Taming the Duke Read Free

Do you hear, Daughter?”
    “I can’t believe you would ask such a thing of me.” Alicia paced in a tight circle. “I refuse, and you can’t make me, Father,” she shouted, surprising them both. She had never raised her voice to him before, but this time, she was filled with a sense of betrayal. Her father cared so little for her feelings that she didn’t care what he thought of her.
    Her father’s face colored a deep puce. “Very well, Alicia. I’ll give you a choice.” His heavy jowls shook with anger. “Widower Sedwick Rollins has asked for your hand. If you refuse to tend the duke’s stallion, then I’ll be forced to tell Rollins that you’ll marry as soon as a special license can be obtained.”
    “You’re bluffing!” She bit back a laugh. “Rollins hasn’t a sixpence to scratch with—”
    “Don’t force me to—”
    “Some basket you’d be in with a son-in-law like Sedwick Rollins. With those twelve children and not a feather to fly with, he’ll not be content to live down by the river in that sod hut if he marries me.” Alicia couldn’t keep her face straight. “He’ll move his brood in here faster than the scullery lads stealsCook’s pies left cooling on the windowsill. And you’ll not keep your brandy long with Rollins dipping deep in your jugs.”
    Her father’s watery eyes didn’t blink as he stared long and hard. Then he drew a parchment from his desktop and grabbed his inkpot and quill.
    She wet her lips, her mouth as dry as the cold ashes in the fireplace. “What are you doing?”
    His mouth firmed into a hard line, his pen scratching across the rough paper. Alicia watched as her father’s large, spidery black script began to fill one side of the page. She glanced at the letter addressed to Sedwick Rollins. Alicia’s heart leaped in her throat. “You can’t go through with this outrage.”
    “I can and I will. Rollins has inherited a small purse and will be moving to Dorset. You’ll be leaving with him unless you come to your senses.”
    “Mother will never allow this.”
    “Your mother already knows and understands the necessity.”
    “I’m going to speak with her anyway.”
    “Your mother has nothing to say about the matter. You will go through with the arrangement I’ve made with Wexton, or you’ll pack your things and be gone from here by nightfall.”
    Alicia had never seen her father like this before. A heavy weight pounded in her chest. She drew her hand to her mouth, but the question wedged in her throat. “Why, Father? Why are you doing this?”
    “Because we’re in quite deep. I’ve borrowed against Marston Heath, and…” He closed his eyes,and she watched him fight to control himself. Once again, she sensed that he had gambled heavily and lost.
    “You’re the only one who can bail us out of this sinking ship,” he said, his voice strained.
    “You know what Wexton’s mother did to me, Father. How can you—”
    “Damned what she did to you, Daughter. The boot is quite on the other leg, now. It’s time that family paid you back for what the dowager did. Cinnamon Rose is worth five times the horseflesh we can afford, and we have the advantage because Wexton is soft on this stallion of his. Now carry on with your part of the bargain. I’ve negotiated a price from the duke. All you have to do is cure his horse, and we’ll be in the money.”
    Words were useless. There was nothing she could say to refute the value of Cinnamon Rose and the importance the mare would bring to their stable.
    Her father’s cheeks puffed with agitation as he waited for her answer. Alicia sighed. She might as well talk to a stump. “You win, Father.” She ran to the study door and burst from the room.
    The long hallway and the staircase at the end blurred into a watery splotch as tears welled in her eyes. Hiking her skirts, she dashed through the house, too upset to speak to her mother. First, she needed time alone. Alicia tore open the front door and sped toward the