Lords of Desire Read Free Page A

say?”
    “She said you were a biddable girl, then told him your virtue and chastity were only right and proper in a maiden.”
    Tory covered her mouth so her laughter wouldn’t bubble out.
    “Sir Peregrine asked if he could pay his addresses to you.”
    Her laughter turned to dismay. “Damnation, I played my parttoo well!”
    “Mother said she would be delighted and honored.”
    “Hell and Furies! I should never have left the room to go exploring. Still, if I hadn’t, I’d never have known the dissolute devil was throwing a party in another part of the castle.
    The guests wore Georgian costumes and the atmosphere wasbawdy .”
    Her brother looked at her oddly. “Are you sure?”
    “I’m not daft, Edmund. I know what I saw. Why do you think he got rid of us so quickly?”
    “We left because of your headache.”
    “I don’t have a headache!”
    “Good night, Tory.” Female logic was too much for him.
    It took a long time for Tory to fall asleep. Sir Peregrine Palmer Fuller was not the nonentity she had expected. On the contrary, the man was extremely compelling. She was highly offended that he wished to forge an association with her as a stratagem to acquire respectability in the eyes of the people of Hawkhurst. Before she met him, she assumed he desired the social connection to distance himself from Mad Jack’s reputation, but now she knew it was to cover his own dissolute activities.
    I shall decline every invitation!
    As she drifted to the edge of sleep, she fancied herself in an elegant ballroom wearing a gown with scandalousdécolletage . She flirted outrageously from behind her fan as she decided which of a dozen escorts to favor with a dance. She raised her lashes and looked full into the eyes of a dark man, with a powerful build and a strong face, whose manner had more than a hint of dominance.
    CHAPTER 2
    “A note has been delivered from Sir Peregrine Fuller addressed to the Honorable Victoria Carswell. If it is an invitation to view Bodiam in daylight, as I expect, Edmund may chaperone you.” Edwina handed her daughter the letter with every intention of reading it once the seal was broken.
    “If it is an invitation to Bodiam, I shall decline it.” Tory was in the library, where she was allowed to spend an hour each afternoon. She set her book down and opened the letter.
    “You selfish girl! You will do no such discourteous thing. This is the first gentleman of means who has shown any interest in you. Spinsters and beggars cannot be choosers and you could soon be both if we do not find you a suitable match.” Edwina plucked the invitation from Tory’s fingers and read it. “For the benefit of your family, you will accept with grace and gratitude.”
    “Yes, Mama,” Victoria acquiesced quietly.
    “What are you reading?”
    “It’s a history of Sussex.”
    Edwina swooped upon the book and confiscated it. As she scanned the pages, she gasped with horror. “It is a book about smugglers and criminal activities. Surely you didn’t find this book on the shelves of your father’s library?”
    “Yes, it’s one of Father’s history books. Smuggling was rampant along the Sussex coast in the last century.”
    “’Tis no fit subject for a lady!” Edwina threw it on the fire. “Do something productive….
    Reply to Sir Peregrine’s invitation.”
    The moment her mother closed the library door, Tory snatched up the poker and, with her heart in her mouth, prodded the book from the flames onto the tiled hearth. She stomped out the smoldering edges and cleaned up the bits of charred paper with pan and brush.
    This book is precious. A century ago, the people here in Hawkhurst were up to their necks in smuggling. When the export of wool was illegal, Sussex men secretly shipped wool to Calais. After that they smuggled in brandy from France, tea from India, and silks from China. How romantic and exciting it must have been to go on a smuggling run!
    Tory hid the book behind a religious treatise on the