How To Marry a Rake

‘Yes, I am a wife now—can you believe it? To Lord Corbet. He’s only a baron, which disappointed Papa, of course.’ Addy’s father was a wealthy cit like Mae’s, as were so many fathers of the girls at Miss Trippet’s school. ‘He can be the greatest dunderhead at times,’ she continued, ‘but he’s my dunderhead.’ The smile that crossed her face was tender. ‘Just as I am his addlepate. I confess, I am quite fond of him.’

‘Then I am supremely happy for you.’ And a tad envious, too. Mae could only hope that she found someone as willing to overlook her own flaws. ‘Is your husband here tonight? I should love to meet him.’

‘Oh, yes. He’s likely slunk off to the card room. We’ll go and drag him out of there in a moment.’ She frowned. The surrounding crowd had grown steadily larger and was pressing ever closer. ‘But first, I have to hear everything. There were rumours, you know, about you and a young man, but no one seemed to know who he might be—and then you were gone! Come. Let’s go sit in the chaperons’ chairs. We can put our heads together and gossip like a couple of old biddies.’

She pulled Mae through the glittering spectacle and over to a row of straight-backed chairs. She chose a pair well away from the closest, capped matrons. ‘Were the whispers true, then?’ Addy leaned in close. ‘Was there a completely ineligible young man ready to cart you away to Gretna Green? Did your parents whisk you to Europe in order to keep you from his clutches?’

‘Of course not!’ There had been nothing ineligible about the young man in question. And while Mae would gladly have travelled with him to the ends of the earth, he hadn’t been interested enough to walk her in to dinner, let alone willing to run off to get married.

‘Oh.’ Addy sounded vastly disappointed. ‘Well, it was a long time ago, in any case.’ She cocked her head. ‘How long have you been abroad?’

‘Nearly two years.’

‘So long? You must have been pining to come home.’

Mae laughed. ‘Not at all, actually.’ She smiled in reminiscence. ‘I had the making of all the travel arrangements to myself. My father cared not where we went, as long as there was an opportunity for business or a reputable horse breeder nearby. My mother only worried over the comfort of our rooms. So I was free to indulge myself.’ She shot a conspirator’s grin at her friend. ‘And I did. I simply wallowed in great churches and grand palaces and large estates. I explored battlefields and boated in lakes and rivers all over Europe. I attended theatres and salons in every great city and met scores of interesting people.’

None, however, who could completely erase the image of the man she’d left behind. Such a man did exist, however. He was out there—and Mae fully intended to find him.

‘But now you are back,’ Addy said with satisfaction. A crafty look descended over her pretty face. ‘And I’d wager you’re here because your father decided it was time to find you a husband.’ Her eyes rounded suddenly in horror. ‘But the Season is nearly half over! There’s no time to waste! You should have gone straight to London! Whatever are you doing in Newmarket, when there are husbands to be hunted?’

Laughing, Mae agreed. ‘We have left it a bit late, haven’t we?’ She leaned in, as Addy had done before. ‘We are in Newmarket, dear, because my father has brought home a most promising new filly. He means to race her in the Guineas—and he expects her to make a name for herself. He has grand plans to let her win a few important races and then pull in a fortune breeding future champions off of her.’ She lowered her voice. ‘Truthfully, although Father says it’s time I had a husband, I believe he is at least as concerned about searching out a stud to cover that filly as he is about finding one for me.’

Addy gasped. Then she let out a peal of shocked laughter. ‘You haven’t changed a bit, Mae Halford!’

‘Oh, but I have. I’ve grown up—and I’ve had the value of being circumspect forced down my gullet.’ She smirked. ‘I’m still me. I still analyse and organise and plan, but now I know how to make it look socially acceptable.’

Addy stared. ‘Oh! I know that look. You had the exact same gleam in your eye when you organised Miss Trippet’s girls to boycott the painting master.’

‘Something had to be done,’ Mae protested. ‘He was beyond appalling—coming in from behind to critique our work and sneaking unnecessary touches. The last straw was when he tried to convince poor Esther that posing nude was the only way to prove her dedication to art.’

‘And now you are trying to distract me! You are scheming something.’ Addy nearly glowed with mischief. ‘You must allow me to help. It’ll be as if we were girls again.’

‘This is no girl’s crusade. It’s far more important.’ Mae knew enough now to tamp down the enthusiasm in her voice. ‘I’m just as happy to be in Newmarket, for while my father is distracted with his horses, I intend to map out a plan for my future.’ She cocked her head at Addy’s surprised expression. ‘And why should I not? Should I leave it to my father? He used to say he wished me to be a lady, but I think he’s given it up. He’s determined to fire me off, and of course, he’s correct—if I were a man I would be using my talents learning the family business.’ She sighed. ‘Such is not my fate—and as marriage is, then I’m determined to have a say in it.’

Addy nodded, impressed.

‘What frightens me is that Papa spends more time poring over the Stud Book than his Debrett’s. I’m afraid he’ll hand me right over to the first man to come along and offer land with a good ore vein or a favourable shipping contract.’

‘Or the owner of the best-blooded stallion.’ Addy giggled.

‘Exactly.’ Except that this was no laughing matter. This was Mae’s life’s happiness at stake. She had to at least try to find someone who could accept her as she was. She’d been battling her whole life, fighting to keep from being squeezed into a stultifying society mould. She didn’t want to spend a lifetime fighting her husband as well.

There must be at least one gentleman in England who would not be offended or threatened by her … abilities. Mae was determined to find him.

‘What do you mean to do?’

‘What I do best. Careful planning and brilliant manoeuvring.’

‘You sound like a general.’ Addy sounded awed.

‘I am a general. Make no mistake, Addy. This is war. And this …’ she gestured to the brilliant, seething scene in front of them ‘… this is merely the first skirmish. Tonight I begin to gather intelligence. There can be no strategy without sufficient information.’

‘I never thought I would feel sorry for society’s single gentlemen. They can have no idea what is about to hit them.’ Abruptly Addy reached out and grasped her hand. ‘You’ll do brilliantly.’ The warmth and reassurance in her voice touched Mae. ‘You’ve never failed to accomplish what you set out to do.’ She stood. ‘You shall command the campaign and I will be your loyal assistant.’ Her eyes sparkled. ‘Now, let’s go and find my husband. He can be our first source of information.’

Willingly, Mae followed, glad that Addy had turned away to search out a path through the crowd. For she was wrong. Mae had indeed known failure—and in the one chase that had meant more than all the others together.

Unbidden, her mind’s eye turned inwards, to where she’d locked away her remembrances like a horde of treasure. Laughing blue eyes slipped out. A heated embrace, incredibly soft lips. She made a small sound and gathered her determination, closing her eyes against a flood of similarly wistful recollections. Stephen Manning hadn’t wanted her. He was her past. And tonight was only about her future.

‘This way,’ Addy called. Smiling over her shoulder, she added, ‘Corbet has a great many friends that he rides and drinks and plays cards with. We’ll convince him to take you out for a dance and then they will all have the chance to become intrigued.’ She paused to wait for Mae to catch up. ‘We’ll have you in the first stare of fashion before you can blink!’

‘I admit, I’m anxious to meet your new husband, but I don’t wish to be a bother.’

‘Oh—not to worry! Corbet won’t mind. He’s a darling, that way.’

The baron was, in fact, a darling. He greeted his wife with a kiss and made Mae’s acquaintance with every evidence of pleasure. Immediately, Lord Corbet introduced her to a card table full of his friends, and with only the smallest nudge from Addy he begged for her hand in a dance.

Mae’s estimation of Addy’s husband only rose from there. She could only hope to be half so fortunate in her search for a mate. The baron danced with enthusiasm and when the country dance brought them together he had her chuckling at his self-deprecating humour. They were near the end of a line, the set nearly over, when he made a ludicrous comment about needing to lace his corset tighter in order to buckle his shoe. Mae choked as they circled. Lord Corbet handed her off to the next gentleman, and, still laughing, she looked up and into her new partner’s face.

She stumbled to a stop.

Breathless laughter. Good-natured teasing. Longing. Admiration. Determination. Every one of them a sensation that collected into a cold knot at the base of her spine. She shivered as one by one they raced the message upwards to her brain.

Stephen.

Any connection between her head and her limbs had melted away. She’d lost her place in the dance. The couple behind them, oblivious to the earth-shattering nature of this moment, danced on. The lady backed into Mae, sending her stumbling. Her ankle wrenched. She bit back a cry of mingled shock and pain and started to fall.

Strong arms plucked her from the air before she could hit the floor. Stephen was frowning down at her. ‘Good heavens, are you all right?’

She saw the moment that recognition forced its way into his consciousness. He faltered, too, his eyes bright and his colour high. Mae stared. His expression was the most fascinating mix of pleasure and horrified surprise she’d ever seen.

‘Mae?’ His voice had gone hoarse.

Dizziness swamped her. He stood so close—held her in his arms, even—and yet the distance between them was immense, in every way that counted.

She winced. ‘Good evening, Stephen.’

Chapter Two

Irreconcilable events hit Stephen from opposite directions and from out of the blue. The incongruity of it set his brain box to rattling. He glanced about in an attempt to anchor himself once more. Newmarket, Lord Toswick’s house party, fire in his belly and determination in his heart—to do whatever might be necessary to thrust Fincote into the collective awareness of the racing world. Yet one minute he’d been partnering his hostess in a dance, and the next he was holding Mae Halford pressed up tightly against him.

Impossible. Or at least highly unlikely. He would have pinched himself if his hands hadn’t already been full.

Pleasurably full, too—filled with generous curves and sweetly yielding flesh. She realised it in the same instant and tried to back away, out of his embrace. But her ankle gave way and she started to go down again.

With a shake of his head he swooped her off her feet and into his arms. The entire dance had broken down and people had begun to gather around them. The music limped to a stop, leaving the air full of murmurs of concern, curious whispers and tittering laughter.

Stephen caught Lady Toswick’s eye. ‘Could you lead us to a private spot, my lady?’ he asked his erstwhile dance partner. ‘I believe the lady has injured herself.’

‘Of course!’ Lady Toswick, staring bemused at the wreck in the midst of her ball, gave a start. ‘If you’ll follow me, Lord Stephen?’

Mae twisted in his arms. Warm breath stirred over his ear and interesting bits of anatomy brushed against his chest as she spoke over his shoulder. ‘Lord Corbet, would you be so good as to fetch Addy? And my mother!’ she called as Stephen strode away.

A frazzled butterfly, Lady Toswick flitted her way through the crowd gathered on the dance floor. Casting false smiles and breathless reassurances, she led the way out and down the hall to a small antechamber.

Stephen followed, his jaw clenched in irritation as fans fluttered and tongues wagged in their wake. Two years ago he would have revelled in the attention, but circumstances had changed. He had changed. He was here to win the respect of these people, to prove himself as a knowledgeable racing man and a sound man of business, not to stir up old scandalbroth.

He’d entered the ballroom in a state of focused resolution. But now he’d been knocked off course. By Mae Halford. Again.

‘Oh, dear,’ the countess moaned. She’d opened the door onto an empty room. ‘The chairs are gone. Likely the servants are using them as extra seating in the parlour. We need a bit more dining space for the late supper, you see.’ She wrung her hands. ‘Good heavens, I’ll call a footman. Will you be all right, Lord Stephen? Can you hold her until I can have a chair fetched?’

‘I’m perfectly fine, my lady,’ replied Stephen. ‘Perhaps you could send for two chairs? Or a chaise, perhaps. I believe Miss Halford should keep her foot elevated, if possible.’

‘Oh. Yes, of course.’ She eyed Mae with concern. ‘I shall be gone but a moment and I’ll be sure your mother is on her way, my dear.’ Her gown fluttering behind her, the countess disappeared.

Which left Stephen and Mae nothing to do but stare at each other, their faces mere inches apart. Mae’s eyes were huge, her expression wary. A soft, citrusy scent drifted up from her hair.

Hell and damnation, but Stephen did not want to be noticing the scent of her hair. Abruptly, the clatter in his head quieted enough for his brain to make a connection. ‘Oh, Good Lord,’ he said. ‘You’re the heiress.’

Her face went blank. ‘I beg your pardon?’

He glared at her. ‘This had damned well better not be one of your tricks, Mae.’

He’d known from the moment that he took her hand in the dance that he’d encountered something different. He’d gone warm all over and his heart had begun to pound, even before he realised who she was. An example of his body being quicker than his brain, because once he had done so, his instinctive reaction had been a sharp, happy stab of recognition. An intimate friend of his half-sister Charlotte, Mae had been a constant fixture in his life for years. Practically a member of his already large and chaotic family, she was a part of many of his happiest memories.

But now nostalgia was quickly kicked aside by trepidation. For Mae featured at the centre of several of his most uncomfortable memories, too. Several years past, she’d made him the focus of her ardent schoolgirl fantasies. Stephen, a few years older, flush with the first freedoms of manhood, and having a grand time playing the young buck about town with his brothers, had been less than interested. Still, he had tried to tread carefully around her too-evident feelings, and at first he’d found the situation amusing, and more than a little flattering.

But Mae was … Mae. A veritable force of nature. She had pursued him with all the zeal and determination and inventiveness at her disposal—which was to say, more than many a grown man of Stephen’s acquaintance. Hell, she had more grit than a platoon of men. For over a year he had stayed one step ahead of her in their awkward dance. Eventually, though, the state of affairs had deteriorated, leading to that last, explosive incident, and ultimately, to Mae’s trip abroad.

She was back now, though, and his accusation had set her back up, if the flash of fire in her narrowed blue eyes was any indication.

‘Yes, Stephen. Indeed, I had this all planned. I got off the boat, tracked you down and promptly crippled myself to gain your attention.’

He refused to back down. One didn’t, when dealing with Mae Halford. His gut began to roil. Images of chaos and destruction danced in his head; all pictures of the special sort of havoc that only Mae could wreak with his plans.

‘It sounds ridiculous, doesn’t it?’ he asked, his tone laced with sarcasm. ‘Except that it does not—not to anyone with a close acquaintance with you. And especially not to me. I’ve been on the dangerous end of more than one of your schemes in the past, if you will recall.’

She stared at him, aghast, and then she began to struggle. ‘You great, conceited lout,’ she gasped. ‘Do you think that I’ve been abroad pining for you all this time?’

‘God, I hope not,’ he muttered.

She pushed on his shoulder, straining to get away. Her squirming curves were becoming increasingly difficult to hold on to. ‘Put me down!’

He had to obey, lest he drop her. She limped away from him, crossing to lean on the wall for support. His heart twisted a little, seeing her hurt. Despite his misgivings, he couldn’t help raking a gaze over her, cataloguing each alteration, evaluating for changes and improvements.

They were all improvements. Sleek and stylish, she was dressed and coiffed in the sort of simple elegance that only pots of money could buy. She had grown taller. She’d also grown quite a luscious figure, and learned how to show it to her best advantage.

He wrenched his gaze back up to her obstinate expression. ‘I’m sorry,’ he said on a sigh. ‘I should not have spoken so harshly.’

‘Don’t be sorry—for you give me the excuse to descend to the same level of bluntness.’ Her pert nose was in the air and she looked at him as though he was something the cat had coughed up. ‘You may stop flattering yourself right this minute, Stephen Manning. I had no idea you were here tonight and, frankly, I wish you were not. It’s a long time since I’ve been that calflove-stricken girl.’

He started to speak, but she stopped him with a wave of her hand. ‘If I thought of you at all as we returned, it was only to hope that it might be months, perhaps years, before we met up again.’ She looked away and cast beseeching eyes heavenwards. ‘I certainly did not wish to bump into you—literally!—at my first entry back into English society.’

Stephen crossed his arms. ‘I am sorry. It’s just that I’m here on important business and I cannot have any … shenanigans … fouling it up.’

Voices sounded out in the passageway. She cocked her head, listening for a moment. ‘Good,’ she said in a hurry. ‘We are agreed then. I have important matters at hand as well and your presence will not be helpful.’ She pushed away from the wall and made shooing motions at him with her hands. ‘It would be best if you go. Now,’ she urged. ‘I don’t want to contemplate what my father would say, should he find us here like this.’

Tiny golden threads winked at him from amidst the amber embroidery on her bodice. He blinked back. For one wild moment he wondered if this was some sort of deep play she was engaging in. ‘I was not aware that your father looked on me with ill will.’ He shifted. ‘Surely he does not blame me for …’ Damn. ‘For your travels,’ he finished lamely.

‘Of course he doesn’t!’ She gave a huff of exasperation and closed her eyes. She drew a calming breath and her shoulders went back. The movement drew his eye right back to her shimmering bodice and the curves it contained.

‘Papa doesn’t blame anyone. It was merely a case of him knowing how … determined … I can be—and wishing to give me something else on which to focus my energies.’

A clatter sounded outside and a footman rushed in with a chair. ‘Your pardon, miss, but the countess is having a more comfortable chaise brought along.’ He placed the chair at Mae’s side and she sank down onto it.

‘Thank you,’ she called as the servant hurried out again.

She heaved a deep sigh of relief. It did wondrous things for the décolletage of her gown. And though he was only observing, somehow Stephen felt the rush of all that oxygen hit his bloodstream.

Mae met his gaze again. ‘If my father gets even a hint of a suspicion that I, that we …’ She allowed her voice to trail away. ‘Let me just say that it would be better if he did not find us together. He’s liable to sweep us up and out of this house party so fast that my head would spin. The consequences for me would likely be unpleasant—and long lasting.’

Stephen stilled. His heart thumped at the frightening truth that lay hidden in her words. ‘You are a guest here? At the house party?’

She nodded, then abruptly froze. ‘You are staying on here as well?’ She stared. ‘You are not invited just for the evening? For the opening ball?’

He shook his head.

With a cry of dismay, Mae’s mother entered, hurrying to kneel at her daughter’s side. Lady Corbet followed, and close on her heels came Lady Toswick with a brace of footmen and a large, cushioned chaise.

Stephen stood back as the women fussed over Mae. He noted the small frown creasing her brow as she answered her mother’s enquiries, but she never looked his way. With interest, he watched as she kept calm in the face of her mother’s alarm and Lady Toswick’s disjointed attentions. It appeared that somehow she’d managed to tame all the raw, nervous energy that had marked her as an always unpredictable—and sometimes nerve-racking—companion.

He tore his gaze abruptly away. It didn’t matter how many intriguing ways Mae had changed, or in how many irritating ways she had stayed the same. Her presence here could only be a distraction at best. It could prove to be an obstacle at worst, if she decided to make his life difficult—or if her father decided to take him into dislike. Barty Halford was a dedicated and influential racing man. Certainly he had the ability to crush Stephen’s plans with only a few words into the right ears.

With a curse, he made his way to Mae’s side. ‘I can see that you are in capable hands now, Miss Halford,’ he said formally. ‘I’ll just leave you to them. I beg your pardon if I somehow contributed to your accident.’

Mae glanced at her mother. She, in turn, exchanged speaking looks with the other women and stepped back a little, drawing the others with her and shooting nervous glances in Stephen’s direction.

Mae leaned towards him. ‘Let’s just agree to stay out of each other’s path? At least as much as possible?’ She offered her hand.

He bent over it. His nose ended up mere inches from that sparkling bodice. Her new, supple form spread out before him like a Michaelmas feast, all slick curves and sharp indentations. All of his masculine bits took notice, stretching and stirring to life, to let him know that they were awake—and hungry.

Well, they could dance a metaphorical jig if they liked, but they were not going to dine here.

He pulled away. ‘Agreed,’ he barked.

Spinning on his heel, Stephen stalked from the room. Wrong place, wrong time, he told his protesting body parts.

And definitely the wrong woman.

Mae chewed her bottom lip as she watched Stephen stalk away. Two long years, she marvelled. Thousands of miles travelled. Countless new people met, more than a few flirtations engaged in and two sincere marriage proposals received. None of which she was to be given credit for. Stephen had treated her as if she were still the same over-eager, love-struck girl.

Well, she was not that girl any longer—she smiled at her mother and at Lady Toswick, assured them that, yes, she was fine and, no, she ought not dance any more this evening—and she set out to prove it.

It turned out not to be as difficult as she feared, thanks in large part to Addy and her husband. Mae returned to the ballroom and was enthroned upon a comfortable chair in the corner, with a padded ottoman upon which to prop her foot—decently covered with an embroidered shawl, of course. She suffered a moment’s panic after settling in, envisioning herself an island of misery and loneliness in the midst of all the gaiety, but within moments Lord Corbet’s friends were obligingly clustering about her.