Regency Diaries of Seduction Collection: A Regency Historical Romance Box Set

by Lucinda Nelson

  “Eric is a member of the peerage, but he isn’t much trained in law,” the doctor said firmly. He cocked his head to the side. “How did the young duke get involved in this anyway?”

  Charlene ducked her own head, embarrassed. Of course her father would ask that. “All those years ago, remember we saved his life?” she said quietly.

  “Oh, I remember,” the doctor said. “Still, I wasn’t aware that there was any sort of…loyalty there.” From the way that he said it, he was clearly implying that he believed Charlene had had relations of a sort with the man.

  Charlene felt her cheeks flame. “It’s nothing like that,” she chided her father. There was no reason to hide the truth from him, though.

  “He’s sent me some letters over the years,” she continued, “and he promised me back when we saved him that if I ever needed anything from him, he would do his best to help me. I’ve held him to that promise, that’s all.”

  Her father looked interested, but he didn’t say anything more than, “Just be careful, Charlene.”

  “He’s a good man,” Charlene said quietly, staring down at their still-joined hands. “He would never do anything to threaten my relationship or…anything else.”

  “I believe that,” Dr. Ellington said frankly. “But you must know by now that sometimes, even when one does not mean for such things, there are other words whispered around by society.”

  Charlene nodded unhappily. She knew that her father was right, of course. It was part of why she had hesitated to come to meet Eric today. But look where meeting him had led them, though. She had gotten to see her father, however briefly.

  Eric knocked on the door before he entered, looking apologetic. “That’s all the time that I can buy you, I’m afraid,” he said quietly. He looked back and forth between the father and daughter. Charlene immediately threw her arms around her father again.

  “I’ll do whatever I can to help you,” she promised him.

  “I will as well,” Eric promised as the two broke apart. “We will do whatever we can to prove your innocence, Doctor.”

  “I cannot thank you enough,” Dr. Ellington told the young duke. He glanced at his daughter, swallowing hard. “If nothing else, you’ve brought me the joy of seeing my daughter one more time.”

  “Don’t talk like that, Father!” Charlene chided immediately, horror in her voice.

  “Everything is going to be all right,” her father promised her again, but his eyes looked haunted.

  Eric ushered Charlene out of the cell and down the long hallways. They hadn’t gone far before Charlene began to weep. But she kept up with Eric as he guided her gently but insistently along.

  “Come, we shouldn’t linger here,” he said in an undertone. Charlene knew that he was right. These halls were no place for a woman such as herself, and especially not alone with a young bachelor such as Eric.

  He had risked a lot to bring her here. Charlene couldn’t put words to her thanks, though.

  Her tears subsided somewhat as they climbed back into the carriage and set off back to town. “Why?” Charlene heard herself ask again.

  This time, it was Eric who turned away, to look out the window at the passing scenery. “Because,” he finally said. For a moment, Charlene thought that that was all that she would get from him. But then, he continued: “I kissed you, once. Do you remember that?”

  Charlene’s gut twisted, and she couldn’t decide whether the feeling was unpleasant or not. “I remember,” she said softly.

  Unbidden, her fingers crept towards her lips, as she remembered the feeling of his own mouth against hers. It had been just the briefest moment of contact, but she remembered how it had sent lust spilling through her body.

  How she had hoped for more, regardless of how improper it was to want such as that.

  “I care for you, in some way,” Eric said. “Not only because you saved my life. And I suppose that’s why I’m trying to help you save your father.”

  Charlene wasn’t sure how to reply to that. Again, her heart was beating faster as the carriage moved down the road.

  “The case against your father is pretty damning, but not impossible,” Eric continued, as though he hadn’t just been talking about how much he cared for Charlene. “I’m sure that we can find some way to prove his innocence. It’s going to take a little work, though.”

  Charlene nodded mutely. She still wasn’t sure what to say. She felt as though they were balanced on some sort of precipice, about to tumble over the edge.

  That was silly, though. Even if she admitted to Eric that she had feelings for him as well, that she cared for him, it would only make them hurt worse in the end. They couldn’t have one another. It was impossible.

  Not only that, but admitting such feelings, she was sure, would only sour his feelings for her. He only liked her because she was wild and free, a doctor’s daughter, out there in Raven’s Hollow by herself.

  He wouldn’t like her if he knew that she was just like every other woman in society, that she was head over heels for his looks and his gentle ways.

  “Why did you never marry?” Eric asked suddenly, curiously.

  Charlene was thrown by the question. Why would he ask her that? Did he suspect that he himself was part of that reason?

  Oh, not because, as Charlene sometimes tried to convince herself, someone had found out about their kiss. Not because all of court knew that she was spoiled goods.

  But all the same, Eric was part of the reason that she had never married. Of the few people who had shown the remotest interest in her, she had been quick to let them know that she just wasn’t interested in them in that way.

  They had mostly been older, heavier, squatter, less attractive. Charlene had built up an image in her mind about the sort of man that she would end up with, and unfortunately that man looked a lot like Eric in her mind’s eye.

  Tall. Handsome. Only a little older than herself. He was caring and curiously gentle even though he must know that he could break her if he wanted.

  He was the kind of man who, without a thought, would promise his help to someone, at some point in the future, without any worries that what she would ask would be too big a task.

  He was the kind of man who, once called upon, ignored the uncomfortable position that his help could put him in, the kind of man who would always, no matter what, follow through on his word.

  That was the kind of man that Charlene pictured herself with. And the kind of man, she thought bitterly, that she could never hope to attract.

  She could feel tears prick her eyes again, and she turned away to hide them. Eric seemed to sense them, though, putting his arm around her shoulders and pulling her into a gentle hug.

  There was nothing there more than friendship, but she found herself leaning into him, suddenly sobbing uncontrollably. “I’m sorry,” she babbled. “It’s just all so much. My father…and you…”

  “It’s all right,” Eric murmured soothingly, stroking her hair. “Charlene, it’s all right. It’s quite all right.”

  Charlene sniffled, tears gone as quickly as they had started. She wanted the kind of man who would comfort her, even when it was anything but his job to do so, she thought. But of course, she couldn’t take advantage of Eric’s kindness in that way.

  She pulled back, looking up at the man. She was suddenly aware of how close the two of them were, and she couldn’t help the way her gaze darted down to his lips. Those soft, pink lips, which had once pressed against her own…

  She wasn’t sure who moved first, Eric or herself. The next thing she knew, though, their lips were sealed together again.

  She wouldn’t let him keep things chaste this time, or perhaps it was more that he had more experience than he had the last time the two of them had kissed.

  Whatever it was, she found her mouth suddenly open to his, his tongue pressing against hers. She whimpered as a strange sensation went through her body. She had never before realized how sensitive her mouth could be.


  Eric pulled back, looking slightly spooked. “I’m sorry,” he said immediately, taking his hands away from her. But Charlene chased him with her lips, unable to let him go so easily.

  Their next kiss was even more passionate, Eric’s tongue even more insistent against hers, his lips moving roughly against hers.

  It made a hunger well up inside of Charlene. Was this what it was like, to desire someone?

  If this was mere desire, she could only imagine what it would feel like to have something more. Like she was being swallowed whole by her passion. But in such the best way.

  Eric’s hand rested high on her leg, and even through the layers of her dress and petticoats, she imagined she could feel the heat of it. It was almost more than she could take, but she never wanted it to end.

  Yet then, they hit a bump on the road, an errant cobblestone, and Charlene remembered where they were. She pulled away, looking at him with surprised eyes.

  Had they really let it go so far?

  Eric looked abashed and embarrassed, though, and Charlene knew that she needed to stop him before he apologized. It had been her, as much as him. Maybe more so.

  She knew that he must be courting someone, perhaps the Lady Annabelle. He wouldn’t want to throw all of that away. She must have somehow started this incident.

  She pressed her finger against his lips, watching the way his pupils darkened with lust at the touch. It sent a shiver through her, but she knew she had to end things now. They had already gone too far.

  “I’m sorry I never returned your letters,” she said softly, surprising herself with the words. “You were always on my mind.”

  Eric’s eyes widened, and Charlene looked uncomfortably away. She had said too much, she was sure. Fortunately, they were pulling up in front of her family’s home even as she said that, and she could make her escape.

  “Thank you for today,” she said hurriedly. “And do let me know if you find out anything more about my father’s case. I shall keep you informed as well.”

  The words were formal, and they were nothing like what she would have liked to say to the man. But the next thing she knew, she had all but tumbled out of the carriage and fled for the front door.

  She hoped beyond hope that no one had happened to oversee the two of them together, and that her Aunt Helene wouldn’t notice how red and flushed her cheeks, her lips, her entire body was.

  Thankfully, her aunt didn’t seem to be home yet, which meant that there was no one there to comment. Charlene went immediately to her room, shutting the door behind her and leaning back against it, trying to calm her breathing and the beating of her wild heart.

  Chapter 10

  Lord Eric Cumberland, Duke of Havenport

  One of the things that Eric never minded, since he had become duke in his father’s stead, was riding around his dukedom and seeing to the various complaints of his tenants.

  Curiously, it was one of the things that his father had always hated the most: the man had seen it as a long and tedious process, and one that he could better delegate to someone else.

  Oh, he had still had plenty of rapport with his tenants, but Eric had immediately decided to do things differently than his father had.

  In his opinion, the differences had already paid off. Any complaints that Eric received now, even so short after he had taken over after his father’s death, tended to be legitimate, and it was a quick and easy matter to arbitrate over them, with both parties eventually deciding that Eric’s rulings were fair.

  Now, he had the long ride back to London ahead of him, but he couldn’t help feeling proud at the day’s work. His tenants were happier than ever, and it showed in their fields.

  Happy tenants meant more care went into their fields, which meant a higher yield, barring some catastrophe, which meant that at the end of the day, his own coffers were enriched.

  He finally reached his manor, feeling dusty and worn out from the road. But one of his servants immediately found him as he came in the front door.

  “My lord, there’s a man waiting here to see you,” he said, sounding nervous.

  The man was usually nervous. Eric wished there were some way for him to convince the servant that Eric was never going to be angry with him for these perceived problems. Things were worse in the man’s head than they would ever be in reality.

  Only time would cure the man’s fears, he knew.

  “Where is he? Who is he?” Eric asked immediately. “Did you tell him I was out?”

  “I did,” Michael said. “He wanted to wait, though.” The man swallowed hard. “It’s, um, Lord Ambrose, um, Johns? Mar-Marquess of…” He trailed off, clearly not remembering.

  “That’s all right,” Eric said immediately, wondering what a Marquess would be doing here to see him. And so impatiently too! He was surprised that the man had opted to wait for his return rather than scheduling a time to meet.

  He wondered if it had anything to do with Dr. Ellington’s case and the interest that he had shown in it. Word must have reached at least a few people, by now, that he was asking.

  He headed into the study after only a cursory dust-off of his clothing. “Lord Ambrose,” he said as the other man got to his feet.

  The Marquess’ lips tightened into a thin line, and Eric could tell that he was displeased. By what, Eric’s state or his reception of him? It wasn’t as though the man had given the young duke proper notice of his impending visit!

  “As you likely realize, I’m the chief investigator in Lord Henrich’s case,” the man said coolly, and Eric stared at him for a beat, connecting the dots.

  Lord Ambrose DuBois Johnson, Marquess of Wesborough. Eric didn’t know the man in person, but he had certainly heard of the man before.

  He was a titled man with a career that he had gained after a stint in the military. He had a reputation for being a hard and unfeeling man, which was part of what made him an excellent investigator.

  It was also part of what made it so unnerving to have the man staring seriously at Eric in his receiving room.

  “I understand that you brought Miss Ellington to see her father at Newgate,” Lord Ambrose continued, with a long-suffering look on his face.

  “Even I have to admit that your intentions of helping her were honourable. You saw a poor woman and brought her to see her father one last time before his trial. What could be more noble than that. I just wanted to make sure you remembered how dangerous it could be for you to get tangled up in the man’s case. It could put you into a…precarious position.”

  There was a long silence in the room. Eric wasn’t sure what to say in response. He could tell that Lord Ambrose was trying to intimidate him, but although the man and his reputation were certainly daunting, he knew that he couldn’t cave to that.

  “I know that the people defending Lord Henrich are out for blood,” he finally said smoothly. “But I also know that cries for vengeance aren’t all that the courts are interested in.” He met Lord Ambrose gaze for hardened gaze and was rewarded with a twitch in the older man’s jaw.

  “They’re not just out for vengeance,” he finally said. “The evidence against the man is irrefutable. It would be best for you to move on. And to not give a hapless female as Miss Ellington false hope that her father might be acquitted.”

  Eric could feel his jaw clench at that. What a pompous ass. Giving Miss Ellington false hope? He had done nothing of the sort. How would Lord Ambrose know, anyway? The man hadn’t been there.

  He must have heard some sort of report from the warden. That small man with his grudges. Eric wished that he could have further words with the man, but hell if he was going to return to Newgate to tell the man to mind his own damned business.

  “I’m sure that when you consider the true facts,” Eric said evenly, “you’ll realize that Dr. Ellington is twice the man of most of the healers in this country. It is certainly unfortunate that Lord Henrich died from his maladies, however that does happen sometimes.

  “Indeed, I nearly l
ost my life of my own stupidity when I was younger, and it was only Dr. Ellington who managed to save me. If not for him, my father might have lost his heir a decade ago.”

  Lord Ambrose’s mouth twisted into a dark approximation of a smile. “Is that what your interest in this is?” he asked. “Interesting, I suppose.” He leaned in close. “You shouldn’t be involved in this, though. Trust me.”

  Eric drew himself up haughtily. It was a pose that he seemed to be affecting more and more frequently since he had become duke, and it wasn’t one that he liked.

  No one seemed likely to listen to him otherwise, though. In spite of the fact that he had been raised into this position over the course of his whole life, no one seemed to believe that he was really ready yet, or that he held the full authority of a duke.