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

by Lucinda Nelson

  “I don’t want to see you near Matilda again,” Lord Yardley said with finality. He stalked from the room, leaving Charlene alone. She sank into a seat, feeling as though all her bones had melted. Everything was ruined. Her reputation, her job, her family.

  Eric would surely back out on helping her prove her father’s innocence now. He wouldn’t want to be part of the gossip that she had brought upon them.

  Oh, it was fine for him to have dalliances with her. He was a man; it was only expected of him. He would no doubt laugh it off and say that she had flung herself at him.

  He would keep his position. But no one wanted to be seen with someone who had been branded a slut.

  Her father would be found guilty, and she herself would have no future.

  Unless she accepted the Marquess’ offer. She felt her blood run cold as she realized that that was the only thing left to her. If he would still have her, given this indiscretion.

  Then again, what would Lord Ambrose care if she had been seen with another man? A doctor could prove her virginity. And then he could claim that he had tamed her. That he had broken her wild spirit.

  In fact, knowing that she had been with Eric would probably only make her seem like a sweeter conquest.

  She couldn’t seem to stop crying, not even when Helene entered the room and clucked her tongue at the young woman. Helene sat next to her, a hand on her shoulder as she sobbed.

  “We’ll figure out a way through this,” she sighed. “Somehow.”

  “Lord Ambrose wants to marry me,” Charlene admitted tearfully. “He says that if I agree to his offer, then he will see that Father is let free.”

  Helene was quiet for a long moment. Finally, she sighed.

  “It might be the best way to solve all of this,” she said quietly. “If he would still have you, it would salvage your reputation, and that of our family. And your father would be let off.”

  She paused. “I’m starting to wonder if it’s possible that your father did intend to poison Lord Henrich. All the evidence does seem to be against him.”

  “Auntie!” Charlene said, aghast to hear that from a member of her own family. “I’m sure that he’s innocent. Eric and I…” She trailed off, staring down at her lap.

  “Of course, Eric probably wants nothing to do with me now,” she finished miserably.

  “That’s for the best, probably,” Helene said tartly. She squared her shoulders.

  “You know that I would never force you into a marriage against your will. But I think you should consider the Marquess’ proposition, and your loyalty to your family. Especially in light of this morning’s gossip.”

  Charlene felt the horror rise inside of her. Wasn’t this exactly what she had been afraid of? That her aunt would push her to marry the Marquess?

  Oh, she knew that Helene meant well. Helene believed that the best way to protect the family, to keep them all alive and well, was for Charlene to accept the investigator’s proposal.

  Charlene could not help but protest. “I know you do not pay much heed to the rumors of the ladies of London, but surely you’ve heard the whispers about Lord Ambrose!” she said, aghast.

  Helene’s lips tightened into a thin line. “Oh yes, I have heard the rumors,” she said. “But Charlene, you’ll realize as you get older, and in particular when you get married, that certain things of someone’s domestic life appear quite different when they get out in the public. And people always exaggerate about situations they don’t truly have a clue.”

  “You mean that it was all a misunderstanding?” Charlene asked, unable to help the sarcasm that crept into her voice. “How could someone misunderstand that Lord Ambrose was beating his wife? That he was the reason she lost their child?”

  “Charlene!” Helene gasped. “Let us not talk of such dreadful things.” Charlene could see the worry that creased her aunt’s brow, and she wondered why the older woman seemed to be defending the Marquess.

  Was Helene that desperate for Charlene to marry the man? So desperate, in fact, that Helene cared nothing for her niece’s continued health and longevity?

  Charlene obediently let the rumors drop and focused on other reasons for not wanting to marry the Marquess. “He’s so odious,” she said. “He revolts me.”

  Helene rolled her eyes at her niece’s dramatics. “Charlene, you are quite old enough now to realize that being a wife means stepping into a role. You will have responsibilities as the Marquess’ wife. These have nothing to do with your feelings about the man.”

  Charlene wrinkled her nose. “I don’t want to bed a man whom I detest,” she said.

  “It is time for you to give up your fairytales. You are a grown woman now,” Helene said impatiently. “You would but have to keep house for him, and to give him heirs. When he is bedding you, you will simply have to close your eyes and hope that he goes quick.”

  Charlene stared miserably down at her feet. “Is it so much to wish for a man who would actually love me?” she asked bitterly.

  Of course, the only man whom she truly wished to have love her was Eric. And given that man’s status as a duke, she knew that nothing could ever come of his love, even if it were freely given to her.

  She regretted the fates that had put her into this situation. But surely marrying the Marquess wasn’t the only option.

  Helene sighed. “I’m sure Lord Ambrose will come to care for you in his own way,” she said. “Perhaps it is not the perfect match, but I am certain that the man would do you no deliberate harm.”

  Charlene could tell that her aunt was lying and that Helene was more worried than she was truly admitting. But what use was it to call her on the lie?

  The one saving grace was what Helene had said before: that she would not force Charlene to marry against her will. If Charlene truly did not wish to marry the Marquess, then Helene would respect that.

  Or perhaps she would not respect it, but she would not work against her niece’s wishes to see that they were married regardless.

  Charlene sighed. “I doubt he would even allow me to continue making my lotions and salves,” she reminded her aunt. “All money that we had would come from him and only him.”

  For even if Charlene married the chief investigator and ensured her father’s freedom, she doubted her father would be much able to provide for them anymore.

  Helene pursed her lips. “Then you will simply have to obey the man and be a doting wife,” she said. “He will have no reason to be cruel to you if you behave yourself.”

  Charlene gave her a look. “The rumors,” she said flatly. She doubted that Lord Ambrose would need much of a reason to be cruel to her. He was a vicious man who would stop at nothing to assert his power.

  In fact, Charlene worried that even if she married the man, he might have her father sent to the gallows. Just as a lesson to her, to show that he wasn’t the kind of man who she could broker deals with.

  It would show his sovereignty over her. His utter, unchecked power.

  Charlene shuddered at the thought of what she might endure at that man’s hands.

  Helene didn’t seem to notice her niece’s distress, however. Instead, she turned and walked towards the window for a moment, seemingly lost in other times.

  She had grown up here with Charlene’s father, but Charlene knew very little about their life then. Whenever she broached the subject, her aunt made it clear that she had no desire to discuss any details from those times.

  Charlene loved her aunt dearly, but sometimes, she could barely understand the matriarch’s plan for her.

  Finally, as Charlene was about to voice another protest against marrying the chief investigator, Helene turned back from the window.

  “If I were in any position to save your father, you know that I would do whatever it took.”

  She didn’t say it accusingly, simply matter-of-factly. Then, she got up and breezed from the room, leaving Charlene alone with her anguish.

  There was one person that she wanted to talk t
o about all of this. Eric. It was the reason that she had run to him the previous day. It was the reason that all the rumors were spreading around town.

  She couldn’t believe that she had been so foolish as to think she could see him at his manor like that. Still, how else was she supposed to communicate with him? Through letters? They did not have time for such things now. Things were moving too quickly.

  If she told him that her aunt was set on her marrying Lord Ambrose, would Eric have some way to help her? Would he and his men smuggle her out of London, at least until it was safe for her to return?

  Charlene wondered whether it would ever be safe for her to return. Either her father would hang or he wouldn’t, but either way, the family reputation was tarnished.

  And either way, she would have to face Lord Ambrose’s wrath if she decided to slight him.

  Why did men seem to think that they could have anything that they wished in the world? Charlene wondered what it must be like to have power like that.

  If she could have anything in the world, it would be another moment in Eric’s arms. She wanted to run to him, to fly into his arms and sob with the injustice of it all.

  She wanted him to soothe her and to kiss away her tears. To promise her a better future, if she could only be patient and hold off the marquess for a little while longer.

  She had felt so calm the previous day, leaving his manor, but now her hopes had come crashing down again.

  Helene wouldn’t pressure her into marrying the marquess, but she had made her feelings on the matter abundantly clear. She believed that it was Charlene’s duty to her family, and in particular her father, to marry the man.

  Charlene knew that there were certain responsibilities that came with growing up. She knew that being a woman was about more than gowns and balls and things such as Matilda and her peers giggled about in whispers.

  But in her family, she had never felt the weight of responsibility quite like she did now. She had always thought that her responsibilities would manifest in helping out with the family finances, in keeping a tidy house, in caring for her aunt and father as they grew older.

  She had never thought that she would be required to accept a deal to save her father’s life. She had never thought that she might have to marry, provide suitable heirs, or manage another household.

  And then there were all of the duties that would surely come with being the wife of a prominent figure of society. The Marquess’ wife would no doubt have to attend social functions at his side, and host important men at their home.

  Charlene felt totally unqualified for the role. Would the Marquess believe her if she said that, however?

  She wished again to talk to Eric about all of this. As it was, her thoughts were simply chasing one another around and around in her head.

  She didn’t even know if the marquess’ proposal was still possible now that there were rumors about her. Of course she couldn’t go to see Eric now. She had spoiled that forever.

  Would the marquess come to see her, in light of the mistakes that she had made? Would he punish her already, even though she had yet to accept his proposal?

  She shuddered at the thought of that. He would surely have some sort of rebuke for her.

  She wasn’t under house arrest, but she knew that her aunt would be keeping a closer eye on her from now on, especially if she thought that Charlene was in any danger of ruining her chances with Lord Ambrose.

  Not only that, but the whole of London would be watching her every move. She couldn’t go running to Eric now when the gossip was already all about the two of them.

  Besides, Eric no doubt wanted nothing more to do with her. There would be no more letters. No more stolen kisses. He would turn his attentions to someone else, someone whom he was meant to be courting, and ensure that everyone forgot his involvement in all of this.

  That thought hurt more than she could imagine. But then, what did she think would come of this in the first place?

  She should never have approached him in the first place, and they definitely should never have kissed. It had been folly to think that she had any place in his life.

  Chapter 14

  Lord Eric Cumberland, Duke of Havenport

  Eric should have known that no good could come of Charlene’s visit to his home.

  It wasn’t proper for a woman to visit with a man alone, especially not when they were both unmarried, and especially not when there was no well-known reason for the two of them to be meeting.

  Of course someone would notice her visit, and of course the rumors would fly.

  To be honest, he was shocked by the sheer number of people gossiping about her visit by the time he awoke the morning after. But then again, Eric knew that there were a good number of ladies who were interested in him.

  They were all apparently jealous of Charlene, the spinster who had “somehow” captured his attention.

  Eric was disgusted with all of it. What could he really do at this stage, however? If he told everyone that he had simply been attempting to help her clear her father’s name, they would all wish to know the reason why.

  And they would want to know why her aunt hadn’t come with her to visit him. After all, if it was a family matter that Eric was helping them with, then Helene should have been there.

  That was all. Not to mention the fact that telling the town that he was attempting to prove the man’s innocence would likely only make it more difficult to do.

  Whoever had framed the man would know he needed to cover his tracks. The real villain had already proven cunning enough to deceive Lord Ambrose and everyone else involved with the investigation.

  The last thing Eric needed was for him to make things even more difficult to solve.

  So Eric couldn’t push back against the rumors with the truth. Anyway, the more he argued that he and the spinster had done nothing, the more guilty they would probably look.

  The best thing to do with scandals like this was to let them blow over. People would grow weary of talking about this before too long, especially if Eric and Charlene weren’t seen together again in the meantime.

  The trouble was, the first thing that Eric wanted to do when he heard the gossip was to rush right over to Charlene’s home and comfort her.

  He knew that this must be a difficult time for her. She was already dealing with everything to do with her father, and now she had to contend with rumors too.

  And with being fired, word came. Lord Yardley had determined that Charlene must not be the kind of person he wanted to have around his daughter.

  It made Eric want to march over there and demand that the man give Charlene her position back. She had made an innocent gaffe, the slightest of indiscretions. That didn’t mean everyone could pass judgement on her character.

  They certainly seemed to think that they could, though. Where was the fairness in any of it? Lady Annabelle had come to visit Eric, and no one was calling her a trollop…and other nastier names. But then, there was less interest in gossiping over Lady Annabelle’s visit, Eric supposed.

  Everyone had seen the two of them together at the ball. She had made sure of that. That didn’t make it right for her to show up at his home alone. In fact, to Eric’s eyes, that should have seemed even more suspicious than Charlene showing up at his place.

  Except that again, no one knew why Charlene had come to visit him. And that was the reason everyone wanted to talk about it. The less people knew, the more they wanted to discuss things.

  The real difference was that everyone expected him to be with someone like Annabelle. The other women could feel jealous of Annabelle given his supposed affection for her, but there was no way to really fault her. She was accomplished, titled, beautiful, and charming.

  With Charlene, on the other hand, the women seemed to delight in listing off her supposed faults. Twenty-five and unmarried, there must be some reason for it they were sure. And they didn’t hesitate to speculate what those reasons might be.

  Eric sig
hed. He couldn’t help feeling agitated. Everywhere he went, there were mean-spirited whispers about the woman. Even here at Whites, the gentleman’s club.

  “I just thank God that I didn’t marry the strumpet,” one man said, and a couple of his friends laughed.

  Eric rounded the corner just then, clearing his throat loudly. The men looked up and cowered sheepishly. Eric gave them a dark look and continued on his way past.

  He had no desire to really be there, but he knew it was good for his reputation. If he hid himself away somewhere, it would only fuel further speculation that he had done something that he needed to be ashamed of.