THE VIRGIN COURTESAN (5 page)
Guy clapped his man on the back, touched by his loyalty. ‘He
won’t be happy until he’s ripped this family apart,’ he said, just as he heard
Sinclair’s unmistakable drawl from the main drawing room behind him.
‘Is that you, old chap? I do hope you’re ready for our little
tête-à-tête.’
‘Clearly he had better things to be doing at dawn, if that
wench he brought back is anything to go by,’ his friend Earl Bleathsby, as
notorious a wastrel as Sinclair himself, sniggered. Suppressing his anger at the
slight to Juliana, Guy entered the drawing room where the two men lounged,
Bleathsby looking the worse for wear but Sinclair sharp and simmering with
anger. Guy sighed.
‘You cannot seriously mean to do this, Sinclair? It would kill
our mother, tarnish our family name and likely end up with us both dead. I won’t
do it, honour be damned. I don’t give a fig for what anyone else thinks.’ Even
as he said it, he knew he meant it. What did he care if the rest of the gentry
shunned him for a coward? But it would make it even harder to keep Sinclair in
line. But to his surprise his brother was nodding.
‘I’ve been thinking, brother,’ he spat the last word, ‘and I
may have been rash about terms. So I propose a duel to first blood, instead. If
I win, I get Bradcote.’
‘And if I win?’ Guy wasn’t surprised at his brother’s demands.
He had long wanted the house, furious that he hadn’t inherited everything.
Sinclair shrugged as if that hadn’t even occurred to him. ‘What
are your terms?’
‘You leave here,’ Guy said slowly, ‘and you don’t return. I
want no further association with you. If you’re determined to drag yourself into
the gutter, Sinclair, I won’t let you take the rest of the family down with
you.’
Sinclair narrowed his eyes. ‘Very well. I’ll meet you on the
lawn at noon, which gives you twenty minutes or so. Back out again, brother, and
I’ll throttle you with my bare hands, and this time you won’t get the better of
me.’
Guy stalked from the room, James close behind him.
‘You can’t really mean to give him Bradcote?’ his valet asked
in horror as he fetched Guy a fresh shirt.
‘If I refuse the challenge again, he’ll raise hell, and there
needs to be an end to it. Besides,’ he said grimly, ‘I don’t intend to lose.
Fetch my pistol from the table, James.’
As his valet turned to do so, Guy laid a hand on his arm. ‘In
the drawer underneath there’s a sum of money; a few hundred pounds. If I should
come out of this indisposed, I want you to give it to the young lady I came in
with, she’s upstairs in my rooms. Then take the curricle and drive her wherever
she wants to go. Get her away from Sinclair, understand?’
James nodded. He could be trusted, Guy knew. Which was more
than he could say for his cursed brother, he thought with foreboding.
Unaware of Guy’s plans and becoming more and more agitated as
he failed to return, Juliana sat and waited, almost unable to sit still. The
minutes went by agonisingly slowly until she could hardly bear it. She had to
know what was happening, was full of fear for Guy. After just one night, she
felt somehow that his fate must affect hers. She came down into the hall to see
the front door open and the butler wringing his hands. Juliana hurried up to
him.
‘Lord Guy?’ she asked, and the man nodded out the door.
‘On the lawn. Talk them out of this folly, if you can.’
Juliana rushed out, seeing four men standing at the other side
of the lawn in two pairs, facing each other. Guy had his back to her. His valet
was taking his coat as another man took Sinclair’s. Juliana stopped, unsure what
to do. If she distracted Guy now, would his brother shoot him? Would he be angry
if she interfered? But she couldn’t stand idly by. She made towards the men
again, just as the valet stepped away and shouted ‘Draw!’ Juliana screamed at
the sound of pistol shots and broke into a run.
Sinclair had dropped to the ground, clutching at his hand where
Guy had shot him. Not fast enough for his brother, his own shot had gone wide.
Guy stepped towards his brother in concern, to see Sinclair look past him and
smile slyly through his pain.
‘Looks like your woman’s come to save you—how sweet.’
As Guy turned to see Juliana running up behind him, he saw
Sinclair move out of the corner of his eye, and heard Juliana shriek ‘Look out!’
Spinning round just in the nick of time, the bullet passed close enough to his
head that he felt the motion of it. He stared in abject horror at his brother,
who had turned to his friend, growling ‘Your pistol, Bleathsby!’ James had
started towards Sinclair, but then Bleathsby himself rushed forward and wrestled
Sinclair to the ground.
‘Not done,’ he panted as he held Sinclair by the arms, ‘not the
done thing at all, old chap.’ He looked at his friend with contempt.
Juliana reached Guy and flung herself into his arms. She
clutched at him as if frightened he would disappear, then glared at Sinclair,
who was getting to his feet, his hand bleeding profusely. The injured man turned
to his brother with what she was shocked to see looked like tears in his
eyes.
‘I can’t pay them,’ he moaned as if tortured, ‘I’m going to
lose the house in Bath, everything. I’m into thousands.’
A flicker of sympathy showed in Guy’s eyes, but he looked away
from Sinclair and addressed the other two men. ‘Get him inside and get that hand
attended to; send a groom for the doctor. Don’t let him out of your sight.
You’ll have to go abroad,’ he added, finally addressing Sinclair. ‘It’s your
only option. You’re lucky I don’t have you arrested for attempted murder. Come
back, Sinclair, or let me hear of you causing any more trouble, and I will do.
Take this as a lesson.’
Sinclair, so full of menace just a few moments before, now hung
his head in shame, looking defeated. He allowed the others to lead him off,
while Guy watched him, hoping that despite everything, this morning’s events
might be a turning point in his brother’s life; still, he wouldn’t hold his
breath. Guy turned to Juliana.
‘What will you do? Will he go?’ she said.
‘He will have to, and no doubt want to, now he’s disgraced
himself. I’ll have to pick up the pieces and settle as much of his debts as I
can. I’ll be lucky if it doesn’t ruin me.’
‘At least you’re both alive,’ Juliana pointed out, looking up
at him with a face full of emotion. The gut-twisting fear she had felt when
Sinclair had shot at him had convinced her she didn’t want to leave this man.
Guy stared down at her, not knowing how to put his own feelings into words.
‘I had some money set aside to give you,’ he began, then
stopped as she stepped back, her face clouded. ‘No, Juliana, I mean for if
anything had happened to me. I had to know you would be safe. But now, well, I
want you to stay here. With me.’
Juliana looked at him with wide eyes, her mouth trembling. She
wanted to say yes, but what would that mean? Staying here as his mistress,
dependant only on his goodwill? She started to shake her head, when Guy lifted
her chin towards his, bending and brushing her lips with his own. Just at that
slight touch, she felt her insides melt. Even so, she went to protest, but he
silenced her with another kiss, and then with pure shock.
‘I mean as my wife.’
Juliana stared at him. He couldn’t be serious. ‘But you’re a
lord. I’m a... Think of the scandal.’
Guy laughed. ‘After the night and morning we’ve had, I think we
can handle a bit of gossip, don’t you? I’m not letting you go back, Juliana. I
want you to be mine.’ He crushed her to him, his hands roaming over her back and
buttocks, and she could feel his need for her through his breeches. Her body
tightened in response. She couldn’t deny the effect he had on her, but lust was
no reason for marriage. Only the look in his eyes as he stared at her, anxiously
awaiting an answer, held more than just lust.
‘I don’t know what to say.’
He kissed her again, harder. ‘Say yes, Juliana, say yes.’
She buried her face in his neck, overwhelmed, but knowing her
answer was inevitable. ‘Yes.’
He picked her up then, ignoring her squealed protests as he
lifted her off her feet, and carried her towards the house. Whatever the future
held in store for them both, they would face it together.
* * * * *
Enjoy more passion through the ages with the sensual Harlequin
Historical UNDONE titles on sale now:
Rescued by the Ranger
by Lauri
Robinson
Not Just a Seduction
by Carole
Mortimer
A
Lady Seduces
by Bronwyn Scott
A
Dance with Indecency
by Linda Skye
One Night with the Highlander
by Ann
Lethbridge
How to Seduce a Sheikh
by
Marguerite Kaye
Bewitched by His Kiss
by
Barbara Monajem
In Bed with the Highlander
by
Ann Lethbridge
The Magic of His Touch
by
Barbara Monajem
Craving something a little longer? Find more historical
romantic adventure from Harlequin Historical at
www.Harlequin.com
or your local bookstore.
Interested in writing for Harlequin Historical UNDONE? Send
your submission to
[email protected]
.
* * *
Connect with us for info on our new releases, access to
exclusive offers, free online reads and much more!
Subscribe to our newsletter:
Harlequin.com/newsletters
Visit
Harlequin.com
We like you—
why not like us on
Facebook:
Facebook.com/HarlequinBooks
Follow us on Twitter:
Twitter.com/HarlequinBooks
Read our blog for all the latest news on our
authors and
books:
HarlequinBlog.com
ISBN-13: 9781460320761
Copyright © 2013 by Kelly Lawrence
THE VIRGIN COURTESAN
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher.
All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.
This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
® and ™ are trademarks of the publisher. Trademarks indicated with ® are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Canadian Trade Marks Office and in other countries.