Excerpt: The Viscount’s Sweet Temptation
Chapter One
December 1812
Lady Harriet Thornhill stood at the window of her parents’ sitting room in the inn, gazing at the gathering black clouds. The threatening storm echoed the swirling emotions in her mind. She must escape!
Her mother, Lady Alderford, sat quietly behind her sipping tea and nibbling the biscuits the proprietor’s wife had provided upon their arrival. Her father dozed in the chair opposite her mother. How could they be so complacent when Harriet’s very life was at stake?
Harriet wished she had read her grandfather’s summons before her mother had. Mayhap she could have burned the missive and pretended it had never arrived. How dare he insist they alter any holiday plans they might have to travel to Yorkshire in such incumbent weather? How dare he insist he had important business with his entire family? Who did he think he was to command them all?
Well, of course, he thought he was the Duke of Danby, and he was the Duke of Danby, so he most likely did have the right to make these demands. But her mother was the duke’s youngest daughter. They did not pretend to think Harriet’s brother Leander, Baron Penlow, stood to inherit much of anything from the duke. By the time her hordes of cousins were given their share of his wealth, there would be little left for the Thornhills.
That left only one reason for the duke’s summons. He must have found someone for Harriet and her sister, Lady Miriam, possibly even Lee, to marry. Oh, this would never do! To be forced to marry a man not of her own choosing, mayhap not of her acquaintance, and after she had only enjoyed two London Seasons!
It was not to be borne.
A slow drizzle kept the roads filled with muck, just enough for her father to insist they stop early for the night. Papa was not a favorite son-in-law and felt no urgency to arrive early at Danby Castle. As much as she might consider pleading her case to either of her parents, she knew it would be wasted breath.
No one crossed a direct command from the duke. No one.
Harriet sighed, her breath fogging the cold glass. Where once she might have scribbled a quick love missive in the mist to her dream beau, in hopes he might appear and read it before the glass cleared, she suddenly felt too old for dreams.
Her mother spoke softly from the sitting area in front of the fire. “Come away from the window, dear. You mustn’t catch a chill so soon before Christmas.”
“In a moment, Mama.” To turn away now would be to give in to defeat, and she was certain she could find a way to avoid seeing her grandpapa. She had no experience in these matters, always having been the agreeable daughter and granddaughter, but certainly she had inherited some of the scheming wit her siblings shared.
How unfair it was that Miriam had already left to visit their father’s sister in Bath. She’d probably escape whatever fate awaited Harriet, at least temporarily, as their aunt was too ill to be left alone. And Lee was in London. While the duke had said he’d written him there, Lee always found a way to avoid doing what was expected of him.
Unwilling to let her thoughts continue into a diatribe on the unfairness of the inequality in the expectations placed upon young men and young women of Quality, Harriet reviewed the options before her. She could pretend to have caught a chill, thus being unable to present herself before the duke, but her mother was likely to see through her ruse. She could slip outside into the rain in hopes of actually becoming ill, but she really didn’t want to spend her Christmas in a sickbed.
If she were a young man, she could hire a horse and ride off to somewhere no one would look for her. London, perhaps. There were so many places in London for a young man to hide away, at least according to Lee’s tales.
Oh, dear, the diatribe was stronger than her efforts to keep it quiet. But it wasn’t fair she could have the same number of coins in her reticule as Lee might have in his pocket, and she couldn’t use a one to save herself.
The steady thunder of horse hooves drew her eye towards the road. A stately carriage came into view, pulled by four of the finest cattle she’d seen. A pair of beautiful matching black steeds trotted to a halt in front of the inn. The coach wasn’t familiar, but the Wrenthorpe crest upon it was. Could her dear friend Lady Eleanor be stopping here?
In her excitement, Harriet missed what her mother said, but went to sit with her. She sipped the now cool cup of tea her mother had prepared and gulped a few biscuits as her plan solidified in her head. All she needed was an excuse to slip downstairs so she might find Ellie and beg to be taken wherever Ellie’s family traveled.
She didn’t know what excuse to give Ellie’s mother as to why she couldn’t continue to ride with her parents. Any legitimate request would come from Lady Alderford, not from Harriet. Should she forge a note? Or claim her mother was so ill she was unable to write? That was the option most likely to work, she assumed.
The other worrisome problem was how to escape her parents. What if the Wrenthorpe coach had only stopped long enough to change horses and allow the family to take a meal? Harriet couldn’t wait until her parents went to sleep—that could be hours too late. She needed to do something quickly.
She stretched and made a loud noise as she pretended to hide a yawn. “I am so tired, Mama. I think I shall retire early. The dreary weather and long ride have truly left me limp as an old rag. I will see you at breakfast.”
“I’ll have Burney awaken you early. Your father wishes to leave at daylight.” Her mother lifted her arms in request for a hug before turning back to her writing. “Sleep well, my dear.”
“Good night, Papa,” Harriet called as she fought the urge to run to the adjoining door to her room. She must hurry and gather her pelisse and hat before going below and searching for Ellie. But first, she would use the old trick Lee had taught her years ago. She piled pillows under the bedding to make it appear as though she was asleep, should Burney peek in on her before morning.
By morning, hopefully she would be safely away in the Wrenthorpe coach, on her way to anywhere but Danby Castle.
