Led Astray by a Rake (The Husband Hunters Club 1)

“Olivia!”

Mrs. Monteith had returned to the parlor unheard, and now she looked as if she didn’t know whether to shriek or faint. Nic gave Olivia a brief, mischievous look, and then he was gone.

“Olivia, how could you allow that man to speak to you in that way? Don’t you know what he is? Your reputation—”

“You didn’t pay much attention to my reputation when Mr. Garsed kissed me after dinner when you invited him for Christmas.”

“That was different.”

“Why was it different?”

“Don’t be obtuse, Olivia. You know why. Mr. Garsed is a gentleman whose intentions toward you are proper—he wants to marry you. Lord Lacey is a—a rake, and his intentions toward you can only be a source of disgust and concern to me and your father. Any respectable person would feel the same. He intends to lead you astray, Olivia. He must never set foot inside this house again.”

The two women glared at each other, both determined not to agree, and it was only when Mr. Monteith cleared his throat behind them that they became aware of his presence.

“What on earth is going on?” he demanded irritably. “This shouting can be heard all over the house. My dear? Olivia?”

Olivia’s father rarely interfered in his wife’s arrangements. He spent his time in his study or else in London, dealing with business. In fact, Olivia often thought that he’d become distant and withdrawn from family life since her sister died, as if now that she was gone, he no longer had an interest.

“Lord Lacey has just paid a call on Olivia,” her mother explained, her mouth a grim line. “They were alone in the parlor for several moments, and when I returned from farewelling Mr. Garsed, he was leaning toward her in a very intimate manner.”

“Good God. Lacey? But he is the man who—”

“Exactly!” said his wife, bursting with triumph.

“Olivia,” Mr. Monteith said, in his heavy, measured way, “you should never be alone in the company of a man like Lacey.”

“He’s our neighbor, Father, surely it would be unkind to cut our neighbor?”

“I don’t mind if you nod to him in passing, but from what your mother has said it was more than that. You were alone with him in the parlor for several moments.”

Olivia had a strange urge to burst out laughing. Several moments was only long enough for Nic to kiss her, and certainly not enough time for him to do all the things she wished he would. In the end all sh

e could manage was, “Lord Lacey would never hurt me.”

But her father wasn’t listening. “You may well think him charming, but there’s another side to him. There have been incidents in the past, behavior that the Lacey family have tried very hard to have hushed up. Some of the things I’ve heard…”

“What have you heard, Father?” she asked curiously.

“No, Olivia, I won’t soil your ears with such tales. My job is to protect you, and that I will do to the best of my ability. Let me just say that he’s not a man to be trusted with an innocent young girl.”

Now was the moment for Olivia to promise her unwavering obedience; but she didn’t. She couldn’t. “I will be twenty-one in a few months’ time, Father. I am not an innocent young girl. I am a grown woman and I know my own mind.”

They were staring at her as if she had suddenly grown two heads, and both of them with horns.

“Olivia!” hissed her mother, wide-eyed with shock.

Her father looked even graver than usual. “You may think yourself all-knowing when it comes to the world outside Bassingthorpe, Olivia, but I assure you, you are far from it. Lacey is not the man for you. He would make you dreadfully unhappy. He would take you from us. Your mother wouldn’t be able to bear losing another child.”

“Sarah died, Father. She was ill and she died. I have no intention of such a thing happening to me, but I can’t know it won’t. I can only promise to do my best to live a long life, and I certainly have no plans to get lost.”

“Olivia!” her mother gasped, white-faced. “This isn’t a subject for levity.”

“Mama, I promise you I am being very serious. Besides, Sarah herself always told me that I should insist on the best and only the best, and scorn to take second best. I am only trying to follow her—”

“Stop it.” Her father had had enough. “I don’t want a Lacey…I don’t want him in this house again,” he said, hardly raising his voice, and yet his tone stopped Olivia midsentence. “Is that clear?”

“Father…”