To Pleasure a Lady (Courtship Wars)

The three of them had already discussed possible options in the event Arabella failed to change his mind this morning. There now seemed to be but one way to foil the earl’s intentions, and even that would only be a temporary solution.

“I think,” Arabella said slowly, “that you will both have to disappear from Danvers Hall for a time. If he can’t find you, then he can’t coerce you into accepting any suitors he foists upon us.”

Lilian looked unhappy. “I still think we should stay and make a stand against him. He needs to accept that he won’t be able to coerce us to marry under any circumstances.”

“I don’t like leaving you to confront him alone, Arabella,” Roslyn added.

“I will be all right,” she replied, trying to sound confident. “And I would feel more reassured if you were out of harm’s way.”

Roslyn finally nodded with reluctance. “How long will we have to remain in hiding?”

“Until Lord Danvers can be made to see reason.”

“You shouldn’t have to fight our battles all by yourself, Belle,” Lily insisted.

Arabella smiled. “I know, but I think it best in this instance. You can go and live with Tess for a few days. He won’t think to look for you at her house.” Tess Blanchard was their dearest friend and a teacher at the Freemantle Academy for Young Ladies, which had been named after their patroness.

“Winifred would undoubtedly take us in,” Roslyn suggested.

“Yes, but Lord Danvers is likely to look for you there, since I told him about her ladyship’s sponsorship.”

When Lily still looked troubled, Arabella gave her an imploring smile. “Lily, promise me that you will go along with my plan for the time being.”

“Oh, very well.” She threw her arms around Arabella’s neck in a brief hug. “But I don’t like it in the least. I would rather remain here with you and challenge the vexations earl.”

Arabella ignored that comment, for she had learned the hard way that it was unwise to challenge the new Lord Danvers. “I think you should stay with Tess tonight. Lord Danvers will likely call on us soon, and I don’t want you to be here when he does.”

“How will you deal with him?” Roslyn asked.

“I’m not yet certain,” Arabella murmured. As their guardian, he had the right to arrange convenient marriages for her and her sisters, yet she would somehow have to make him abandon his plan. “He is living under the illusion that he can dictate to us, but I will have to show him the error of his thinking.”

All her good intentions, however, suffered a serious setback four days later when she spied Lord Danvers riding across a grassy meadow toward her.

“Blast and hang him,” Arabella muttered under her breath, abruptly drawing rein. She should have known his lordship wouldn’t be happy to cool his heels waiting for her. She had purposely stayed away from home at the appointed hour for the interview he’d requested, determined to make his guardianship as inconvenient as possible. She hadn’t expected him to come after her; obviously she had underestimated his persistence.

Her gloved hands clenching on the reins, Arabella hesitated for the barest instant. It was not like her to turn tail and run, yet she didn’t trust herself alone with Lord Danvers. It was one thing to meet him when servants were within calling distance; it was quite another to face him alone in a secluded meadow. She had no desire to confront the earl if he was bent on revenge for threatening him at sword point during their first encounter, or for defying his express orders this afternoon.

The lamentable truth was that the handsome devil unnerved her with his lithe, broad-shouldered form, his piercing blue eyes, and his knowing smile. She wasn’t certain she could hold her own with him just now.

Or perhaps she had simply turned craven.

Not pausing to further debate the deficiencies of her character, Arabella wheeled her horse and spurred it into a gallop, making for the copse of beech trees in the distance. Any hope that Lord Danvers hadn’t seen her, however, died a swift death when she risked a glance over her shoulder. He was giving chase.

Her heart quickening, she bent low over her sidesaddle and urged her mount on. When shortly she reached the beechwood and plunged inside the cool shadows, she was forced to slow her pace to negotiate the low-hanging branches that snagged at her bonnet.

Not so the earl. The sound of hoofbeats behind her told her that he was still pursuing her. When she came out again into another sunlit meadow, Arabella doubled her efforts but knew he was rapidly gaining on her.

Her pulse was hammering in time with the thudding hooves when he drew even with her. For an instant they raced side by side, while her heart pounded with unexpected exhilaration.

Then suddenly he reached out to wrap a strong arm about her waist and pluck her from the saddle as if she weighed no more than thistledown.

Arabella’s gasp of alarm turned to outrage when she found herself hauled sideways in front of his saddle and enveloped in his powerful embrace. As she clung desperately to him for balance, her breathless demand, “Let me go, you devil!” was muffled ineffectively against his shoulder and received no reply. Instead of releasing her, the earl merely tightened his grasp.

When he finally brought his mount to a plunging halt, Arabella sucked in a panting breath and lifted her head to glare up at him.

A mistake, she realized at once, for her mouth rested only inches from his. A delicious shock flared through her. She had fantasized about those firm, sensual lips…

Then their gazes locked, and her breath faltered altogether.