A Lady To Redeem A Rakish Lord (Historical Regency Romance)

by Lucinda Nelson

  “So when do you think she will ask to meet?” asked Benjamin.

  “All in due time. She has seen you before, has she not?”

  “Of course, she has.”

  “Well, then,” continued Ben. “When the time is right, let her ask to meet, then we shall do something about that.”

  Ben smiled and brought out some pound notes which he handed to Luke who took them excitedly.

  “Why did you have to be Christopher’s friend, anyway?” he asked. “I used to know him as someone who was a loner, always kept to himself. And you may not remember me, but we have played a game together at the gambling hell, and I could see that you are a great gambler.”

  Benjamin smiled. “I never wanted a friend because I didn’t need one. But when I met Christopher, I thought, we could be friends. He needed someone to spend time with and I needed someone to make me ‘more responsible’, to appease my grandfather. I needed someone of a higher class. That was how we became friends.”

  “But how did he become a scoundrel? Was that your undoing as well?” Luke asked with a laugh.

  “Oh no! That was all him. He had the desire to corrupt women in his mind all the while. I just happened to bring it out.”

  Luke smiled. “And here you are. Both of you, loving the same woman.”

  “Yes, he has had his chances with all the women he needed and I never gave him a problem in regards that. I found Ophelia, and she belongs to me. I am not going to allow him to ruin that for me.”

  Luke smiled. “Well, keep paying me for good advises and I will help you get her…isn’t that your friend coming in?”

  Benjamin was surprised and turned to see the entrance. Luke was right. Christopher was walking into the gambling hell and he seemed to be looking around for him. He finally spotted him.

  “I thought he wasn’t coming tonight,” said Benjamin. “Excuse me.”

  Benjamin walked over to Christopher.

  “I thought you weren’t coming in tonight,” he said as they both took a seat.

  Christopher frowned as he looked at Luke who was looking back at him.

  “I think I know that man,” he said to Benjamin. “You won against him in a game some months back. Do you not remember?”

  Benjamin shrugged. “No, I do not.”

  “What were you two talking about?”

  “Nothing important,” replied Benjamin. “What made you come in tonight? Thought you were not sure.”

  * * *

  Christopher Crampton, Viscount Barrington

  Christopher should not have come to the gambling hell that night. He had lots of things to do but Benjamin had somehow shifted his mind from things.

  The only thing he could think of was what he would do if Ophelia did not return his affection. After some time, he had decided to come to the gambling hell to seek his friend’s advice.

  “So, that is why you are here?” asked Benjamin after he had told him everything.

  “Yes. Ben, I do not think you understand how serious my feelings are for Ophelia. I’m afraid that my heart shall not be at peace until I have spoken with her once again.”

  “Have you told your mother about her?”

  “Of course not. Mother is too busy taking care of father than for me to start dumping my own worries into her laps.”

  “What about your sister? Is she back from Havenswood?”

  “Yes. I trust she is back but she must have gone to her husband’s estates by now. She will be back to give me the outcome tomorrow.”

  “Well, then, you can wait for her to come back before you start worrying yourself endlessly,” said Benjamin.

  “I am unable to stop myself from worrying, Ben. But I think I know what to do even if she does have other men seeking her hand.”

  Ben raised his brows. “What would you do?”

  “I am going to get close to her. I will get to understand her and maybe in the process, she might get close to me too. But I am not giving up.”

  Benjamin smiled. “That is a good decision,” he said before raising the bottle to his lips.

  * * *

  Miss Ophelia Campbell

  “Emily, do you think it wise for me to go to this dinner?”

  It was the second day after Rebecca had visited. Emily had come over and Ophelia and told her everything, including the part where she had been invited to the Barrington estates for a dinner.

  “I think it is alright for you to go. Seems his sister is trying to be your friend and bring you and the Viscount together. That is a good thing,” said Emily.

  Ophelia found herself blushing. “She did say something about a man who loves me but I could not bring myself ask her if it was referring her brother. If she had told me, it would have been another thing entirely. Asking her would make me seem desperate. I cannot be desperate.”

  “Well, what about the letter you got?” asked Emily. Ophelia had told her that part as well.

  “If indeed, Rebecca is working on bringing us together then, perhaps, the Viscount is the secret admirer,” said Ophelia.

  “Are you quite certain?”

  Ophelia nodded. “Yes, who else would it be, Emily?”

  “What about Benjamin Gibbs?”

  “Benjamin is just a man who helped us home one night. He never showed interest in me and I do not have any interest in him as well. So why would he write to me? I do not think he is the writer of the letter.”

  Emily shrugged. “Well, fate has truly been bringing you and the Viscount together. I would not be surprised if he is the secret admirer.”

  Ophelia smiled. She was glad that despite their class differences, he had still managed to reach out to her.

  “You can not seem to stop blushing, Ophelia,” Emily teased but the door opened and Martins came in with another letter.

  “This is for you, Miss,” he said.

  Ophelia excitedly got the letter and tore it open. Emily waited anxiously for her to finish reading.

  Sweet Ophelia,

  I hope this letter meets you in good condition? I seek your apologies for not being able to summon the courage into coming to meet you face to face. You must know that your beauty causes me to grow weak in the legs and I become tongue-tied. I am most afraid that I might end up making a fool of myself if I open my mouth. This was why I said so little during our last encounter. I do hope you forgive my imperfections.

  I do hope to see you very soon, when I would have gathered the courage to see you once again.

  Yours affectionately,

  your secret admirer

  Ophelia inhaled loudly as she finished reading. There was no way this could not be Christopher. He had not said too much to her the night at the ball.

  “So you think it is Christopher?” asked Emily after seeing the contents of the letter.

  “I am certain that he is the one. I am happy that I shall be seeing him tomorrow. Then we can finally talk.”

  “Look,” said Emily, pointing at an address on the letter. “Here is a return address on the letter. This means you can always send back your reply.”

  Ophelia read the address and saw that it was from London. More reason to believe the letter was from Christopher.

  “Now, I can rest assured that my secret admirer is the same man I have been thinking about. Oh! Emily, I am so excited.”

  “Well, let’s go find you a dress to wear. You did say a carriage will come for you.”

  Ophelia nodded. Rebecca had promised to send a carriage down to pick her up. Quickly, she followed her friend into the room. While Emily went through the wardrobe to find her the dining gown to wear, her mind drifted back to the conversation she had with Rebecca.

  She seemed to be a very nice lady and within the shortest time, she had somehow earned her trust. If truly, the Viscount wanted to marry her, she was certain that she and Rebecca would be quite close. They would be like twins.

  “Hello, Ophelia. Emily,” said Charles, walking into the room unannouced.

  Both ladies were
surprised to see him.

  “What are you doing here?” asked Ophelia. The last time they saw him was at the ball and Charles never showed up at their home unannounced.

  “I just remembered something about the man we saw at the ball,” Charles claimed.

  “What about him?” asked Ophelia.

  “I do not think you should depend on him,” said Charles, looking really serious which was quite unusual.

  “Who is he talking about?” Emily asked.

  “He is talking about Christopher,” replied Ophelia, standing up and walking towards her cousin.

  “Well, you can go ahead and tell us what you want to say,” said Emily with a look of concern.

  “Well,” started Charles. “Ophelia, I think you need to stay away from him. He is not to be trusted, especially when it comes to women.”

  Ophelia burst into laughter. “What is this about, Charles?” You do not even know this man!”

  “I know him well enough to know that he is not to be trusted. He is a scoundrel, and a rake. All he does is gamble a lot and corrupt both single and engaged women!”

  Emily and Ophelia frowned.

  “I do not understand you, Charles. How do you know these things? Do you know him from somewhere?” asked Emily but a knock interrupted their discussion

  “A carriage from Barrington is here!” announced Martins.

  “Alright, thank you. I shall be out soon,” Ophelia replied but turned to Charles. “Charles….”

  “Just be careful and do not fall for him until you understand who he really is. Maybe these are just rumors,” he said and left the room.

  Ophelia was more confused than ever.

  Chapter 10

  Christopher Crampton, Viscount Barrington

  “Morning, mother,” Christopher said, kissing his mother on both cheeks. He had just come into the parlor when he saw his mother and his sister.

  “Christopher, what is this I am hearing about us having a dinner and a guest tonight?”

  Chris frowned and looked at his sister. “We are?”

  “Yes, we are. Miss Ophelia Campbell is coming, with her mother. I invited them both,” Rebecca replied.

  Christopher was surprised. “You did?”

  “Yes, I did,” replied Rebecca. I think it will give you a better chance to see her again and maybe you can summon up the courage to finally talk to her.

  “Oh, sister!” Christopher cried and rushed to embrace his sister. “You have truly made me happy this day!”

  “Who is this Ophelia Campbell?” asked the Countess. “And why do you act like a little child who has just been bought his first birthday gift? Is there something I must know about this lady?” she inquired, staring at her son suspiciously.

  “You shall get to meet her once she comes, mother,” said Lady Rebecca. “She is the girl I told you we ran into at the fair. She is a reputable young woman and very smart. As fate would have it, she is the Campbell’s daughter. Father’s merchant, Mr. Campbell. You do remember him, do not you? she asked.

  The mother nodded. “Vaguely. I will have to meet this young woman but for now, I need to tend to your father. Once the physician comes, please direct him upstairs and whatever you do, try not to be too loud, and be proper hosts.”

  “Yes mother,” said both Christopher and his sister as their mother marched towards the stairs.

  “Oh! Rebecca! I cannot thank you enough for doing this for me?” Christopher asked excitedly as he held his sister’s hands.

  “I am not doing this for you, brother. I am merely doing this because I see Ms. Ophelia as my friend, and I need you to be responsible and not give our mother a heart attack if you are truly serious about possibly courting her. I am doing this more for me, than for you.”

  Christopher smiled. “Well, I still get to see her, so I daresay it still is for me. I cannot wait for you to tell me all that transpired between the two of you when you last visited her,” he said, grabbing a seat as he had been standing all the while.

  “Well,” she said. “We had a really warm encounter and I trust that there shall be more. She is eager to have company more often and, quite possibly would also enjoy your company as well, chaperoned of course. Also, she is not engaged, but you must know that you have a rival.”

  Christopher smiled uneasily. “I expected that. Who is this rival?”

  Rebecca shrugged. “She does not know,” she replied.

  “She does not know?” Christopher asked again. “Why does she not know? Surely this man has a family or a name.”

  “He does have a name. A secret admirer,” Rebecca replied and laughed.

  Christopher raised his brows. “A secret admirer?”

  Rebecca nodded. “He has been writing to her and she worries for she knows not who it could be.”

  “I am surprised that this man prefers to hide in the shadows and confess his love when he could have shown himself to her.”

  “I think he is probably a very shy person,” replied Rebecca.

  Well, I do hope that the shyness shall be to my advantage,” replied Christopher as he stood up. “I need to check on some of our estates up town. I shall be back soon.”

  Rebecca nodded. “I might probably go into town to meet Ophelia. I would love to show her around before we come back here.”

  Christopher smiled. “Well, sister, we shall see soon. Once again, thank you for doing this.”

  * * *

  Miss Ophelia Campbell

  All through the time she spent in the carriage to London, from Havenswood, she could not stop thinking about what Charles had said. He had left the room before she could ask him questions regarding his accusations. He said at the ball that he knew of Christopher. Now, he had to come to her home to tell her that he was possibly a rake and a scoundrel?

  Christopher’s face came into her memory. He did not look like someone that would corrupt a woman. Rather, he had this look of innocence that would attract even the most virtuous. Could that be his flaw?”

  Wrapped in her thoughts, she had not bothered to look out the window until the carriage halted.

  “Are we there already, sir?” she asked the coach man.

  “No, Miss,” he replied. “I was specifically told to bring you here. Lady Egerton shall join us soon.”

  Ophelia opened the door of the carriage and realized they were at a place that looked like the center of the town. People were walking past and so did several carriages and horses.

  She had been to London once, but that was some months ago when she had accompanied Charles to visit his aunt.

  “I am glad that you are finally here!”

  Ophelia turned around and smiled as she saw Lady Egerton on a horse, riding towards them. She looked elegant as she rode in the side-saddle position, with her dress draped over the side of the horse.

  The coachman left the carriage to tend to her horse as she climbed down to meet Ophelia.

  “My lady,” said Ophelia with a slight curtesy.

  Rebecca smiled and hugged her before pulling away. “Come, there are several places I would like for you to see.”

  * * *

  Lord Benjamin Gibbs, the Baron of Salsbury

  He was in a carriage with Christopher who had asked him to accompany him into town that morning to visit some of his father’s estates.

  They had been riding for awhile when he realized how excited his friend was.

  “Is everything alright?” he asked with a puzzled look. “You seem excited this morning which is quite unusual.”

  Christopher smiled. “Well, I do not want to ruin the surprise, Benjamin but I do hope you will be coming to dinner tonight.”

  Benjamin was quiet for a while. There was only one thing that had been getting his friend excited for some days now and that was none other than the sweet Ophelia.

  “Your sister brought you great news from Havenswood, I suppose?”

  Christopher smiled. “Yes, friend. I thought I could hold it in without telling you but I ca
nnot. Ophelia shall be coming to dinner tonight and I would greatly love if you two meet!”

  Benjamin’s face tightened as he heard this. He was not ready to meet her again.

  “Well,” he said with a smile, “I shall not miss it for the world.”