Wicked Earl Seeks Proper Heiress (The Husband Hunters Club 5)

It was true. During his days with The Guardians Rufus had been called upon many a time to seek out people who for whatever reason were attempting to hide themselves away.

He watched with amusement as she tried to find suitable words to turn him down, without hurting Eustace’s feelings. Eustace wasn’t the only one with a soft heart. And then she glanced out of the window and relief filled her face.

“Oh, we are home!”

At that moment the coach came to a halt outside a modest-looking town house in a quiet street. There were no lights visible and the house was in darkness. The coachman jumped down to open the door, and Rufus sprang out, reaching his hand for Averil’s. She inched forward, clearly in pain, and when she almost fell out onto the road, he lost patience and swung her up once more into his arms.

She was light, but he could feel her soft curves. He’d always liked a woman with curves, and Averil Martindale was a nice armful. She was glaring up at him with sparkly gray eyes, and he knew she’d like to tell him to put her down, but he also knew she couldn’t in the circumstances. For all her soft voice and polite words, she had a temper. For no reason at all he smiled, and then he chuckled.

“What is so amusing, my lord?” she asked in biting tones.

“You are, Lady Averil.”

“Is this where you live?” Eustace inquired with interest. “It isn’t nearly as big as our house.”

“Don’t be rude, Eustace,” Rufus said, and glanced over his shoulder to make certain the other member of the Blainey family had remained safely in the coach. He had.

They’d reached her door and he reached to ring the bell when a gasp from the woman in his arms stopped him. “Please, oh please, don’t! Beth, that is my companion, doesn’t know I’m out and . . . oh please, she’ll be so upset with me.”

Rufus searched her eyes with interest. Her lips were slightly apart as she gazed up at him, and with her hair tumbling about her she looked angelic. Unfortunately she also looked very enticing and he was unexpectedly tempted to lean down and kiss her.

“I don’t think you shoul

d ring the bell,” Eustace said quietly. “Not if there’s a cross lady called Beth in there.”

Rufus eyed his son carefully. His face was pale in the light from the street lamp, and there was a tension to his narrow shoulders that was worrying. Damn that woman, he thought. Eustace’s nanny had been subjecting him to all manner of cruelties and Rufus hadn’t known about it at first. Of course when he found out—through Uncle James, not Eustace himself, the boy was too proud to let on—he had sent the woman packing. Unfortunately some damage had already been done.

“So what do you want me to do?” Rufus asked evenly of Averil. “Leave you here to be found by the maid in the morning? You could say you were sleepwalking.”

Eustace chuckled nervously.

Averil’s eyes narrowed. “You’re being sarcastic,” she said. “I hate sarcasm. No, you can take me around to the back and I will make my own way upstairs.”

Rufus did as she asked, following the side path around the house to the small courtyard at the back, with Eustace trailing behind them. He was singing under his breath and Rufus realized it was one of the risqué songs from The Tin Soldier.

Lady Averil had left a key out, no doubt so that she could sneak inside without anyone knowing, and when Eustace unlocked the door he found they were in what appeared to be a boot room. A dog rose from its bed on the slate floor with a gruff “woof” and Averil shushed it quickly.

“Down, Hercules,” she hissed.

In Rufus’s opinion Hercules was a good name for the animal. It was huge—some sort of massive hound. He eyed it uneasily as Eustace approached, but Averil assured him it was harmless.

“He’s big but he’s a dear,” she added.

Eustace grinned as Hercules came up to him with much tail wagging and wriggling. “We don’t have a dog in London,” he said, with a sideways glance at his father. “Although we have several at Southbrook. I wanted to bring one with us but Papa says they’re a damned nuisance in town.”

“Your father is probably right,” Averil said primly. “And he can put me down now. I can manage from here.”

Rufus gave a snort. “You can barely walk. I’ll put you down when we reach your room. Direct me if you please. We don’t want to wake Beth,” he added silkily, and then cursed himself as Eustace edged closer.

“Very well,” she said huffily, and proceeded to tell him where to go.

Along a corridor and through a door, then up some stairs and along another corridor, and then finally to Averil’s room. Eustace, a finger to his lips, reached out to open the door and they slipped inside. She’d left a lamp burning low, and Rufus could see at once that for a woman who would one day be very rich Lady Averil was modest to the point of Spartan.

Apart from the bed, with its pretty flowery quilt, the room was very plain. He might have been puzzled, he might have asked her about it, but just then he realized that Hercules had followed them up. The dog, which in the lamplight he could see was brown and short-coated with a big head, went over to a sofa by the window and jumped up, making itself comfortable with an ecstatic groan. Eustace sat down beside the dog with a smile and began to rub the big floppy ears.

Rufus took the two steps to the bed and lay Averil on it. She leaned back on the pillows, grimacing at the jolt to her knee, and looked up at him. Her creamy skin was a little pale and there were shadows under her gray eyes, while the thick waves of fair hair that had escaped her pins tumbled about her. He noticed her skirt was torn by her fall, the hem was muddy, as were her gloves, and she was still wearing her boots. And yet . . . and yet for a moment he could only stare.

Perhaps, Rufus thought, his mind had been turned by worry. Yes, that must be it. Why else was Lady Averil suddenly so incredibly desirable? It was like that night at the opera, when he had spied her across the crowded room, and there had been a moment when he’d thought he must have her. Of course, afterward, he’d wondered what on earth he was thinking. And now here it was again, that feeling. He was tempted, very tempted, tempted in a way he hadn’t been for years, to climb onto the bed with her and take her in his arms and make wild and passionate love to her.