Never Surrender to a Scoundrel

by Lily Dalton

  A tremor of anger shot down her spine, but with great effort she maintained her outward calm. However, that calm withered in the face of Lady Meltenbourne’s blatant satisfaction. Her bright eyes and parted, half-smiling lips proclaimed the malicious intent behind her words, negating any obligation by Sophia for a decorous response. Yet before she could present the countess with a dismissive view of her train, the woman, in a hiss of silk, flounced into the crowd.

  Only to be replaced by Sophia’s sisters, who fell upon her like street thieves, spiriting her into the deeper shadows of a nearby corner. Unlike Sophia, who could wear the more dramatically hued Geneva velvet as a married woman, Daphne and Clarissa wore diaphanous, long-sleeved white muslin trimmed with lace and ribbon.

  “Who invited that woman?” Daphne, the elder of the two, demanded.

  Sophia answered, “She wasn’t invited.”

  “Did you see her bosoms?” Clarissa marveled.

  “How could you not?” Daphne said. “They are enormous, like cannonballs. It’s indecent. Everyone is staring, even Clarissa and I. We simply couldn’t help ourselves.”

  “That dress! It’s beyond fashion,” Clarissa gritted. “It’s the dead of winter. Isn’t she cold? She might as well have worn nothing at all.”

  “Daphne,” Sophia warned. “Clarissa.”

  Daphne’s eyes narrowed. “What exactly did she say to you?”

  Sophia banished all emotion from her voice. “Nothing of import.”

  “That’s not true,” Clarissa retorted. She leaned close and hissed, “She asked you if Claxton would be in attendance tonight.”

  Stung at hearing her latest shame spoken aloud, Sophia responded more sharply than intended. “If you heard her ask me about Claxton, then why did you ask me what she said?”

  Her hands trembled so greatly that she could no longer hold the punch glass without fear of spilling its contents. She deposited the glass on the nearby butler’s tray. Within seconds, a servant appeared and whisked it away.

  Clarissa’s nostrils flared. “I didn’t hear her. Not exactly. It’s just that she’s—”

  “Clarissa!” Daphne interjected sharply, silencing whatever revelation her sister had intended to share.

  “No, you must tell me,” Sophia demanded. “Lady Meltenbourne has what?”

  Clarissa glared at Daphne. “She deserves to know.”

  Daphne, clearly miserable, nodded in assent. “Very well.”

  Clarissa uttered, “She’s already asked the question of nearly everyone else in the room.”

  Despite the chill in the air, heat rose into Sophia’s cheeks, along with a dizzying pressure inside her head. The conversation between herself and Lady Meltenbourne had been shocking enough. With Clarissa’s revelation, Sophia was left nothing short of humiliated. She’d tried so desperately to keep rumors of Claxton’s indiscretions from her family so as not to complicate any possible future reconciliation, but now her secrets were spilling out on the ballroom floor for anyone’s ears to hear.

  “Trollop,” whispered Daphne. “It’s none of her concern where Claxton is. It is only your concern, Sophia. And our concern as well, of course, because we are your sisters. Someone should tell her so.” Though her sister had been blessed with the face of an angel, a distinctly devilish glint gleamed in her blue eyes. “Do you wish for me to be the one to say it? Please say yes, because I’m aching to—”

  “Erase that smug look from her face,” interjected Clarissa, fists clenched at her sides, looking very much the female pugilist.

  “You’ll do nothing of the sort,” Sophia answered vehemently. “You’ll conduct yourselves as ladies, not as ruffians off the street. This is my private affair. Mine and Claxton’s. Do you understand? Do not mention any of what has occurred to Mother, and especially not to our grandfather. I won’t have you ruining his birthday or Christmas.”

  “Understood,” they answered in unison. Her sisters’ dual gazes offered sympathy, and worse—pity.

  Though Sophia would readily offer the same to any woman in her circumstances, she had no wish to be the recipient of such unfortunate sentiments. The whole ugly incident further proved the insupportability of her marriage and her husband’s tendency to stray. Though Lady Meltenbourne’s presence stung, it made Sophia only more certain that Claxton would agree to her terms. Certainly he would prefer to have his freedom—and he would have it, just as soon as he gave her a child. Seventeen months ago when she spoke her vows, she’d been naïve. She’d had such big dreams of a life with Claxton and had given her heart completely, only to have it thrown back in her face when she needed him the most. Claxton would never be a husband in the loyal, devoted sense of the word. He would never love her completely, the way she needed to be loved.

  Admittedly, in the beginning, that aloofness—his very mysteriousness—had captivated her. The year of her debut, the duke had appeared in London out of nowhere, newly possessed of an ancient title. His rare appearances at balls were cause for delirium among the ranks of the hopeful young misses and their mammas.

  Then—oh, then—she’d craved his brooding silences, believing with a certainty that once they married, Claxton would give her his trust. He would give her his heart.

  For a time, she’d believed that he had. She closed her eyes against a dizzying rush of memories. His smile. His laughter. Skin. Mouths. Heat. Completion.

  It had been enough. At least she thought it had been.

  “Well?” said Daphne.

  “Well, what?”

  “Will Claxton make an appearance tonight?”

  “I don’t know,” whispered Sophia.

  Clarissa sighed. “Lord Tunsley told me he saw Claxton at White’s this afternoon, with Lord Haden and Mr. Grisham.”

  Sophia nodded mutely. So it was confirmed. After seven months abroad, her husband had returned to London, and everyone seemed to know but her. The revelation left her numb and sadder than she expected. She ought to be angry—no!—furious at being treated with such disregard. Either that or she ought to do like so many other wives of the ton and forget the injustice of it all in the arms of a lover. She’d certainly had the opportunity.

  Just then her gaze met that of a tall gentleman who stood near the fireplace, staring at her intently over the heads of the three animatedly gesturing Aimsley sisters. Lord Havering, or “Fox” as he had been known in the informal environs of their country childhood, always teased that she ought to have waited for him—and more than once had implied that he still waited for her.

  With a tilt of his blond head, he mouthed: Are you well?

  Of course, Lady Meltenbourne’s indiscreet inquiries about Claxton would not have escaped Fox’s hearing. No doubt the gossipy Aimsley sisters were dissecting the particulars at this very moment. Sophia flushed in mortification, but at the same time was exceedingly grateful Fox cared for her feelings at all. It was more than she could say for her own husband.

  Yet she had no heart for adultery. To Fox she responded with a nod and a polite smile, and returned her attention to her sisters. While she held no illusions about the pleasure-seeking society in which she lived, she’d grown up in the household of happily married parents who loved one another deeply. Magnificently. Had she been wrong to believe she deserved nothing short of the same?

  Clarissa touched her arm and inquired softly, “Is it true, Sophia, what everyone is saying, that you and Claxton are officially estranged?”

  In that moment, the candlelight flickered. A rush of frigid air pushed through the room, as if the front doors of the house had been thrown open. The chill assaulted her bare skin, and the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. All conversation in the ballroom grew hushed, but a silent, indefinable energy exploded exponentially.

  Both pairs of her sisters’ eyes fixed at the same point over her shoulders.

  “Oh, my,” whispered Daphne.

  Clarissa’s face lost its color. “Sophia—”

  She looked over her shoulder. In that moment
, her gaze locked with the bold, blue-eyed stare of a darkly handsome stranger.

  Only, of course, he wasn’t a stranger, not in the truest sense of the word. But he might as well have been. It was Claxton.

  Her heart swelled with a thousand memories of him, only to subside, just as quickly, into frigid calm. Without hesitation, she responded as her good breeding required. She crossed the marble floor, aware that all eyes in the room were trained on her, and with a kiss welcomed her faithless husband home.

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  NEVER SURRENDER TO A SCOUNDREL

  by Lily Dalton

  Fans of New York Times bestsellers Sabrina Jeffries, Nicole Jordan, and Jillian Hunter will want to check out the newest from Lily Dalton, a novel about a lady who has engaged in a reckless indiscretion leaving her with two choices: ruin her family with the scandal of the season, or marry the notorious scoundrel mistaken as her lover.

  ALSO BY LILY DALTON

  Never Desire a Duke

  Never Entice an Earl

  ACCLAIM FOR THE NOVELS OF LILY DALTON

  NEVER ENTICE AN EARL

  “4 stars! Dalton stirs the plot with sensuality, mistaken identity, danger, a woman’s risk of scandal, and a man’s vow of retribution, and blends it all in this very touching love story.”

  —RT Book Reviews

  “A fun, enjoyable, fast-paced and entertaining read that all historical romance fans should enjoy, and gains extra points for a nice surprise at the end.”

  —HeroesandHeartbreakers.com

  “A great, fun, roller-coaster ride of a read…Readers will absolutely love the ending.”

  —HarlequinJunkie.com

  “Intense…fast-paced and filled with engaging characters…a must-read!”

  —MyBookAddictionReviews.com

  NEVER DESIRE A DUKE

  “Dalton’s Regency debut resonates with genuine feeling…Unlike some one-note tortured heroes, Vane is sincere and appealing. Sophia’s pain is very real, and every interaction is fraught with honest emotion. As they struggle to recapture their romance, readers will feel deep sympathy for both characters and hope for them to find happiness.”

  —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

  “4½ stars! The first in Dalton’s One Scandalous Season series grabs the reader’s emotions in an intensely passionate love story, filled with misunderstandings, past indiscretions, trust, and forgiveness. But, for all the intensity, this gifted storyteller also deftly lightens the mood in a very well-written and satisfying read by adding a few zany characters bent on mischief and mayhem.”

  —RT Book Reviews

  “Never Desire a Duke is a terrific debut novel—it reminded me of Lisa Kleypas’ most memorable novels with a to-die-for hero and a lovely but heartbroken heroine. It’s an intensely beautiful, moving story (but it does have its funny moments) and you won’t be able to help yourself—you’ll be rooting for them to get back together.”

  —EverAfter.com.au

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  Contents

  Cover

  Title Page

  Welcome

  Dedication

  Acknowledgments

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  EPILOGUE

  A Preview of “Never Desire a Duke”

  Fall in Love with Forever Romance

  Also by Lily Dalton

  Acclaim for the Novels of Lily Dalton

  Newsletters

  Copyright

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

  Copyright © 2015 by Kim Ungar

  Excerpt from Never Desire a Duke copyright © 2013 by Kim Ungar

  All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher is unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the publisher at permissions@hbgusa.com. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.

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  First ebook edition: January 2015

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  ISBN 978-1-4555-2398-6

  E3

 

 

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