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

by Lucinda Nelson

  “Thank you for the flowers and fruits and the bottle of wine, my lord,” she finally said. The footman must have handed it to her mother when he was distracted, he thought.

  “You are welcome, Miss. Campbell.”

  “So, how is your sister?”

  “She is alright. She sends her greetings,” he replied. The truth was that, Rebecca was still angry with him and had not come to the estates since the night of the dinner.

  He had tried to explain things to her, but she had to visit her husband’s sister in another city.

  “She had to go to Lisborne,” he said.

  “Oh! So, when will she be back?”

  “I do not know, for now,” he replied. Then he thought of asking her about Charles.

  “Mr. Doddleton, is your cousin, isn’t he?”

  Ophelia nodded with a frown. “Yes, my lord. I hope he hasn’t done anything disrespectful?”

  “Of course not,” he replied. “His face seems familiar.”

  Ophelia looked surprised. “Well, he said the same of you at the ball.”

  “He did?”

  “Absolutely. But then, he thought he must have mistaken you for someone else.”

  “Would you be so kind, Miss Campbell and tell me what keeps Mr. Doodleton busy?”

  She stared at him. “I do not quite follow.”

  “I mean, I am trying to recall where we may have met.”

  “Well, he has his father’s business to look after,” she replied.

  Christopher smiled even though that was not the question he had meant to ask. He wanted to know if Charles visited gambling hells. However, he knew he could not ask Ophelia that without making her suspicious.

  At the same time, he thought of places he must have come across Charles. He searched his mind for all the time he spent at the Downtown gambling hell, the Uptown gambling hell and other ones he had visited. Still he was uncertain, but he was sure that he had met him somewhere. Somewhere infamous. “How close are you?” he finally asked. If he had met Charles at an unfavorable place, then he might think ill of him and be against his interest in Ophelia.

  “Well, we are very close. He is my second, best friend,” Ophelia proudly stated.

  Christopher managed a smile even though he was disturbed.

  As they talked, a servant brought him a cup of tea.

  “Thank you,” he said as the woman left.

  “So, what have you been doing in the past two days?” he asked, leaning back. “I hope thinking of me was one of them?” he teased.

  Ophelia laughed. He loved it when she laughed.

  After some minutes had passed, Christopher asked, “Can we take a walk together?”

  “Of course,” she said and stood up, picking up her scarf which she draped across her neck. He bent his arm and she shyly pushed her smaller hand into the hollow of his bent arm.

  * * *

  “I enjoyed every moment,” he said some minutes later as they finished their walk and he was now beside his carriage, ready to leave. It was just the two of them.

  “As did I,” replied Ophelia with a sweet smile. He kissed her cheeks and then hurried into the carriage. As the carriage left the premises, he glanced up to see Charles looking at him from the top of the house.

  Christopher raised his cap to him but what he got as a response was a cold stare. Now, he was certain that Ophelia’s cousin knew of his reputation.

  * * *

  “Oh! Emily! He was so charming and teasing,” Ophelia said to her friend later that evening.

  “This is a good thing, Ophelia! I am so happy for you,” said Emily. “What did Charles think? Did he still ask you to be careful around him?”

  Ophelia shook her head. “I think this is something personal. Like he has a vendetta against the gentleman.”

  “Or maybe he is afraid or jealous that he is stealing you away,” Emily put in.

  “That’s understandable, except that Christopher asked about Charles, saying he seemed familiar.”

  Now, Emily was quiet.

  “Well, they must have seen each other somewhere and seeing how both of them seem not to remember, I think it really is not an issue to be worried about.”

  As they were talking, the door opened and a servant brought in a letter for her.

  Emily frowned. “Are you still receiving letters from the secret admirer?”

  “I thought it had stopped,” replied Ophelia. “But apparently I was wrong. I never wrote back to him either.”

  “Well, open it, let us see what it says this time,” suggested Emily.

  With shaky breaths, Ophelia opened the letter and together, they read aloud.

  My sweet Ophelia,

  The fairest woman out of a thousand, when will I have the courage to finally confront you and tell you of how deeply I care for you? When will I draw you close and kiss your lips, to show you how much affection I have grown for you?

  Seeing you again a few days ago made me realize how much my feelings for you have grown and I cannot stop thinking about you.

  I pray I do not lose you to another for this weakness that I have when I come around you. Everyone has their flaws. You are mine.

  From your secret admirer.

  “He does sound like a poet,” said Emily as soon as they were done reading. But at the other side, he seems dangerously possessive.”

  Ophelia knew she meant it as a joke, but she didn’t smile. She was greatly disturbed.

  “You look like you have seen a ghost, Ophelia. What is the problem? It is after all, just a letter from a crush?”

  Ophelia stood up and began to pace. She was thinking of several things at once.

  “What is it?” asked Emily.

  Ophelia shook her head. “It cannot be.”

  “What is it?” Emily continued asking.

  Later, Ophelia stopped. “Well, you see, that night at the Cramptons’, I had gone outside with Lord Gibbs, and he said something odd. He was just about to tell me about Christopher’s flaws when he interrupted us.”

  Emily frowned. “I hope you do not think that Lord Gibbs is your secret admirer?”

  Ophelia sighed. She was not sure but if he was to be her secret admirer then everything would make a lot of sense.

  “You do remember he said he did not remember you at all on your first encounter?” said Emily, reminding her of what she had told her.

  “I know, but what if he’s lying?” she asked. “Lady Egerton did say she does not trust him.”

  “But is there any reason for him to have lied to you?”

  Ophelia thought for a while but was unable to come up with a reason.

  “But,” she said after a while. “If Lord Gibbs is nursing feelings for me, then he might need to hide a lot of things from his friend, like having met me.”

  “But we do not even know if Christopher wishes to marry you or not. This is not his decision alone. This has to deal with his parents as well.”

  Ophelia sighed.

  “So, even if Lord Gibbs is your secret admirer, you need to avoid him as much as possible!”

  Ophelia took a seat and began to think about the little thing she knew about Benjamin.

  “I do not know much, I’m afraid,” she said. “But he has been a kind man and I see him as tolerable.”

  “So, you think he is not dangerous?”

  “I do not know, Emily,” she replied. “We are not yet sure if he is the one or not.”

  “I understand but everything is still based on assumptions. He did say he saw you a few days ago…” Emily continued. “That could have been at the dinner.”

  “Or that could have been somewhere in London when Lady Egerton and I were taking a walk.”

  Emily raised her brows. “So, now you do not wish for your secret admirer to be Lord Gibbs anymore?”

  “I do not wish it to be Lord Gibbs at all, Emily. Do you know how difficult this will be?”

  “Enlighten me.”

  “Well, he is Christopher’s best friend
, Emily. I do not wish to be the cause of their drifting apart.”

  Emily sighed and sat on the couch. She seemed to be lost in thoughts as well.

  “So, you think they can fight to have you?” asked Emily.

  “Of course. Isn’t that what happens in all these great love stories between a hero and a villain?”

  Emily laughed. “So, who is the villain?”

  “Lord Gibbs of course, who else? He gives me the creeps. There is something vaguely strange about him. He seems to be a man of deep secrets. I mean, the way he chose to talk about Christopher instead of talking about himself even if he is interested in me.”

  “Well, maybe he is not interested in you, then.”

  Ophelia exhaled loudly. “What do I do, Emily?”

  “One thing you must do is keep the letters away from your new friend.”

  “You mean Rebecca?”

  “Of course, who else?”

  “But she already knows about the first letter.”

  Emily stared at her. “Why would you tell her that?”

  “She found the letter herself when she came here. She asked me and I could not lie to her. She has been nothing but kind to me ever since the fair.

  “Well, what else did you tell her?” asked Emily.

  “Nothing more. She only knows about the first letter, she does not know about the subsequent ones.”

  “Good,” said Emily. “Keep it from her.”

  “But why? You do not think it will hinder anything do you?”

  “Would you just listen to me for one second, Ophelia?” Emily shouted at her friend. “Keep it from her. One of your flaws is that, once you are worried about something and you share a tip with someone, you feel obliged to tell them everything.”

  Ophelia wanted to object to that but Emily continued. “I know she might want to ask you but just tell her, that was all. Once you open your mouth, you will vomit everything to her, including your suspicions about Lord Gibbs. You had said she never trusted him, she can blow it out of proportion!”

  Ophelia was calm as she realized her friend was saying the truth.

  “If she blows it out of proportion, it will not only ruin a friendship, it will ruin your reputation and that of your family. Then everyone in the ton will start blaming you, saying you are the cause of this. This will further give them more reason not to affiliate with the middle class!”

  Ophelia burst into laughter as her friend ended her speech. Emily hated it when someone did not listen to her.

  “You have thought an awful lot about this through, and you have made your point, Emily. I shall not tell the Lady Edgerton anything about the letters again, or about my suspicions.”

  Emily inhaled. “That’s better. Always listen to me Ophelia Campbell.”

  “Yes, my lady,” Ophelia joked and they both laughed.

  “So, are you visiting London again anytime soon? Emily asked after a while.

  “I am not sure yet, but something tells me I shall receive an invitation soon.”

  “So, about Christopher, you also need to be careful around him,” said Emily. “Try not to be all over him, an endeavor to keep your emotions in check.”

  Ophelia nodded. “Yes, I understand, but Emily, he is so charming I wish you two had met already.”

  “Of course, we met at the fair, have you forgotten?”

  “Oh! That’s true. I forgot.”

  Emily laughed. “You are quite taken by him already, but you must tread carefully. Do not be too hard on him and too free to him. You do not want to push him away and at the same time seem too easy.”

  Ophelia nodded. “I understand, Emily. I will work on that. Thank you very much.”

  However, Ophelia knew this was an impossible task for her to do. Ever since the other night, the only thing that was on her mind was the moment Christopher had tried to pick something from her hair.

  The only thing she dreamt of since then was how she would feel when he kissed her. How it would feel having him wrap her in his arms and make love to her. Kissing her in her most intimate parts.

  She could not understand what kind of spell Christopher had cast on her. She had always been wise and had never been someone who thought of things like this, but she could not stop herself from thinking about him. The worst part of it was that, she enjoyed thinking about him and having these sinful thoughts.

  Perhaps, she would try to think of certain boring things anytime his picture comes to mind. Things like stitching and arguing with her mother should do the trick!

  Chapter 16

  Christopher Crampton, Viscount Barrington

  Ever since Christopher had visited the Campbells, his mind had been unsettled. He knew he had seen Charles somewhere but could not fathom where.

  That day at the gambling hell, he told Benjamin about his suspicions regarding Charles as well as his pleasant experience with Ophelia and her family. He made sure not to divulge too much as he still held wearying thoughts about Benjamin’s behavior concerning Ophelia.

  This was exceedingly difficult as he wanted to tell Benjamin, his only friend, everything. The only other person he could speak to was his sister, but they were still not on good speaking terms. It was possible that she would only make him feel more regret for his past.

  “It must have been during the fair,” Benjamin suggested while sipping from his bottle.

  Christopher frowned. “No, it was not the fair. I told you we had never met until the last ball.”

  Benjamin shrugged. “It could have been an encounter on the street.”

  “No, friend. I think it must have been in one of those ill-famed places you took me to,” Christopher said with worry.

  Benjamin stared at him. “I did not remember you objecting to being taken to all those places.”

  “And now I do regret it as this could be the only thing that would stand between Miss Campbell and I.”

  “If she truly loves you, petty things like your past should not matter to you, my friend,” he said, patting him on the shoulder in reassurance. “After all, you are a man who has needs.”

  Christopher sighed. The last time he had seen her, he had managed not to stare too long at the way her gown perfectly accentuated her curves.

  He knew she was beautiful, and it greatly pleased him to see how her gown made her waist look thin and her bosom more pronounced. He pictured rubbing his hands all over her skin which would be soft to his touch. He wondered how she would react if he placed a kiss on her full lips.

  “Now, might I ask why you are smiling?” his friend asked.

  Christopher adjusted his expression and stood up. “I think I must go home and get some sleep,” he said, putting the imagery of a naked Ophelia out of his mind.

  Benjamin looked surprised. “But I hear that your father has recovered and you have less work to do. Why in a hurry to go home?”

  Christopher stood up. “Because I am trying to be responsible, for Miss Campbell. My chances may be very slim due to the encounter with her cousin. I must not squander what is left of it. Goodnight, Ben.”

  * * *

  Lord Benjamin Gibbs, the Baron of Salsbury

  He scoffed as Christopher left before finally standing up to meet Luke by the bar. He had been talking with Luke earlier before Christopher showed up.

  “What has happened to him this time?” asked Luke as he puffed his cigar.

  “He regrets things now,” replied Benjamin while the bar man poured some drink for him.

  “Exposing his past offenses is making it easier for our plans, is it not” Luke inquired.

  “Aye, it is,” Benjamin said after he sipped from the cup. “It only a matter of time before she is mine. And seeing his lordship in a miserable state also amuses me. He thinks he can have anything he wants. Any woman he wants.” After taking another sip, he put down his cup and he turned to Luke with a quizzical look. “I have my reasonings for doing this. However, I do not understand why you have taken such a keen interest in helping me. Pray, t
ell. Is there something I am unaware of?”

  The older man chuckled and removed the cigar from his lips. He tapped the bottom of the cigar against the metal ash tray and then faced Benjamin.

  “Abigail was a young lady I sought after for many years. I had never been in love before until I met Abigail. I did everything I thought was necessary to win her affection, but she was not interested in me. Or maybe she could have loved me if not for your friend ruining every chance I had with her.