The Rake's Wicked Proposal

Darius had always been a rogue and a gambler. His profligate lifestyle meant that he had quickly gone through the fortune left to him by his father when he reached his majority, thus necessitating a need in Darius to marry for money. He had even, Lucian recalled with some amusement, offered for Lucian’s young sister Arabella at the end of last Season. An offer Hawk, their haughty older brother and the the Duke of Stourbridge, had felt absolutely no hesitation in refusing!

‘A brief diversion, for we’re on our way to London,’ the Duke of Carlyne continued lightly. ‘For the Season. Or at least we were.’ He frowned. ‘Damned coach has developed a rickety wheel. But I mustn’t keep you standing about here when you are obviously wet and uncomfortable.’ He frowned as Lucian’s greatcoat chose that moment to drip water on to the wooden floor. ‘You surely aren’t travelling on horseback, St Claire?’

Lucian grimaced. ‘It was very fine when I set out from London two days ago.’ After days, often weeks, spent in the saddle during his years in the war against Napoleon, the rain of an English spring did not seem like such a hardship to Lucian.

‘That’s the English weather for you, hmm?’ The older man smiled ruefully. ‘On your way to visit your brother and the family in Gloucestershire, are you?’

‘I am, sir.’ Lucian gave an inclination of his dark head.

‘Inferior inn, I’m afraid, St Claire,’ the Duke confided dismissively. ‘But ’m reliably informed that the food makes up for the lack of other comforts. Join us for dinner once you have procured a room and changed out of those wet clothes.’

‘I do not have the necessary clothes with me for dining in company—’

‘Nonsense,’ the Duke dismissed warmly. ‘Do say you will join us, St Claire. I have no doubt the ladies will be relieved to have more diverting company than a crusty old man and his boorish brother.’

Ladies? Plural? Which obviously meant there would be another lady other than the Duchess present. And the Duke’s ‘boorish brother’ had to be Lord Francis Wynter, the youngest of the three Wynter brothers—a young man Lucian had known for many years, and found pompous and opinionated in the extreme.

But good manners dictated that Lucian could not continue to refuse the Duke of Carlyne’s gracious invitation. ‘In that case I would be honoured, Your Grace,’ he accepted stiffly. ‘If you will allow me but half an hour in which to make good my appearance…?’

‘Certainly, m’boy.’ The Duke now looked pleased by this turn of events. ‘I am sure m’wife will want to hear all about your brother and his pretty new Duchess.’

Lucian was equally sure, as he strolled upstairs to his bedchamber several minutes later, having procured a room and demanded hot water for a bath, that his brother Hawk would not appreciate having his beloved Jane discussed in a public coaching inn or anywhere else!

‘I am sure you will find St Claire extremely diverting, m’dear,’ Grace’s uncle, the Duke of Carlyne, continued to assure her with a merry twinkle in his eye. ‘Most of the single ladies of the ton seem to find his broodingly dark good-looks extremely appealing. Several of the married ones, too—eh, m’dear?’ He gave his Duchess a knowing smile.

‘I am sure I do not know what you mean, Carlyne.’ Grace’s aunt, a plump matronly woman still deeply in love with her equally smitten husband, dismissed him frowningly. ‘Neither is it a fitting subject on which to converse in front of a young lady of Grace’s sensibilities.’

‘Certainly not,’ Lord Francis Wynter agreed haughtily. ‘In fact, George, I am not sure that it was a wise decision on your part to invite St Claire to join us for dinner at all, with two ladies present.’

‘Don’t be such a pompous ass, Francis. Oh! I am sorry, m’dears.’ The Duke at once apologised to his wife and Grace for his outspokenness. ‘But St Claire’s entitled to sow a few wild oats,’ he added defensively. ‘What you should remember, Francis, is that Major Lord Lucian St Claire is a hero of the Peninsula War—and most especially that last bloody battle at Waterloo.’