An Unwilling Conquest

by Stephanie Laurens

  Her sojourn at Lester Hall was proving far more pleasant than her projected stay at Asterley Place could ever have been. From the moment Harry had led her into the drawing-room and introduced her to his father, his intentions had been plain. Everything—every glance, every touch, every little gesture, every single word and thought that had passed between them since—had underscored the simple fact. But not once during their twilight strolls on the terrace, throughout their ambling rides through woods and fields, through all the hours they had spent together out of the past seventy-two, had he said one single word to the point.

  He hadn’t kissed her either—a fact which was fuelling her impatience. Yet she could hardly fault his behaviour—it was gentlemanly in the extreme. The suspicion that he was wooing her—traditionally, according to all the accepted precepts, with all the subtle elegance only one of his experience could command—had taken firm root in her mind.

  Which was all very well, but…

  With one hand on the crown of her hat, Lucinda tipped her head up and studied the sky. “The sunshine’s been so constant one forgets the days are winging past. I fear we should return to London soon.”

  “I’ll escort you back to town tomorrow afternoon.”

  Lucinda blinked. “Tomorrow afternoon?”

  Harry raised his brows. “As I recall, we’re all promised to Lady Mickleham on the following evening. Em, I suspect, will need the rest.”

  “Yes, indeed.” Lucinda had forgotten Lady Mickleham’s ball entirely. After a moment’s hesitation, she continued, “I sometimes wonder if Em is overtiring herself in our cause. Heather and I would never forgive ourselves if she ran herself aground because of us.”

  Harry’s lips twisted in a reluctant grin. “Fear not. She’s a seasoned campaigner; she knows how to pace herself. Moreover, I can assure you the prospect of playing hostess to you both for the rest of the Season is currently providing her with expectations of untold enjoyment.” That, he knew, was the unvarnished truth.

  Lucinda shot him a glance from beneath her lashes, then looked ahead. “I’m relieved you think so, for I must confess I’m looking forward to rejoining the throng. It seems an age since I was swirling around a ballroom, held in a gentleman’s arms.”

  The look Harry sent her was distinctly dry. “Indeed—I’m quite looking forward to your return to the ballrooms myself.”

  “Oh?” Lucinda bestowed on him a smiling glance. “I hadn’t thought you so enamoured of the balls.”

  “I’m not.”

  Wide-eyed, Lucinda looked up at him. “What, then, lures you there?”

  A siren. Harry looked down into her soft blue eyes—and raised his brows. “I dare say you’ll understand once we’re part of the crush again.”

  Lucinda’s answering smile was weak. She looked forward—and concentrated on not gnashing her teeth. It was all of a piece—she wondered if he was actually trying to drive her to some rash act. Like visiting his room late tonight.

  It was a measure of her frustration that she actually considered the idea before, regretfully, setting it aside. The initiative was no longer hers; he had claimed it when he’d brought her here. She wasn’t at all sure how to wrest it from him—and even less certain that he would let it go.

  “Here we are.”

  Harry gestured ahead to where the path apparently disappeared into a hedge of greenery. They approached; he put out a hand and held aside a curtain of vines and creepers—blooming honeysuckle among them—to reveal white marble steps leading upward into a cool, dimly lit cave.

  Enchanted, Lucinda ducked under his arm and went ahead, climbing the steps to emerge onto the tassellated floor of a mock-temple, formed by four marble pillars separating a rockface on one quadrant, with the lake on the other three. The pillars supported a domed ceiling, covered in blue and green tiles, highly glazed, reflecting the sunshine glancing in off the lake in myriad hues from turquoise to deep green. Leafy vines and the apricot blooms of honeysuckle wreathed the arches looking onto the lake, the gentle breeze stirring their shadows.

  The temple was built out over the water, the central arch giving onto steps which led down to a small stone jetty. Wide-eyed, Lucinda halted in the very centre of the temple—and discovered one of its secrets. Each of the three open arches gave onto a different vista. The one to her right led the eye over a short stretch of lake then straight down a glade thick with ferns and shrubs. To her left lay a view over a long arm of the lake to a distant shore lined with willows and beech. Straight ahead lay the most charming vista of all—Lester Hall itself lay perfectly framed within the arch, glinting water in the foreground, manicured lawns leading up to the imposing façade, flanked by the shrubbery and wilderness to the left, the rose garden, just coming into bloom, and the formal gardens on the right.

  “It’s beautiful.” Lucinda went to stand by one of the pillars to better appreciate the view.

  Harry hung back in the shadows, content to watch the play of sunlight across her face. When she leaned back against the pillar and sighed contentedly, he strolled forward to stand beside her. After a moment, he asked, “Have you enjoyed your Season? Do you look to become a devotee—enamoured of the ton in all its glory, the crushes, the never-ending carousel of balls, parties and yet more balls?”

  Lucinda half turned to look into his face. She searched his eyes, but neither they nor his expression gave any hint of his feelings. She considered, then answered, “By and large, I find the ton and its entertainments amusing.” Her lips curved in a self-deprecating smile, her eyes reluctantly twinkling. “But you will have to remember that this is my first exposure to ‘the carousel’—I’m still enjoying the novelty.” Her expression growing serious, she put her head on one side the better to study him. “But the ton is your milieu—have you not enjoyed the balls this Season?”

  Harry’s gaze touched hers, then he looked down. He took one of her hands in his. Small, slender, her hand nestled in his much larger palm, confidently trusting. Harry closed his fingers about hers, his lips twisting. “There have been…compensations.”

  His lids rose; he met Lucinda’s gaze.

  Slowly, she raised her brows. “Indeed?” When he offered nothing more but simply looked away across the lake, she followed his gaze to Lester Hall, basking in the afternoon sun. As at Hallows Hall, Lucinda felt the tug of old memories. She sighed. “However, to answer your question, despite my fascination, I seriously doubt I could stomach a never-ending round of tonnish life. I fear I would need a steady diet of country peace to enable me to brave the Season on a regular basis.” She slanted a glance at Harry and found him watching her. Her lips quirked. “My parents lived very retired in a rambling old house in Hampshire. When they died, I removed to the Yorkshire moors, which, of course, is as retired as it’s possible to be.”

  Harry’s features relaxed, subtly but definitely. “So you’re a country miss at heart?” He lifted one brow. Slowly, his eyes on hers, he raised her hand. “Naïve?” He brushed his lips across her fingertips, then turned her hand in his. “Innocent?” His lids fell as he pressed a kiss to her palm.

  Lucinda shuddered; she made no effort to hide it. She couldn’t breathe, could barely think as Harry’s lids rose and his eyes, green and direct, met hers.

  His lips twisted; he hesitated, then shifted closer and bent his head to hers.

  “And mine?”

  He breathed the question against her lips, then captured them in a long, commanding kiss.

  Lucinda answered in the only way she could—she turned to him, sliding her arms up and wrapping them about his neck, then kissed him back with a fervour to match his own.

  Instinct prompted Harry to edge back, drawing her around the pillar to where the shadows shielded them from inadvertent eyes.

  Silence filled the small pavilion. The breeze idly played with the honeysuckle, wafting perfume through the air; a drake hooted from some distant reed-fringed shore. The shadows shifted gently over the figures entwined in the pillar’s lee. S
pring had blossomed; summer stood in the wings, eager for its day.

  “Oh! How lovely—a Grecian temple! Can we go and see?”

  Heather’s high-pitched tones carried easily across the water, hauling Harry and Lucinda back to their senses. Harry’s chest swelled as he drew in a deep breath—then looked down. Lucinda’s eyes slowly filled with comprehension; Harry felt his lips firm as he saw his frustration mirrored in misty blue.

  Muttering a curse, he bent his head to taste her lips one last time, then drew his hand from her breast and quickly, expertly, rearranged her bodice, doing up the tiny buttons with a dexterity equal to that with which he had undone them.

  Blinking, struggling to subdue her harried breathing, Lucinda straightened his collar and brushed back the heavy lock of hair she’d disarranged. She had shifted his cravat; her hands fluttered uncertainly.

  Harry abruptly stepped back, long fingers reaching for the starched folds. “Your skirts.”

  Lucinda looked down—and swallowed a gasp. She shot an indignant glare at Harry, which he met with an arrogantly raised brow, then shook the clinging muslin down, smoothing the folds so that the skirts once more hung free. She spied her hat lying on the floor; she swiped it up and set it in place, tangling the ties in her haste.

  “Here—let me.” Harry deftly separated the ribbons, then tied them in a neat bow.

  Putting up a hand to check on his efforts, Lucinda threw him a haughty glance. “Your talents are quite astonishing.”

  Harry’s smile was a touch grim. “And extremely useful, you’ll admit.”

  Lucinda tilted her chin, then, turning, plastered a bright smile on her lips as Gerald’s voice floated up from the bottom of the steps.

  “Take care! Wait till I make fast.”

  Lucinda strolled forward into the sunshine at the top of the steps. “Hello—did you have a pleasant time on the lake?”

  Gerald looked up at her and blinked. When Harry appeared from the shadows behind her, Gerald’s expression turned wary.

  But Harry only smiled, albeit a touch coolly. “Just in time, Gerald. Now we can take the punt and you can show Miss Babbacombe around the temple then stroll back.”

  “Oh, yes! Let’s do that.” Heather could barely wait for Gerald to assist her from the bobbing craft. “It’s such a lovely spot—so secluded.”

  “Usually,” Harry murmured, so low only Lucinda heard.

  She shot him a warning glance but her smile didn’t waver. “The tiles on the ceiling are quite splendid.”

  “Oh?” Heather trod up the steps and into the temple without further encouragement.

  Gerald, meanwhile, was staring, mesmerised, at Harry’s gold acorn pin, the one his excessively precise brother used to anchor his cravat. The pin was askew. Blinking in bemusement, Gerald raised his eyes to Harry’s, only to be met by a languid, distinctly bored green gaze—which he knew very well meant he’d be well advised to quit his brother’s presence forthwith. “Ah—yes. We’ll walk back.”

  His expression studiously blank, Gerald nodded to Lucinda and hurried after Heather.

  “Mrs Babbacombe?”

  Lucinda turned to find Harry, the long pole in one hand, steadying the boat, as he held his other hand out to her. She put her fingers in his; he helped her into the punt. Once she had settled her skirts on the cushions in the prow, he stepped into the stern and poled off.

  The dark water glided past the hull; reclining against the cushions, Lucinda trailed her fingertips in the lake—and filled her sight with Harry. He avoided her gaze, concentrating, to all appearances, on their surroundings.

  With a small, disbelieving sniff, Lucinda switched her gaze to the shores slipping past.

  The ends of Harry’s lips lifted; his gaze, falling to her profile, was unusually soft but cynical, too. Hands on the pole, he propelled them through the water; not even the most inveterate rake could seduce a woman while poling a punt. He hadn’t planned their recent close brush with intimacy—for once, he was truly grateful for his younger brother’s interruption. He had reason enough to marry his siren, and too many excuses he had yet to convince her he no longer needed. Their night at Asterley had only added to the list, lending weight to the social pressures she might imagine had influenced him. Social pressures he himself had foolishly raised in order to hide the truth.

  Harry lifted his gaze to the vista before them—the façade of Lester Hall—Jack’s home now, no longer his. His gaze grew distant; his jaw firmed.

  She had made it plain that it was important for her to know the truth of why he wished to wed her; during the past days, he had realised it was important to him to know that she did. So before they were done, before he again asked her to be his bride, they would have it all clear between them.

  His siren would know the truth—and believe it.

  LUCINDA OPENED HER EYES the next morning to discover a dusky pink rose unfurling on her pillow. Enchanted, she took the delicate bloom into her hand, cradling it gently. The dew on the petals fractured the sunshine.

  Her smile wondering, delighted, she sat up and pushed the covers back. Every morning she had spent at Lester Hall, she had woken to find just such a tribute waiting somewhere in her room.

  But on her pillow…?

  Still smiling, she rose.

  Fifteen minutes later, her expression serene, she glided through the breakfast parlour doors, the rose between her fingers. As usual, Harry’s father was not present—he was a semi-invalid and did not stir before noon; Em adhered to town hours so would not rise until eleven. As for Heather and Gerald, they had the night before announced their intention of riding to a distant folly; they would, Lucinda judged, be well on their way by now. Which left Harry alone, seated at the table’s head, long legs stretched out before him, his fingers crooked about the handle of a cup.

  Lucinda felt his gaze as she entered; with every appearance of unconsciousness, she considered her lover’s token, then, with a softly distant smile, tucked it lovingly into her cleavage, making great show of nestling the velvet petals against the curves of her breasts.

  She looked up to see Harry transfixed. His fingers had tightened about the handle of his cup, a stillness, like that of a predator about to pounce, had settled over his long frame. His gaze was riveted on the rose.

  “Good morning.” Lucinda smiled sunnily and went forward to take the seat the butler held for her.

  Harry tried to speak, then had to clear his throat. “Good morning.” He forced his gaze to Lucinda’s; it sharpened as he read her expression. He shifted in his seat. “I’d thought to visit the stud before we head back to town. I wondered if you’d care to accompany me—and perhaps renew your acquaintance with Thistledown.”

  Lucinda reached for the teapot. “Thistledown’s here?”

  Harry nodded and took a long sip of coffee.

  “Is it far?”

  “Only a few miles.” He watched as Lucinda spread a muffin with jam. She leant both elbows on the table, the muffin held with both hands, and took a bite; a minute later, the tip of her tongue went the rounds of her lips. Harry blinked.

  “Will we ride?” Lucinda didn’t think to voice her agreement formally; he had known from the first she would go.

  Harry stared at the rose nestling between her breasts. “No—we’ll take the gig.”

  Lucinda smiled at her muffin—and took another bite.

  Twenty minutes later, still clad in her lilac walking dress, the dusky pink rose in pride of place, she sat beside Harry as he tooled the gig down a narrow lane. “So you don’t spend much time in London?”

  Harry raised his brows, his attention on the bay between the shafts. “As little as possible.” He grimaced. “But with a venture like the stud, it’s necessary to remain visible amongst the cognescenti, which is to say, the gentlemen of the ton.”

  “Ah—I see.” Lucinda nodded sagely, the wide brim of her villager hat framing her face. “Contrary to all appearances, you care nothing for the balls, the routs, the parti
es—and less for the good opinion of the feminine half of the ton. Indeed—” she opened her eyes wide “—I cannot understand how you have come by the reputation you bear. Unless—” She broke off to look enquiringly up at him. “Perhaps it’s all a hum?”

  Harry’s attention had left the bay gelding; it was focused on Lucinda, the light in his eyes enough to make her shiver. “My reputation, my dear, was not gained in the ballrooms.”

  Lucinda kept her gaze wide. “Oh?”

  “No,” Harry stated—more in answer to the hopeful expression in her eyes than her question. His expression severely reproving, he clicked the reins, setting the horse to a trot.

  Lucinda grinned.

  The stud was soon reached. Harry tossed the reins of the gig to a groom, then lifted Lucinda down. “I need to talk to my head-stableman, Hamish MacDowell,” he said as they strolled towards the stable complex. “Thistledown should be in her box. It’s in the second yard.”

  Lucinda nodded. “I’ll wait for you there.” The stables were a massive conglomerate of buildings—stables proper, as well as tackrooms and barns housing training gigs as well as what appeared to be quite enormous quantities of fodder. “Did you start it up—or was it already in existence?”

  “My father established the stud in his youth. I took over after his accident—about eight years ago.” Harry’s gaze swept over the stud—the neat, cobbled yards and stone buildings before them, the fenced fields on either side. “Whenever I’m home I offer to drive him over—but he never comes.” He looked down, then added, “I think seeing it all—the horses—reminds him of his inability. He was a bruising rider until a fall put him in that chair of his.”

  “So you’re the son who takes after him most in the matter of horses?”

  Harry’s lips twitched. “In that regard—and, some might argue, his other most consuming passion.”

  Lucinda glanced at him, then away. “I see,” she replied, her tone repressive. “So is this now all yours?” Her gesture took in the whole complex. “Or is it a family concern?”

  She looked up at Harry, light colour in her cheeks, but made no attempt to excuse the question.