‘It’s me,’ said a familiar voice. ‘You’re safe now.’
‘Brin.’ She looked up, hoping that her mind wasn’t playing tricks on her and that his presence wasn’t a figment of her over-active imagination. But the solidity of his body, the evocative, earthy aroma that she associated with him, a smell that was so at odds with the musty aromas in the room, reassured her.
‘You came,’ she said softly, her eyes swamping with tears. ‘I was so afraid…’
‘Shush, it’s all right.’
‘What the hell?’ Elton said, sitting up and rubbing cautiously at a nose that now sat at an odd angle.
‘What a charming scene,’ Mr Harlow said, strolling into the room and knocking Oscar casually onto his backside with one hefty shove. He fell beside Elton and the two men now looked terrified. ‘Try picking on a member of your own sex.’
‘My brother and Mr Elton are sodomites,’ Farrah said, feeling her heart rate slowly return to a more regular rate, ‘which is why Papa really disowned Oscar.’
‘What do you want me to do with them, guv’nor?’ Harlow asked. Shadow growled in sympathy with him.
Brin turned to Farrah. ‘It’s your decision.’
‘What the devil…’ Oscar blinked up at Brin from the place where he’d fallen. ‘Why are you looking at my sister like that?’
‘You lost all right to interfere in your sister’s affairs when you tried to have her killed,’ Brin said acerbically. ‘You are a pathetic excuse for an individual and if I had my way you would be whipped to within an inch of your life.’ He turned back to Farrah. ‘Well?’
‘Let them go,’ Farrah replied wearily. ‘I suspect that they are heavily in debt and will have to flee the country to avoid their creditors. That’s why they behaved so desperately. But they won’t come near me again.’ She smiled at him. ‘Not now they are aware they have you to contend with.’
‘Think yourself fortunate that the young lady has a forgiving nature,’ Harlow snarled. ‘If it was up to me, things would be very different. I cannot abide men of your inclination. Still, charming accommodation you have here.’ His disdainful gaze flitted about the room. ‘Enjoy it before your creditors in the village turn up mob-handed and tear it apart. Shouldn’t be a bit surprised if someone tips them the wink and they descend on you to get what’s due to them before you flee.’ He winked. ‘I’d pack what you can carry and scarper whilst you’ve still got the use of all your limbs if I were you.’
Brin chuckled when both men’s faces turned chalk white. ‘Never let me see either of you again,’ he said to Oscar and Elton as he took Farrah’s elbow and steered her from the room. ‘I shall not be so lenient a second time.’
They walked outside and reclaimed their horses. Brin placed his hands on Farrah’s waist and lifted her into her saddle. ‘Come, let’s go home,’ he said. ‘Then I shall have the pleasure of hearing your explanation for your wilful disobedience.’
Her disobedience? ‘I do not answer to you.’
‘We shall see about that,’ he responded curtly.
‘I’ll have you know I had the situation perfectly under control before you arrived,’ she said to Brin, tilting her chin.
Farrah rode between Brin and Mr Harlow, Shadow loping along beside them. Despite her words, she had been so relieved by their appearance that only now did she notice the firm set to Brin’s jaw and realise that he was having trouble containing his anger.
‘I am nevertheless grateful for your intervention,’ she continued meekly.
When he didn’t respond, Farrah’s gratitude quickly gave way to anger of her own. They rode the rest of the way in silence. The only sound that interrupted their mutual antipathy, other than sploshing as the horses negotiated muddy puddles, was the occasional amused guffaw from Mr Harlow.
As soon as they had safely returned to Wentworth Abbey and dismounted, Brin again took Farrah’s elbow in a firm grasp.
‘I need to find Papa and tell him what happened,’ she said, attempting to shake him off. How dare he manhandle her!
‘Later,’ he said abruptly, steering her in the direction of the house.
She had no choice but to go with him if she didn’t want to make an undignified ruckus. She ignored the small part of her brain that urged her to admit that she didn’t want to be with anyone else. She was too annoyed with his high-handed behaviour to allow for rational thought, or even to admit that he might perhaps have some justification in being angry with her.
Brin opened his library door and propelled her through it. Shadow sneaked in too before Brin slammed the door behind them and indicated that she should sit. Farrah remained standing, arms akimbo, and glowered at him.
‘Why are you so intent upon manhandling me?’ she demanded to know.
‘Why are you so keen to get yourself killed?’ he responded, anger blazing from his obsidian eyes.
‘I tried to tell you that I had remembered the name of the village where Elton lived but no one bothered to listen.’
‘You should have tried harder.’ He turned sideways and expelled a long breath of frustration. ‘Damn it, Farrah, what did you think you would achieve by going to them alone, other than to play directly into their hands?’
‘I thought…no, I knew that if you or Papa confronted them it would become violent. Men are so fond of resolving disputes with their fists, whereas I thought I would be able to make them see reason. If they knew we were on to them, they would have to leave me alone or risk hanging for their crime.’
She detected a fractional softening of his attitude. ‘I shall try not to take offence because you thought me incapable of defending myself against those two imbeciles.’
‘I wanted…needed to confront my brother and discover once and for all why he resented me so much.’ She sent him a supplicating look. ‘Surely you can understand that.’
‘You should have asked me to come with you when you confronted them. Then you would have got your answers without putting yourself in danger.’
‘Would you have permitted me to come with you if I had told you where they were?’ She nodded decisively when he looked away from her without responding. ‘I thought as much.’
‘It didn’t occur to you that by going there alone, you were doing their work for them. I assume they intended to arrange a convincing accident.’
‘Well yes, I will admit I didn’t think of that, but I managed to overcome them both,’ she added proudly. ‘I knocked Oscar down and broke Elton’s nose, and I was preparing to escape when I ran into you.’
The anger in his eyes gave way to a dark, intense look. ‘And you did this by yourself because you wanted to protect your father from unpleasantness.’
She swallowed as she returned his ardent look and decided upon transparency. ‘I wanted to protect you,’ she said softly.
‘God’s teeth, Farrah, what am I to do with you?’
Without waiting for a response, he pulled her into his arms so swiftly that her body collided with his, knocking the air from her lungs. Then he lowered his head and kissed her in a heated and fiercely possessive manner. When he finally released her, she glanced up and gasped at the torment warring with the passion in his eyes.
‘When I realised where you must have gone and the danger you would be in, I thought I would lose my mind.’ He placed a finger beneath her chin and tilted her head backwards, forcing her to meet his gaze. ‘Don’t ever do that to me again, you disobedient female. My heart wouldn’t be able to withstand the pain.’
‘I shall be gone from here soon,’ she said, ‘and you can look forward to an orderly life devoid of disruption.’
‘Despite all the trouble you have caused me, I rather like the disruption you create.’
‘I don’t mean to,’ she protested. ‘I didn’t ask my brother to try and kill me.’
‘Even so, you cannot be trusted to look after yourself, so I shall just have to assume the role of your protector.’
She stiffened. ‘I shall not be your mistress, if th
at’s what you mean to imply,’ she told him with an affronted look.
‘I wouldn’t insult you by making such a suggestion.’ He took her hand, turned it over and kissed the inside of her wrist, watching her intently the entire time. ‘I am asking you to be my duchess.’
‘Don’t be ridiculous!’ She snatched her hand back. ‘I am entirely unsuitable.’
He chuckled. ‘I disagree.’ Shadow looked up, wagged his tail and barked. ‘And so, it seems, does Shadow.’
She smiled as she bent to ruffle the dog’s ears. ‘For once, your mother and I would be in agreement upon a subject, but I doubt she would give the casting vote to Shadow.’
‘My mother can remove herself to the dower house. Why do you suppose I asked Harlow to have it renovated?’
‘I thought…’ She swallowed, trying not to look at him for fear that he would see the regret in her eyes. To receive a proposal from such a desirable and powerful man was an honour. She hadn’t even bothered to say as much and thank him for it. Instead she’d declared it impossible because she loved him so very much and didn’t want to denigrate his noble family. She wasn’t nearly good enough for him. ‘I thought you had chosen a wife, which is why the dower house had to be put in order. I thought perhaps Lady Melody—’
‘Lady Melody? God forbid! I had chosen a wife.’ He caressed her with his gaze. ‘I knew almost the first time I met you that there was something special about you. It showed in the way that you look at life with a jaundiced eye and don’t fawn all over me. You are uniquely different from all the other females who are paraded in front of me and deemed oh so suitable. Damn suitable! It’s you I want, you disobedient, challenging, opinionated, infuriatingly independent chit. I want you in my heart, in my soul and in my bed. What do you say?’
‘You’re serious, aren’t you?’ Farrah said, gazing up at him, wondering why she was putting up objections when all her most dearly held wishes were on the verge of being realised. ‘I so don’t want you to make a mistake that you will live to regret,’ she said, mangling her lower lip between her teeth. ‘I know that you are sincere in what you say, that you believe it…now. But we are barely acquainted. What if you do not like what you see when you get to know me better?’
He shook his head. ‘I will take that chance if you will.’
‘Brin, I so don’t want to disappoint you.’ She looked away from him, torn and indecisive, not because she didn’t know her own heart but because she remained unconvinced that he knew his. ‘I would probably be rude to the bishop’s wife or speak my mind a little too freely if you take me to court and introduce me to the Prince Regent.’ She shrugged. ‘It’s just the sort of thing that I would do. If I find something ridiculous, I cannot be depended upon to keep my opinions to myself. I really can’t be trusted to behave myself and will probably disgrace you. And as for your mother…’
He chuckled as he dismissed that very real possibility with a careless wave of one hand. ‘Tell me honestly how you feel about me.’
She paused for a significant moment, wondering if it would be kinder to lie, but the appealing manner in which he looked at her deserved the absolute truth. To have reduced this forthright man to a lather of uncertainty was no mean achievement, and she would not repay him with prevarication.
‘I am in love with you,’ she said simply.
His wide smile was all the reward she could have hoped for. ‘Well then,’ he said. ‘Everything else will take care of itself. Harlow understood. That’s what he was chuckling about when we rode home. And your brother saw it too in the way that I looked at you when I walked into that room.’ Brin pulled her into his arms and tightened his hold on her. ‘It gives me great satisfaction to think of him living in poverty, running from his creditors the entire time, whereas if he’d been nicer to you, I would have treated him with generosity. He will see the announcement of our engagement soon and realise just how badly he miscalculated.’
‘But I have not agreed to marry you yet,’ she said playfully.
‘Then let me persuade you.’
He kissed her again, this time with an ardency that stirred her passions and made her forget her own name. The door opened behind them, but Brin didn’t bother to let her go.
‘Brinley, what the devil do you think you’re doing?’ his mother asked in an outraged tone.
Brin smiled down at Farrah and winked at her. ‘Kissing my future duchess, Mother,’ he replied calmly. ‘Kindly withdraw so that I can finish what I started. There,’ he added, when his mother, for once lost for words, quietly left the room, ‘now it’s official and you have no choice.’
Farrah smiled, resisting the urge to tell him that her decision had never been in the slightest doubt. She had come to this party on sufferance and had most unexpectedly discovered her heart’s desire in the last place she had imagined finding it. She touched Brin’s cheek to reassure herself that she wasn’t dreaming, tightened her arms around his neck and stood on her toes to make it easier for him to kiss her again.
The End
About the Author
Hi, I do hope you enjoyed Never Dare a Duke. If so, please take a moment to leave a review on Amazon. I’d love to hear what you thought of this particular novel – what you enjoyed most about it and what you didn’t like. Constructive criticism is always welcome.
Reach me at [email protected]
I’m a British author, brought up on the Isle of Wight, but now live in Andorra. I share my life with my long-suffering husband and a rescued dog of indeterminate pedigree named Jake Bentley after the hero in one of my books. Both Jakes are handsome mongrels with independent spirits and wild streaks.
I’ve had over sixty books published, ranging from Regency romance, (my first love), to contemporary women’s fiction and marine crime mysteries.
When not writing I walk miles with my dog, make half-hearted visits to the gym, read other people’s tomes…oh, and I’m on a one woman mission to keep the wine trade profitable!
Check out all of my books, and learn more about me from my website: http:www.wendysoliman.com
Or on my Amazon author page author.to/wendys
Follow me on twitter @wendyswriter or on Facebook: Wendy Soliman - Author
Also available from this Author
Historical Romance
Stand Alone Regencies
Lady Hartley’s Inheritance
Duty’s Destiny
To Defy a Duke
The Duke’s Legacy
A Reason to Rebel
A Duke by Default
Forgotten Heiress
For Want of a Reputation
Christmas at Castleray
Ava’s Passion
Lady Mysterious
Disinherited
Divided Loyalties
Of Dukes and Deceptions
A Scandalous Proposition
The Perfect Impostor
Game of Dukes
Lady Impetuous
Sacrificial Bride
Dukes and Indiscretions
Never Dare a Duke
Mrs. Darcy Entertains Series Boxset
Miss Bingley’s Revenge / Colonel Fitzwilliam’s Dilemma / Miss Darcy’s Passion / Kitty Bennet’s Despair / Lydia Wickham’s Journal
Pemberley – The Next Generation Series Vols 1 – 3 Boxset
Emma Bingley’s Romantic Nature / Naomi Sanford’s Compassionate Nature / Bella Darcy’s Impetuous Nature
Pemberley – The Next Generation Series Vols 4 – 6 Boxset
Eleanor Bingley’s Rebellious Nature / Rosie Turner’s Contrary Nature / Susie Darcy’s Tenacious Nature
Ducal Encounters Series 1
At the Duke’s Discretion
With the Duke’s Approval
Portrait of a Duke
For the Duke’s Pleasure
In the Duke’s Estimation
Captivating the Duke
Ducal Encounters Series 2
Reunited with the Duke
Christmas with the Duke
Safeguarding the Duke
Acting for the Duke
Emulating the Duke
Ducal Encounters Series 3
Conspiring with the Duke
Dedicated to the Duke
Impugning the Duke’s Honour
By Order of the Duke
Supporting the Duke
Protecting the Duke’s Interests
Ducal Encounters Series 4
As the Duke’s Agent
Masquerading with the Duke
The Forsters
Compromising the Marquess
Beguiling the Barrister
Finessing the Contessa
Romancing the Runaway
Victorian Vigilante Series Boxset
Saving Grace / Heirs and Graces / With Good Grace / Fall From Grace / Social Graces / Elegance and Grace
Riley Rochester Investigates Series
Death of a Debutante
Death of a Courtesan
Death of a Prosecutor
Death of a Scoundrel
Death of an Artist
Death of a Recluse
Perceptions Series
A Sense of Belonging
A Sense of Purpose
A Sense of Misgiving
A Sense of Injustice
Contemporary Titles
The Deadline Series Boxset: A Date to Die For/ A Contest to Kill For
English Contemporary Romance Boxset: Reinventing Radleigh/ Shalimar/Silver Lining
English Contemporary Romance Boxset 2: The Name of the Game / Downsizing / Topspin
Never Dare a Duke Page 24