’d ever imagined seeing in her entire life. “I do love you, you know that, yes?” he said. “Your strength is incredible and your belief in me is heartening. But what I’m trying to say is—falling in love with you, it has changed me.”

  Her eyes widened, because his words so perfectly echoed what she’d been feeling earlier. “Maybe that’s what love does,” she says. “It changes you.”

  “It made me want to be the sort of man you deserve,” he continued.

  Her eyes flickered over the clean-shaven jaw, the handsome new clothes and the perfectly groomed hair. “I don’t care about all that,” she said softly. “Not really.”

  “Maybe not, but I want to make you proud. I’ve talked to my father about reclaiming the honorary title, and about rejoining society with you at my side—”

  “Rupert!” Her voice was high with irritation and amusement and giddy happiness. “You do not need to do all of this. Not for me. I may have been raised to believe that a ‘good’ match was all that mattered, but I know better now. I want a love match. I want a real match. I want…you.” Her voice fell to a whisper as emotion choked her and the full force of the love in his eyes struck her. “That is all that matters.”

  He studied her for a moment with eyes so warm with affection it made her want to weep. “Perhaps you are right. But meeting you, falling in
love with you, I suppose I realized that my dreams for the future have changed as well. Once upon a time, all I wanted wasF justice and revenge. I thought family and love would never mean as much to me as the call to right the wrongs of the ne’er-do-wells who walk among the elite.”

  She arched her brows. “And now?”

  He sighed. “Now… Now I want to let go of the anger that drove me to this line of work. I will still take on the occasional investigation but I no longer relish the idea of risking the lives of those close to me, or even my own life…not when I have so much to live for.”

  “So…” She reached up and threaded her fingers through the edges of his new haircut. “You have turned a new leaf then.”

  He grinned. “It would seem so.” Arching his brows, he lowered his voice. “All that being said, I cannot promise that I will avoid adventure entirely—”

  “I should hope not!” she interjected pertly.

  He laughed and tugged her closer, so she was enveloped in his arms. “But something tells me that a marriage to you…?” He dropped a sweet kiss to her lips. “That will be the greatest adventure of all.”

  Keep reading for Prudence’s story next in The Misgivings About Miss Prudence.

  Plus, get a FREE sweet regency romance novella now when you sign up for Maggie Dallen’s monthly historical romance newsletter here: http://eepurl.com/dgUNif

  The Misgivings about Miss Prudence

  School of Charm #4

  Chapter One

  There was nothing mysterious about Miss Prudence Pottermouth. With Prudence, what one saw was what one got.

  For the most part.

  She had precisely two secrets which she kept from her friends at Miss Grayson’s School of Charm, a finishing school for refined young ladies. Or, as her friend Louisa put it—a finishing school for young ladies whose guardians knew not what to do with them.

  She wasn’t wrong.

  For Prudence, in particular, that description had always seemed acutely apt. She’d spent the better part of two years at this school, alongside her best friend Delilah and the other girls, and it was precisely because she was not wanted anywhere else.

  That was her first secret. Although, considering Louisa, Addie, and Delilah had been at her side earlier today when she’d eavesdropped on Miss Grayson’s conversation with her great aunt, she supposed that secret was out.

  “But surely Miss Pottermouth’s parents—” Miss Grayson had started.

  “Her parents neither know nor care what that girl is doing,” Aunt Eleanor had snapped.

  Prudence winced at the memory of those words. True, to be certain, but still unpleasant to hear. Even more so when she’d glanced over to find her friends eyeing her with varying degrees of sympathy and pity.

  And that right there was why she’d kept her unwanted status a secret. She was not one to be pitied. She’d been given every advantage as a child, thanks to her great aunt’s management. And her time at Miss Grayson’s had given her the feeling of home she’d never known she’d been missing. Because of this, it was only natural that she should be feeling a bit emotional about leaving.

  Prudence frowned down at the bag she was packing with her belongings.

  This feeling was definitely only natural—but it was still unwelcome.

  “I am certain she won’t keep you away from us for long,” Delilah said reassuringly as she watched Prudence pack her life away. Well, she’d said it as reassuringly as a lady like Delilah was able. Which was to say, not very reassuringly at all.

  Though her recent adventures and her newly formed engagement with Lord Rupert had softened Prudence’s friend a little, Delilah could not quite shake a lifetime of cool arrogance and that haughty demeanor.

  Prudence gave her friend a small smile. She didn’t mind Delilah’s standoffish ways. She never had. Perhaps because she’d always understood that beneath that icy hauture was a heart of gold.

  Well, perhaps not gold. But not the cold lump of ice she pretended to have, either.

  “Yes, I’m sure you’ll be back before we know it,” Addie said.

  Ever the optimist, Addie was giving her an encouraging smile that had the opposite effect. Rather than making her feel better, the flicker of pity she caught in the other girl’s eyes made her want to slam her trunk shut and pull her bag of sweets out of its hiding spot.

  That was her second secret. Her private pleasure. Her only vice.

  “I still don’t understand what your great aunt was so upset about,” Louisa said.

  Leave it to Louisa to bring up the more awkward aspect of the conversation they’d overheard.

  “I thought she made herself quite clear.” Delilah’s voice dripped with anger.

  Delilah might have had her faults, but as a friend she was utterly devoted. Prudence suspected she’d been more upset than anyone at the way her great aunt had spoken about her...and her horrid performance.

  Prudence struggled to be a mediocre musician at the best of times, but under her great aunt’s terrifying, watchful stare…

  She’d been dreadful.

  “I had no idea anyone could get so worked up over a recital,” Addie murmured.

  Prudence winced. And then she gave into the overwhelming need for sugar and pulled out her secret stash, popping a lemon sweet into her mouth as she suffered through another wave of embarrassment.

  “Just because you do not have an ear for music—” Addie began.

  “No ear for music?” Louisa laughed. “That’s an understatement, wouldn’t you say?”

  Prudence did not have to look to know that Louisa’s sudden silence was in response to the warning glare she was no doubt getting from Delilah and the more gentle shake of a head from Addie.

  Louisa had a knack for speaking out of turn, but right now Prudence couldn’t quite bring herself to scold her friend for that fault.

  Not when her own flaw had been so glaringly brought into the light.

  “Whether she’s a musical prodigy or not is beside the point,” Delilah said. “What matters is that her aunt ought not to speak of her like that.”

  “That is very true,” Addie said. “She was remarkably uncharitable, especially considering how well Prudence has mastered every other lesson.”

  Delilah turned to Prudence with barely concealed rage. “You ought not listen to her, Pru. Your aunt is a beast,” she said. “She makes my stepmother look saintly.”

  Louisa snickered at that. Even Addie smiled.

  Prudence sighed, rolling her eyes at her friend’s exaggeration. In the months since Delilah’s adventure, she’d become more and more fond of finding the humor in her story, which was like something straight out of a gothic romance.

  She supposed Delilah’s good humor on the topic was Lord Rupert’s influence. The charming gentleman who’d saved Delilah from her stepmother’s evil plans had softened Delilah considerably, bringing out her natural warmth and wit.

  Prudence pursed her lips as she scowled at her friend. “Really, Dee. Your stepmother planned to murder you. I hardly think it is fair to compare Aunt Eleanor to that wicked woman.”

  Delilah shrugged, unapologetic. “She shouldn’t be allowed to talk about you like that.”

  “What does she expect?” Addie asked, her voice rising in a rare show of outrage. “Does she think you have to be perfect in order to find a good match?”

  Yes. Prudence bit her tongue to keep from answering what was obviously a rhetorical question. But truly, yes, that was exactly what her aunt expected.

  “But Prudence is perfect, Addie,” Louisa interjected with a mischievous little grin. “She’s told us so herself any number of times, haven’t you, Pru?”

  “Louisa,” Addie sighed.

  “Not now, Louisa,” Delilah snapped.

  Prudence didn’t mind her teasing. This was the way it had always been between her and Louisa ever since the other girl joined her as a student at this school. While she considered Louisa a friend, the outspoken redhead was in every way he
r opposite. Prudence disapproved of just about everything Louisa did and Louisa found Prudence to be unbearably sanctimonious. They’d butted heads since day one and while they cared about one another, their relationship was far more akin to siblings who teased and squabbled than true friends.

  Or at least, that was what Prudence suspected. She had no siblings so she had nothing to compare it to.

  “She knows I’m teasing,” Louisa protested. “Don’t you, Pru?”

  “Of course I do,” Prudence said with a weary sigh. “But you must mind your manners, Louisa, if you’re ever going to be a respectable marchioness.”

  Louisa’s grin was filled with joy at the mere mention of her upcoming marriage. “Don’t you worry about me, Pru. Tumberland loves me just the way I am.”

  Prudence rolled her eyes. Out of habit she looked to Delilah to share in her distaste for Louisa and Addie’s sappy sighs, but Delilah was too busy smiling vapidly just like the others.

  Prudence sighed and reached for another sweet.

  Perhaps it was for the best that Aunt Eleanor was bringing her back to her country estate. Ever since Delilah had gone and fallen in love, Prudence had become the odd woman out.

  While the rest of her friends prattled on about upcoming weddings and talked of true love and destiny, Prudence sat by and listened and tried not to lose the contents of her stomach at the sickening romantic drivel.

  Romance was just another word for selfish decisions, as far as Prudence was concerned. Love was just a fantasy, ephemeral and weak. Neither romance nor love ought to take the place of reason when it came to making life-altering decisions.

  But she knew better than to try and convince her friends of this. They would look at her like she’d gone mad and then return to their plans for wedded bliss.

  She made a rather unattractive and cynical snorting sound as she sucked on her candy.

  Yes, it was definitely for the best that she was leaving. This sense of homesickness would pass once the school was out of sight, and her aunt, while perhaps a bit too harsh with her criticisms, had not been wrong.