Glancing up at the sound of footfalls, he watched as Fancy descended the stairs, a provocative smile greeting him. She was still a fancy bit of work. He remembered a time when that smile had taken him to the edge of passion. He felt nothing for her now. Nothing at all.
“Good morning, darling,” she cooed as she approached him with movements designed to entice.
She placed a hand on his chest and before she could get nearer, he extended the envelope between them. Her smile changed into one of anticipation and her eyes glowed. “What’s this?”
“Four thousand pounds.” He’d had to borrow it from Ainsley. “I believe that’s the price you quoted my wife for her silence.”
Confusion marred her features. She stepped back without taking his offering. “Why—”
“I made a mistake,” he said flatly. “I mistook you for John’s mother.”
“I gave birth to him.”
“That does not make you his mother. Mercy claimed that honor, and so she will keep him and me. This is simply a payment for your services. The only payment you’ll ever receive from us. Do with it what you will. But do not bother us again.”
She snatched the envelope from him. “I shall need more. Four thousand a year. Otherwise, I shall tell everyone the truth of your son’s birth.”
He smiled. “No, you won’t. It would lessen your value. Make it more difficult to acquire a benefactor. Men favor women who know how to prevent by-blows.”
“I’ve discovered this is not the life I want.” Once again she placed her hand on his chest. She looked up at him with a plea in her eyes. “Not every man is you. It is you whom I desire.”
“I am taken.”
“You’ll grow bored with her.”
“No, I won’t. And if you do tell the world that you are my son’s mother—so be it. I do not intend for him to grow up not knowing the truth. However, be prepared to face my wrath as well as my mother’s.”
She paled with the force of the second threat.
“Yes,” he said quietly. “She can assure that London never opens its door to you again.”
She crushed the envelope to her chest. “Another four thousand and I’ll be silent.”
“You’re getting only what I just gave you. Go see Westcliffe. He’ll help you invest it. Perhaps with his help you’ll become a lady of leisure.”
He turned to leave—
“Stephen, you will be back. And I will be waiting.”
He glanced back at her. “I love Mercy. That will never change. Wait if you wish, but it will be in vain.”
He strode from the residence and down the steps to the waiting carriage. Once inside, he kissed his wife passionately as the carriage took off. When he finally drew back, she asked, “Did it go well?”
“She’ll not bother us.”
“What do we do now?”
“Go see Leo and arrange to have a family portrait painted.”
Her beautiful smile still had the power to take his breath away. He suspected it always would.
Epilogue
June 26, 1857
Hyde Park
It was called the Victoria Cross, each one cast from the bronze taken from a captured Russian cannon.
Standing in the park with Stephen’s family, Mercy watched as Queen Victoria presented the symbol of valor to sixty-two soldiers, one of which was Mercy’s much-beloved husband.
She recognized some of the faces, the names of the others who were honored. She had no fears that today’s ceremony would bring forth the nightmares. She’d not had one in more than a year. What an incredible year it had been.
Fancy was no longer a part of their lives, although Mercy had heard through the duchess, who kept up with such things, that the girl was now enjoying her fifth benefactor.
Because Roseglenn was not part of Ainsley’s entailment, Stephen had purchased it from him. The sheep were gone. He was raising horses. Lynnford would often come by to offer his advice. Some days their relationship was more strained than others. Mercy had not been surprised to discover he was Stephen’s father. Stephen was slowly reconciling his feelings about it.
And in a few more months, John would have a brother or a sister.
With the ceremony finished, she watched as her husband strode toward her in his scarlet uniform. He was as handsome now as he’d been the first time she’d ever laid eyes on him.
Releasing John’s hand, she laughed as he rushed headlong to his father. Stephen scooped him up and held him aloft, his laughter mingling with hers and John’s. She’d never known such happiness.
Holding John tightly in one arm, he slipped the other around her and kissed her soundly.
While his heroics had been many, it was his carrying wounded men from the field of battle while under heavy enemy fire that had earned him this particular recognition.
Leaning back, she fingered the medal that was pinned to his jacket. “I’m so proud of you.”
“I’m not certain I deserve it. I don’t remember—”
She touched her fingers to his lips. “It doesn’t matter. They remember,” she said, indicating the other soldiers on the field.
He set down John, unpinned his medal from his jacket and pinned it to the bodice of her dress. “We’ll share it,” he told her, “because you’re the one who truly deserves it.”
Before she could protest, he took her into his arms and kissed her deeply while the world looked on. With his reputation, no one even raised an eyebrow. But Mercy knew the kiss symbolized much more. It was a celebration of their life, their love.
About the Author
LORRAINE HEATH wrote her first story at seven, and it involved a fisherman who fell in love with a mermaid. She has since moved on to writing about sexy cowboys and dashing English lords (and sometimes, cleverly, in the same book!). Publishers Weekly says she is a “master of her craft.” She is, indeed, and along with being a New York Times and USA Today bestseller, she has won the RITA® Award, Romantic Times Reviewer’s Choice Award, and a Career Achievement Award. Visit her website at www.lorraineheath.com.
Romances by Lorraine Heath
Pleasures of a Notorious Gentleman
Passions of a Wicked Earl
Midnight Pleasures with a Scoundrel
Surrender to the Devil
Between the Devil and Desire
In Bed with the Devil
Just Wicked Enough
A Duke of Her Own
Promise Me Forever
A Matter of Temptation
As an Earl Desires
An Invitation to Seduction
Love with a Scandalous Lord
To Marry an Heiress
The Outlaw and the Lady
Never Marry a Cowboy
Never Love a Cowboy
A Rogue in Texas
Copyright
This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
PLEASURES OF A NOTORIOUS GENTLEMAN Copyright © 2010 by Jan Nowasky. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
EPub Edition December 2010 ISBN: 9780062078513
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About the Publisher
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Table of Contents
Dedication
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Epilogue
About the Author
Romances by Lorraine Heath
Copyright
About the Publisher
Pleasures of a Notorious Gentleman Page 31