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Chapter 10.4 (Part 2)
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2021-10-23 16:21:25Kisses were something Emma felt she could handle. Being held securely in Francis’s arm’s was a delight. But when his hand closed gently over her breasts she gasped and pulled away. The reality of her feelings hit her. She burst into tears.
“Emma?” Francis, cursing himself for a fool, for pushing her too hard, gathered her into his arms, ignoring her half-hearted resistance. “I’m sorry, Emma. It was too soon, I know. Emma? Sweetheart?”
Emma gulped and stifled her sobs. “It’s true!” she said, her voice a tear-choked whisper. “They said you were a rake and you’d want to take me to bed and I didn’t believe them but it’s true.” She ended this astonishing speech on a hiccup.
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They had timed their plan carefully to avoid any possible mishap. The unmasking was scheduled for one o’clock. At precisely half-past twelve, Sophia and Sir Jack left the ballroom and strolled in a convincingly relaxed manner down a secluded walk which led to a little gazebo. The gazebo was placed across the path and, beyond it, the path continued to a gate giving access to the carriage drive. Within sight of the gazebo, Sophia halted, “Maribella’s inside. I’ll wait here and ensure no one interrupts.” Sir Jack swallowed, nodded once and left her. He climbed the few steps and entered the gazebo. In the dimness, he beheld the rose-pink domino, her mask still in place, waiting nervously for him to approach. Reverently, he went forward and then went d
Last Updated : 2021-10-26The Duke And His Four Wards Chapter 10.6
Henry scanned the room again, searching through the sea of people for Maribella. But the pink domino was nowhere in sight. He was as thoroughly disgruntled as only someone of a generally placid nature could become. Maribella had flirted outrageously with an unknown man. Admittedly him, but she had not known that. Here he had been worrying himself into a state over her getting herself stuck in a loveless marriage for no reason and underneath she was just a heartless flirt. A jade. Where the hell was she? A small hand in his arm made him jump. But, contrary to the conviction of his senses, it was not Maribella but a lady in a brown domino with a brown mask fixed firmly in place. “Ello, kind sir. You seem strangely lonely.” Henry blinked. The lady’s accent was h
Last Updated : 2021-10-31The Duke And His Four Wards Chapter 11.1
After returning to the ballroom with Margaret, Felix found his temper unconducive to remaining at the ball. In short, he had a headache. His wards seemed to be behaving themselves, despite his premonitions, so there was little reason to remain at Penhurst House. But the night was young and his interlude with Margaret had made it unlikely that sleep would come easily, so he excused himself to his eldest ward and his aunt, and left to seek entertainment of a different sort. He had never got around to replacing Lolita. There hardly seemed much point now. He doubted he would have much use for such women in future. He grinned to himself, then winced. Just at that moment, he regretted not having a replacement available. He would try his clubs—perhaps a little hazard might distract him. The carriage had almost reached Delmere House when, on the spur of the moment, he redirected his coachman to a discreet
Last Updated : 2021-11-06The Duke And His Four Wards Chapter 11.2 (Part 1)
Francis Cambridge paused, his hand on the handle of his bedroom door. It was past seven in the morning. He had sat up all night since returning from the ball, with his brother's brandy decanter to keep him company, going over his relationship with Emma Fleming. And still he could find only one solution. He shook his head and opened the door. The sounds of a commotion in the hall drifted up the stairwell. He heard his brother's voice, uplifted in a series of orders to Rickshaw, and then to Gibson. The tone of his voice was one he had rarely heard from Felix. It brought him instantly alert. Sleep forgotten, he strode back to the stairs. In the library, Felix was pacing back and forth before the hearth, a savage look on his face. Daniel Hammington stood silently by the window, his face showing the effects of the past weeks, overlaid by the stress of the moment. Felix paused to glance at the clock on the mantelshelf. "Seven-thirty," he mutt
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As it transpired, Henry already knew. As he strode into the library, he was scowling furiously. He barely waited to shake Felix's hand and exchange nods with the other two men before asking, "Have you discovered which road they've taken?" Felix blinked and waved him to the armchair he had vacated, moving to take the chair behind the desk. "How did you know?" "It's all over town," said Henry, easing his large frame into the chair. "I was at Brown's when I heard it. And if it's reached that far, by later this morning your ward is going to be featuring in the very latest on-dit all over London. I'm going to wring her neck!" This last statement brought a tired smile to relics face. "You'll have to wait in line for that privilege," was all he said. The brandy decanter, replenished after Francis's inroads, had twice made the rounds before Gib
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From the library door, Felix strolled forward to take the had. Margaret held out to him. Her eyes widened as she took in the pistols he still held in his other hand. “Thank God I’m in time!” she said, in such heartfelt accents that Felix frowned. “It’s all right. We’ve found out which road they took. Byron and I were about to set out after them. Don’t worry, we’ll bring her back.” Far from reassuring her as he had intended, his matter-of-fact tone seemed to set her more on edge. Margaret clasped both her small hands on his arm. “No! You don’t understand.” Felix’s frown deepened. He decided she was right. He could not fathom
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After a pause to marshal her thoughts, Margaret began. “It’s really Mrs. Norwood’s fault. She decided she wanted Sir Jack for a son-in-law. Sir Jack had come to town because he took fright at the thought of the marriage he had almost contracted with Miss Fletcher in Gloucestershire.” She glanced up, but none of the audience seemed to have difficulty understanding events thus far. “Mrs. Norwood kept throwing Antonia in Sir Jack’s way. Antonia did not like Sir Jack and so, to help out, and especially because Mr. Wolfinger has almost come to the point with Antonia and she favoured his suit, Maribella started flirting with Sir Jack, to draw him away from Antonia.” She paused, but no questions came. “Well, you, Felix, made that a bit difficult when you told Maribella to behave herself with respect to Sir Jack. But they got around that by sharing the work, as it were. It was still Marib
Last Updated : 2021-11-13The Duke And His Four Wards Chapter 11.2 (Part 5)
Felix crossed to where she sat and drew her to her feet and into his arms. His lips found hers in a reassuring kiss. Then, he held her, her head on his shoulder, and laughed wearily. “Sweetheart, if I thought your sisters would be in my hands for much longer, I’d have Bailey around here this morning to instruct him to break that guardianship clause.” “I’m sorry,” mumbled Margaret, her hands engrossed in smoothing the folds of his cravat. “I did come as soon as I found out.” “I know you did,” acknowledged Felix. “And I’m very thankful you did, what’s more! Can you imagine how Henry and I would looked if we had succeeded in overtaking Finley’s carriage and demanded he return the lady to us? God!&
Last Updated : 2021-11-13
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The Duke And His Four Wards Chapter 13.5 (Part 2)
While the Duke and Duchess of Twyford and Lord and Lady Daniel exchanged congratulations all around, Lady Hillsborough looked on in disgust. “What I want to know,” she said, when she could make herself heard once more, “is if I’m to be entirely done out of weddings, even after all my efforts to see you all in person’s mouse-trap?” “Oh, there are still two Flemings to go, so I wouldn’t give up hope,” returned her nephew, smiling down at her with transparent goodwill. “Apropos of which, has anyone seen the other two lately?” No one had. When applied to, Millard imparted the information that Lord Byron had called for Miss Maribella just before two. They had departed in Lord Byron’s carriage. Mr. Francis has d
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The Duke of Twyford returned to London the next afternoon, accompanied by his Duchess. They went directly to Twyford House, to find the entire household at sixes and sevens. They found Lady Hillsborough in the back parlour, reclining on the chaise, her wig askew, an expression of smug satisfaction on her face. At sight of them, she abruptly sat up, struggling to control the wig. “There you are! And about time, too!” Her shrewd blue eyes scanned their faces, noting the inner glow that lit Margaret’s features and the contented satisfaction in her nephew’s dark face. “What gave you been up to?” Felix grinned wickedly and bent to kiss her cheek. “Securing my Duchess, as you correctly imagined.” “You’ve ties the knot alrea
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The clink of crockery woke Margaret. She stretched languorously amid the soft cushions, the sensuous drift of the silken covers over her still tingling skin bringing back clear memories of the past hours. She was alone in the bed. Peering through the concealing silk canopy, she spied Felix, tastefully clad in a long silk robe, watching a small dapper servants laying out dishes on the low tables on the other side of the room. The light from the brass lamps suffused the scene with a soft glow. She wondered what the time was. Lying back in the luxurious cushions, she pondered her state. Her final lesson had been in two parts. The first was concluded fairly soon after Felix had joined her in the huge bed; the second, a much more lingering affair, had spun out the hours of the evening. In between, Felix had, to her lasting shock, asked her to marry him. She
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Emma had thought he had taught her all about kissing, but this was something quite different. She felt his arms lock like a vice about her waist, not that she had any intention of struggling. And the kiss went on and on. When she finally emerged, flushed, her eyes sparkling, all she could do was gasp and stare at him.Francis uttered a laugh that was halfway to a groan. “Oh, Emma! Sweet Emma. For God’s sake, say you’ll marry me and out me out of my misery.” Her eyes grew round. “Marry you?” The words came out as a squeak. Francis’s grin grew broader. “Mmm. I thought it might be a good idea.” His eyes dropped from her face to the lace edging that lay over her breasts. “Aside from ensuring I’l
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For Francis Cambridge, the look on Emma’s face as he walked into the back parlour was easy to read. Total confusion. On Emma, it was a particularly attractive attitude and one wig which he was thoroughly conversant. With a grin, he went to her and took her hand, kissed it and tucked it into his arm. “Let’s go into the garden. I want to talk to you.” As talking to Francis in gardens had become something of a habit, Emma went with him, curious to know what he wished to say and wondering why her heart was leaping about so uncomfortably. Francis led her down the path that bordered the large main lawn until they reached an archway formed by a rambling rose. This gave access to the rose gardens. Here, they came to a stone bench bathed in softly dappled sunshi
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The first thought that sprang to Maribella’s mind on seeing Henry Byron enter the back parlour was how annoyed he must have been to learn of her deception. Margaret had told her of the circumstances; they would have improved his temper. Oblivious to all else save the object of her thoughts, she did not see Sophia leave the room, nor Francis take Emma through the long windows into the garden. Consequently, she was a little perturbed to suddenly find herself alone with Henry Byron. “Anna Kripinski, I presume?” His tone was perfectly equable but Maribella did not place any reliance on that. He came to stand before her, dwarfing her by his height and the breadth of his magnificent chest. Maribella was conscious of a devastating desire to throw herself on that bro
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“Sophia?” Daniel tried to squint down at the face under the dark hair covering his chest. “Mmm,” Sophia replied sleepily, snuggling comfortably against him. Daniel grinned and gave up trying to rouse her. His eyes drifted to the ceiling as he gently stroke her back. Serve her right if she was exhausted. Together with Francis and Henry, he had followed the strongly disapproving Millard to the back parlour. He had announced them, to the obvious consternation of the three occupants. Daniel’s grin broadened as he recalled the scene. Maribella had looked positively stricken with guilt, Emma had not known what to think and Sophia had simply stood, her back to the windows, and w
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Well, what had she expected? asked that other Miss Fleming, ousting her competitor and taking total possession as Felix bend his head to kiss her. Her mouth opened welcomingly under his and he took what she offered, gradually drawing her into his embrace until she was crushed against his chest. Margaret did not mind; breathing seemed unimportant just at that moment. When Felix finally raises his head, his eyes were bright under their hooded lids and, she noticed with smug satisfaction, his breathing was almost as ragged as hers. His eyes searched her face, then his slow smile appeared. “I notice you’ve ceased reminding me I’m your guardian.” Margaret, finding her arms twined around his neck, ran her fingers through his dark hair. “I’ve given
The Duke And His Four Wards Chapter 12.3 (Part 2)
As usual when with her guardian, time flew and it was only when a chill in the breeze penetrated her thin cloak that Margaret glanced up and found the afternoon gone. The curricle was travelling smoothly down a well surfaced road, lined with low hedges set back a little from the carriageway. Beyond these, neat fields stretched sleepily under the waning sun, a few scattered sheep and cattle attesting to the fact that they were deep in the country. From the direction of the sub, they were travelling south, away from the capital. With a puzzled frown, she turned to the man beside her. “Shouldn’t we be heading back?” Felix glanced down at her, his devilish grin in evidence. “We aren’t going back.” Margaret’s brain flatly refuses to accept
