How to Disgrace a Lady

Chapter One

Merrick St Magnus did nothing by halves, including the notorious Greenfield Twins. Even now, the legendary courtesans were delectably arranged in varying degrees of dishabille on the drawing room’s long Venetian divan. His eyes on the first Greenfield twin, Merrick plucked an orange slice from a silver tray and gave it an indolent roll in powdered sugar, in no way oblivious to the charms of her lovely bosom pushed to the very limits of decency by the dual efforts of a tightly laced corset and a low décolletage.

‘One sweet temptation deserves another, ma chère,’ he said in liquid tones, his eyes meaningfully raking her body, noticing how the pulse note at the base of her long neck leapt in appreciation of his open seduction. Merrick skimmed the orange slice across her slightly parted lips, the tip of her tongue making pretty work of licking the powdery sugar, all the while suggesting she’d be quite apt at licking more than her lips.

He was going to enjoy tonight. More than that, he was going to enjoy winning the bet that currently filled pages of White’s infamous book of wagers and collecting the winnings tomorrow. He stood to make a respectable sum that would see him through a recent bad run at the tables. Certainly men had ‘had’ the lovely Greenfield sisters, but no man had obtained carnal knowledge of them both at the same time.

At the other end of the divan, twin number two gave a coy pout. ‘What about me, Merrick? Am I not a temptation?’

‘You, ma belle, are a veritable Eve.’ Merrick let his hand hover over the fruit platter as if contemplating with great deliberation which fruit to select. ‘Ah, for you, my Eve, a fig, I think, for the pleasures of Eden that await a man in your garden.’

His literary references were for naught. She pouted again, perplexed. ‘My name isn’t Eve.’

Merrick stifled a sigh. Think about the money. He flashed a rakish smile, popping the fig into her mouth and giving her a compliment she would understand. ‘I never can tell which of you is the prettiest.’ But he definitely could tell which one was smarter. He dropped a hand to the expanse of twin number two’s exposed bosom and drew a light circle on her skin with his index finger, winning a coy smile. Twin one had her hands at his shoulders, massaging as she pulled the shirt-tails from his waistband. It was time to get down to business.

That was when it happened—his manservant began banging on the receiving room door.

‘Not right now,’ Merrick called, but the banging persisted.

‘Maybe he wants to join us,’ twin one suggested, unfazed by the interruption.

His man of all work would not be deterred. ‘We have an emergency, milord.’ He pressed from the other side of the door.

Damn it all, he was going to have to get up and see what Fillmore wanted. Between lost literary references and intrusive servants, this could be going better. Merrick pushed to his feet, shirt-tails loose. He placed a gallant kiss on the hand of each twin. ‘A moment, mes amours.’

He purposely strode across the floor and pulled open the door just a fraction. Fillmore knew what he was doing in here, of course, and Fillmore probably even knew why. But that didn’t mean Merrick wanted him to witness it first-hand. If he thought too much about it, the whole scenario was a bit lowering. He was broke and trading the one thing he did better than anything else for the one thing he needed more than anything else: sex for money, not that anyone else realised it.

‘Yes, Fillmore?’ Merrick managed a supercilious arch of his eyebrow. ‘What is our emergency?’

Fillmore wasn’t the normal manservant. The arched eyebrow affected him as much as the Miltonesque reference had affected twin not-so-smart. Fillmore puffed himself up and said, ‘The emergency, milord, is your father.’

‘Fillmore, you are aware, I believe, that I prefer my problems to be shared.’

‘Yes, milord, as you say, our emergency.’

‘Well, out with it, what has happened?’

Fillmore passed him a white sheet of paper already unfolded.

Merrick had another go at the arched eyebrow. ‘You might as well tell me, clearly you’ve already read the message.’ Really, Fillmore ought to show at least some slight remorse over reading someone else’s post; not that it wasn’t a useful trait on occasion, just not a very genteel one.

‘He’s coming to town. He’ll be here the day after next,’ Fillmore summarised with guiltless aplomb.

Every part of Merrick not already in a state of stiffness went hard with tension. ‘That means he could be here as early as tomorrow afternoon.’ His father excelled at arriving ahead of schedule and this was an extraordinarily premeditated act. His father meant to take him by surprise. One could only guess how far along the road his father had been before he’d finally sent word of his imminent arrival. Which meant only one thing: there was going to be a reckoning.

The conclusion begged the question: which rumours had sent the Marquis hot-footing it to town? Had it been the curricle race to Richmond? Probably not. That had been weeks ago. If he’d been coming over that, he would have been here long before now. Had it been the wager over the opera singer? Admittedly that had become more public than Merrick would have liked. But it wasn’t the first time his affaires had been conducted with an audience.

‘Does he say why?’ Merrick searched the short letter.

‘It’s hard to say. We’ve had so many occasions,’ Fillmore finished with an apologetic sigh.

‘Yes, yes, I suppose it doesn’t matter which episode brings him to town, only that we’re not here to greet him.’ Merrick pushed a hand through his hair with an air of impatience. He needed to think and then he needed to act quickly.

‘Are we sure that’s wise?’ Fillmore enquired, ‘I mean, based on the last part of the letter, perhaps it would be better if we stayed and were appropriately penitent.’

Merrick scowled. ‘Since when have we ever adopted a posture of penitence when it comes to my father?’ He wasn’t in the least bit intimidated by his father. Leaving town was not an act of cowardice. This was about being able to exert his own will. He would not give his father the satisfaction of knowing he controlled another of his grown sons. His father controlled everything and everyone that fell into his purvey, including Merrick’s older brother, Martin, the heir. Merrick refused to be catalogued as another of his father’s puppets.

‘Since he’s coming to town to cut off our allowance until we reform our ways. It’s later in the note,’ Fillmore informed him.

He’d never been the fastest of readers. Conversation was so much more entertaining. But there they were at the bottom of the letter, the words so curt and glaring he could almost hear his father’s voice behind them: I am curtailing your access to funds until such time as your habits are reformed.

Merrick scoffed. ‘He can curtail the allowance all he wants since we don’t touch it anyway.’ It had occurred to him years ago that in order to be truly free of his father, he could not be reliant on anything his

father offered, the usual second-son allowance included. The allowance lay tucked away in an account at Coutts and Merrick chose instead to live by the turn of a card or the outcome of a profitable wager. Usually it was enough to keep him in rent and clothes. His well-earned reputation for bedroom pleasure did the rest.

His father could halt the allowance for as long as he liked. That wasn’t what bothered Merrick. It was the fact that his father was coming at all. The one thing they agreed on was the need for mutual distance. Merrick liked his father’s jaded ethics as little as his father liked his more flexible standards. Coming to London was a death knell to his Season and it was barely June. But Merrick wasn’t outmanoeuvred yet.

He needed to think and he needed to think with his brain as opposed to other body parts. That meant the twins had to go. Merrick shut the door and turned back to the twins with a short, gallant bow of apology. ‘Ladies, I regret the emergency is immediate. You will need to leave.’

And so they did, taking his chance at two hundred pounds with them at a point where money was tight and his time was tighter.

* * *

‘Fillmore, how much do we owe?’ Merrick sprawled on the now significantly less-populated divan. He ran through the numbers in his head; the boot maker, his tailor and other sundry merchants would need to be paid before he left. He wouldn’t give his father the satisfaction of seeing to his debt. It might create the illusion his father had room to negotiate.

Damn, but this was a fine pickle. He was usually an adequate steward of his funds and usually a fair judge of character. He never should have played cards with Stevenson. The man was known to cheat.

‘Seven hundred pounds including this month’s rent on the rooms.’

‘How much do we have?’

‘Around eight hundred to hand.’

It was as he’d thought—enough to clear the bills with a little left over. Not enough to survive another month in the city, however, especially not during the Season. London was deuced expensive.

Fillmore cleared his throat. ‘Might I suggest that one way to cut expenses would be for us to stay at the family town house? Rent for rooms in a fashionable neighbourhood is an extravagance.’

‘Live with my father? No, you may not suggest it. I’ve not lived with him for ages. I don’t mean to start now, especially since it’s what he wants.’ Merrick sighed. ‘Bring me the invitations from the front table.’

Merrick searched the pile for inspiration, looking for a high-stakes card party, a bachelor’s weekend in Newmarket that would get him out of town, anything that might assuage the current situation. But there was nothing amusing: a musicale, a Venetian breakfast, a ball, all in London, all useless. Then at the bottom of the pile he found it: the Earl of Folkestone’s house party. Folkestone was hosting a party at the family seat on the Kent coast. Originally, he’d not considered going. It was three days to Kent on dry roads to even drier company. But now it seemed the ideal locale. Folkestone was a crusty traditionalist of a man, but Merrick knew Folkestone’s heir, Jamie Burke, from their days at Oxford, and he’d attended a soirée hosted by Lady Folkestone early in the Season, which explained where the invitation had come from. He’d been a model guest, flirting with all the wallflowers until they had bloomed. Ladies liked a guest who knew how to do his duty and Merrick knew how to do his superbly.

‘Pack our bags, Fillmore. We’re going to Kent,’ Merrick said with a finality he didn’t feel. He didn’t fool himself into believing a house party in Kent was an answer to his woes. It was merely a temporary salve. London was expensive, yes, but his freedom was proving to be more so.

* * *

The road to Kent was clearly not to be confused with the road to Hell, Merrick mused grimly later after three days of riding. For starters, there were no good intentions in sight. But there were apparently two highwaymen in broad daylight. Merrick slowed his horse and swore under his breath. Damn and double damn, he’d been a short two miles from the salvation of Folkestone’s bloody house party. His hand reached subtly for the pistol in his coat pocket.

It was deuced odd for highwaymen to attempt a robbery at three in the afternoon when the polite world was ready to settle in for tea. But given the state of the current British economy, he wouldn’t put it past anyone. It was unfortunate he was alone just now, having ridden on ahead of Fillmore and his luggage.

‘Is the road out, my good fellows?’ Merrick called, wheeling his horse around in a flashy circle. Their horses looked sleek and well fed. Great. He’d run into a set of the more successful brand of highwayman. Merrick’s hand tightened on his pistol. He’d paid his bills and his last pound notes were tucked safely in his pocket. He wasn’t about to surrender what financial surety he had left.

The two bandits, masked below their eyes with black scarves, looked at each other. One of them laughed and parodied his politeness. ‘It is to you, good sir.’ The man waved his more obviously displayed pistol with the casual flourish of a man long accustomed to handling firearms with ease. ‘We don’t want your money, we want your clothes. Be a good fellow and give us a quick strip.’ The green eyes of the second bandit flashed with humour.

The sun caught the glint of the pistol butt. Merrick’s hand eased on the grip of his weapon, a slow sure smile of confidence taking his face. Merrick stilled his horse and faced the two ‘bandits’. ‘Why, Ashe Bedevere and Riordan Barrett, fancy meeting you here.’

The green-eyed man with the pistol yanked his scarf down. ‘How did you know?’

Merrick grinned. ‘No one else in England has emeralds embedded in the butt of their pistol.’

‘Damn it, it was a good prank.’ Ashe gave his gun a rueful glare as if the weapon alone were to blame for ruining the gambit. ‘Do you know how long we’ve been sitting here, waiting?’

‘Waiting in the sun is dusty business,’ Riordan put in.

‘What were you doing, waiting at all?’ Merrick pulled his horse alongside his two friends and they continued down the road three abreast.

‘We saw your horse outside the inn last night and the ostler said you were headed over to Folkestone’s for the party,’ Ashe admitted with an impish grin. ‘Since we’re going, too, we thought we’d plan a little reunion.’

‘We could have reunited over a pint of good ale and rabbit stew last night,’ Merrick put in. Accosting friends with pistols was a bit demented even for Ashe.

‘There’s no fun in that; besides, we were busy with the barmaid and her sister.’ Riordan pulled out a pewter flask and took a healthy swallow. ‘There hasn’t been any fun all Season. London’s been an absolute bore.’

So boring that even a house party in Kent held more charm? It seemed unlikely. Merrick peered closely at his friend. Riordan’s face bore signs of weariness, but there was no time to pursue that avenue in the wake of Ashe’s next pronouncement.

‘How about a bathe?’

Merrick’s head swivelled in Ashe’s direction. ‘What? A bathe?’ Had Ashe finally gone around the bend? He’d long suspected Ashe wasn’t as sane as the rest of humanity, always the risk taker.

‘Not in a tub, old chap,’ Ashe replied, easily reading his mind. ‘Out here, before we get to the house party. There’s a pond—a small lake, really—over the next rise and off the lane a bit, if I remember this stretch of road right. It will be a chance to wash off the grime of the journey, a last chance to exist in nature before we embrace the unnatural formality of a country party where...’ Ashe paused for effect and went on with great exaggeration ‘...everything should be natural, but most unfortunately is not.’

‘Splendid idea, a bathe is perfect. What say you, Merrick? A bathe before high tea and the ladies?’ Riordan voted with his heels, spurring his chestnut hunter into a canter, letting the light breeze ruffle his dark hair. Riordan called back over his shoulder, ‘Race you! I’ve got the flask!’

‘But you don’t know where you’re going!’ Ashe and Merrick yelled in unison. This had always been the case; even at Oxford, Riordan had been heedless of the details, seizing the pleasure of the moment, ignoring the consequences. Merrick exchanged a knowing look with Ashe.

‘All the better to race me....’ The words floated back over the pounding of hooves on packed dirt. They needed no further encouragement to kick their horses up to speed and follow.

They found the pond as Ashe remembered it: a cool, shady oasis fed by a quick-flowing stream and perfect for the odd summer bathe. It was hidden from the casual eye by leafy willows and Merrick raced the others, wasting no time in divesting himself of his clothes, suddenly overcome with a desire to feel the cold water on his hot skin. He dived in, refusing to cautiously test the waters first.

The water closed over his head and he felt absolution. He reached out into the water with long strokes and began to kick, every stroke taking him further from London, from his father, from his ongoing battle for the freedom to be himself even if he didn’t precisely know who that was. In the water he was clean. Unfettered joy took him and he surged to the surface, shaking the water from his hair. Ashe was watching him, posed gloriously naked on a rock like a sea-god. Merrick reached up, grabbed Ashe’s leg and pulled. ‘Come on in, the water’s fine.’

Ashe gave an undignified yelp as gravity and Merrick took him sliding into the pond. ‘Riordan, get in here and help me!’

There was a swift movement on the banks as Riordan grabbed for a sturdy vine and swung into the mêlée. Chaos ensued—the good kind of chaos that washes away years and trouble. They wrestled in the water; they scrambled up the banks, making the dirt into mud with their dripping forms; they ran the perimeter of their sanctuary with loud whoops of pure exuberance, only to jump back in and start all over. For all the sophistication of London and its entertainments, Merrick hadn’t had this much uncontrived fun in ages. London’s haut ton would cringe to see three of their members behaving with such careless, naked abandon. But why not? There was no one to see.

Chapter Two

Thank goodness no one could see her now. Dressed in a loose, serviceable gown of drab olive and scuffed half-boots, Alixe knew she didn’t look at all like a proper earl’s daughter. The family would have a fit. Another fit. The family wanted to have as few fits as possible. Which was probably why they’d let her go out wandering in the first place, despite guests arriving for the long-anticipated midsummer house party.

At the moment, Alixe didn’t care if the king himself was scheduled to arrive. She had a precious afternoon of freedom entirely to herself. The weather was fine and she was enjoying her tramp to the furthest edges of the family property, perhaps a bit beyond because she was feeling a little naughty. She had a destination in mind—an old summer house on the nebulous fringes of the estate, where she could settle in with her books and her work, all carefully packed in a cloth bag looped over her shoulder.

She was getting close to the summer house. The path was increasingly overgrown with fern and nearly obscured from plain view as she ventured further into the wooded area. She smiled and pushed aside some of the rampant undergrowth. It was cool here beneath the trees. Ah, there it was. She quickened her pace, taking the crumbling steps to the entrance two at a time.

Alixe opened the door and sighed. The old place was perfect. She should make a retreat out of it. She could scavenge odds and ends from the attics. Alixe put her bag down and surveyed the open-air room. It was more like a gazebo than an actual house, but it had infinite possibilities—a place where she could be alone, away from the family’s odious neighbour Archibald Redfield, away from everyone and all their expectations for her life. Alixe closed her eyes and breathed deeply. Ah, yes, she was blessedly alone.

Then she heard it: the sound of not being quite alone. Alixe turned her head towards the sound. A bird call? It came again—distinctly not a bird. It sounded like a human shout.

Oh, dear.

The lake.

Alixe was galvanised into action. Someone might be in trouble. She tore through the woods, running towards the shouts.

* * *

Alixe crashed into the lake clearing and came to an abrupt halt too late to rethink announcing her presence once it became patently obvious the only thing in risk of drowning were her sensibilities. Three men cavorted—really, that was the only word for it—cavorted in the water. They dove, they wrestled, they noticed her.

Oh, lord, they noticed her.

She didn’t want to be noticed. This was not what she deserved for playing the good Samaritan. She’d run pell-mell to the aid of three men swimming nude in a hidden lake. Someone could at least have the decency to actually be drowning.

‘Hello, are we making too much noise? We didn’t think anyone was around,’ one of them said easily, unfazed by her sudden appearance. He separated from his comrades and waded towards the shore, the receding water revealing him inch by marvellous inch until Alixe was sure of two things: first, she’d never seen such a finely made man in her life and, second, the finely made man was undoubtedly naked.

She should look away. But where to look? His eyes? They were too mesmerising. The sky wasn’t even that blue. His chest? Too well-sculpted, especially the tapered muscles at his abdomen.

Abdomen!

Oh, lord, she hadn’t meant to let her gaze or the water get so low. He was still moving towards her, unbothered by his nudity. She had to put a stop to it or she’d be seeing more than the firm muscles of his abdomen.

All her supposed good breeding failed her utterly. Her eyes remained riveted on the stranger’s midsection. It would only be a matter of seconds now before all was revealed. She should say something. What did one say to a naked man at a pond?

She opted for a casual response and tried to sound as if she