A Most Unsuitable Earl (Regency Collection Book 3) Read online

  “Would you have come if you knew?”

  “Of course not,” she grudgingly admitted, her hands falling to her sides.

  “Because you came here this evening and refused to give him the chance to talk to you, you won’t have to worry about him anymore.”

  After a long moment, she relented. “It better work.”

  “He’s a gentleman. You hurt his pride in front of other people. He’ll do everything he can to avoid you from now on.”

  “You think so?”

  “Of course.”

  The door opened, and they looked at the doorway in time to see Catherine and her father staring at them. Catherine gasped and placed her hand over her mouth, and the duke clenched his hands at his sides. Ethan looked at Agatha whose jaw dropped before he turned his attention back to his wife and father-in-law.

  “It isn’t what it looks like,” Ethan blurted out, knowing it sounded stupid as he said it. Of all things he could have been caught doing, this was the worst thing that could happen to him, especially given his reputation around the Ton.

  A long, agonizing moment passed before Catherine’s hand dropped. Tears filled her eyes, and she fled down the hallway.

  “Catherine!” Ethan called out and hurried to the doorway.

  The duke stepped in front of him and blocked his exit. “Of all the places you could have chosen for your indiscretion, you had to do it in the same townhouse my daughter lives in?”

  “No. It’s not an indiscretion.” Ethan peered out the doorway to make sure none of the servants—or worse, his mother—saw any of this.

  The duke shoved him back into the room and shut the door so the three were alone. “I knew there was something indecent going on between you and Lady Richfield as soon as I saw you dancing with her at Lord Roderick’s ball. This is distasteful. Other gentlemen have the good sense to make up excuses on where they’ll spend their time before running off to their mistresses.”

  “I don’t have a mistress. Your daughter is the only one I’m with,” he glanced uneasily at Agatha, not sure how he should word things in front of her but finally continued, “that way.”

  “Don’t lie to me,” the duke snapped in a hushed voice. “I’m not a simpleton. I can see what’s going on here. The day my daughter married you was the worst day of my life. You don’t deserve her, but she has continued to live here. God only knows why she’s shown such loyalty to you. But that ends tonight. I’m taking her home with me where she’ll be treated as she deserves.” He pointed his finger in front of Ethan’s face. “If you so much as come near my daughter again, I’ll make sure we’ll play a game of fencing, and I assure you, this time, there’ll be an unfortunate accident. Do I make myself clear?”

  The color drained from Ethan’s face. Catherine wouldn’t go home with her father, would she? She’d at least give him a chance to explain, to try to make things right. Wouldn’t she?

  The duke snatched the pocket watch from Ethan’s hand. “I trust you’ll find a way to keep your mistress out of sight so the servants won’t know of my daughter’s shame.” He glared at Agatha before he spun on his heel and stormed out of the room.

  It took Ethan a second before he could act. Not waiting for Agatha to say anything, he ran after the duke who was heading for the butler who was carrying a tray out of the drawing room.

  “I demand to talk to my daughter at once,” the duke told the butler, his tone resolute.

  “No, he won’t,” Ethan countered.

  “You have no right to tell me I won’t talk to her,” he snapped, his face getting red with anger.

  “I have every right. This is my townhouse, and that’s my butler. You are not at liberty to make such demands here. And whether you like it or not, Catherine’s not going anywhere. She’s my wife. Though you don’t believe it, I love her. I would never do anything to hurt her.”

  “A gentleman such as yourself doesn’t know the first thing about love. She was my daughter long before she became your wife. I’ve spent years taking care of her.”

  “The length of time you’ve been with someone has nothing to do with the depth of your feelings for them.”

  “Maybe not, but I believe a person with your reputation is incapable of the kind of love someone like my daughter deserves.” He turned to the butler. “Send for Lady Catherine at once.”

  “She’s not Lady Catherine!” Ethan gestured for the butler to remain still and faced the duke, squaring his shoulders back. This confrontation was a long time in coming, and he decided if he was going to take his stand, he was going to do it for the sake of his marriage. “She is Lady Edon. She is a countess. Because of that, she will remain here.”

  The duke stepped up to him, his nose just inches from Ethan’s, and narrowed his eyes at him. “I call a duel.”

  “You can’t call a duel. It’s illegal.”

  He stared at him, so Ethan stared right back, refusing to blink. The moment was tense between them. Neither moved nor spoke. The entire place fell deathly silent.

  Finally, the butler cleared his throat and, in a tentative tone, said, “Your Grace, my duty is to Lord Edon. Lady Edon will remain here until he says she can go or unless she decides to go of her own free will. I will not intervene on your behalf.”

  The duke gritted his teeth and kept on staring at Ethan.

  Though his heart was pounding, Ethan forced out, “This evening’s entertainment is at an end.” He scanned the hallway and saw that the footman had been standing behind him. “Make sure His Grace gets to his carriage.”

  The footman rushed to the front door and opened it.

  Catherine’s father shifted his gaze from Ethan, to the butler, to the footman, and back to Ethan. “She won’t stay here. She’ll leave of her own accord.”

  “That remains to be seen,” Ethan replied, hoping she wouldn’t once he explained everything to her.

  He let out a low grunt and stormed out the front door.

  Ethan knew he should be relieved his father-in-law was gone, and yet he wasn’t. Confronting the duke should have been the hardest part of this evening, but it wasn’t. His gaze went to the stairs. The hardest part was going to be begging Catherine to stay with him. She’d been devastated to find him alone in the den with Agatha. Even with all the tears she’d cried on their wedding day, he hadn’t seen her this upset.

  She loved him. He hadn’t realized it until he saw how deeply he’d hurt her. Well, he loved her, too. But he also understood as innocent as his talk with Agatha had been, the fact that he was caught in the den alone with another lady was enough to do damage he never wanted to do. He needed to do whatever it took to make things right. Taking a deep breath, he headed up the stairs, not bothering to look at the footman or the butler.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Catherine sat in the chair next to the vanity in her bedchamber and wiped the tears from her eyes with her handkerchief. She shouldn’t be surprised. Even if Ethan hadn’t been with a lady before he married her, gentlemen often took mistresses. Why should she expect her husband to be any different? Though she loved him, it didn’t mean he loved her, and even if he did, would that prevent him from still wanting to take a mistress?

  She wiped her eyes again. If she didn’t love him, she wouldn’t care. But since she did love him, it hurt to think he needed more than what she could give him, especially when she’d given him everything she had to offer anyone. She’d felt safe to let down her guard with him, and that made her all the more vulnerable.

  A soft tap at her door drew her attention to it. Assuming it was Opal, she called out for her to enter. But instead of Opal, Ethan opened the door and stepped into the room. She quickly averted her gaze from him in case she broke into a fresh wave of tears. She didn’t want him to know how much he could hurt her. That would be worse than fleeing the way she did when she caught Ethan alone with Lady Richfield, probably discussing when they’d take time to be more intimate.

  Ethan shut the door and took a hesitant step toward he
r. “Catherine?”

  Refusing to look at him, she focused on the mirror in front of her and twisted the edge of the handkerchief around one of her fingers. She cleared her throat and prayed her voice would come out sounding neutral. If she could convince him she didn’t care, she could save what little dignity she had left. “What do you want?”

  To her surprise, he knelt beside her and touched her hand. “It wasn’t what it looked like, Catherine,” he said, his tone so tender she couldn’t help but make eye contact with him. “I should have told you about Agatha sooner, but I knew she wouldn’t like it so I didn’t.”

  “You refer to her by her Christian name?”

  He sighed. “It’s not what you think. Agatha is a friend, but we’ve kept our friendship a secret because if others found out why we even have an acquaintance, it would ruin her reputation.”

  Catherine considered his words carefully before she replied. “Does this acquaintance you share involve love?”

  “No. I don’t love her. I love you.”

  “You do?”

  He brought her hand to his lips and kissed it. “There will only be you, Catherine. I will never have a mistress. As long as I am with you, I am complete.”

  She examined his eyes and saw that he was telling her the truth. She wrapped her arms around his neck and brought her lips to his. The sorrow just moments before was quickly forgotten as he deepened their kiss. In her heart, she knew her love was secure with him, that he would love her the way her father had loved her mother. And she couldn’t think of anything better than that.

  When the kiss ended, she ventured, “Why do you have an acquaintance with Agatha?”

  After a moment of silence, he cupped her face in his hands, his thumbs gentle as they traced her cheeks. “I don’t think she’d mind if I told you since you’re my wife and won’t tell anyone. Agatha is a writer. She writes gothic horror, but those in her family wouldn’t accept it if they knew, so she decided to write under the name of a gentleman. But she can’t go to Minerva Press and submit her story because she knows the publisher. Even if she dresses up as a gentleman, she’s afraid he’ll recognize her.”

  “She disguises herself as a gentleman?” Catherine asked, appalled a lady would do such a thing.

  “Only if she has to. She also has taken the role of a gentleman when she writes for the Tittletattle.”

  “She’s one of the authors for the scandalsheets?” While she could understand why Agatha would hide her identity for gothic horror, she couldn’t understand why Agatha would write gossip. “Why did she get involved with the Tittletattle?”

  “Because she wanted to do something no one would accept if they knew.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  He kissed her nose and smiled. “She was bored. She had just gone through her first Season where she had to be a perfect lady at all times. Then she was married and widowed within twenty-four hours and felt that her life had no meaning. She didn’t wish to marry, and when she realized she wasn’t with child, she decided to take a chance and do something she found entertaining. Her first notion was to write a book, which she did, but then it isolated her. While she doesn’t engage often in social affairs because she doesn’t want to remarry, she gets lonely. When she disguises herself as a gentleman and contributes to the Tittletattle, she is connected to the world.”

  “So how did you two meet?”

  “I happened to catch her in her disguise as a gentleman and noticed her mustache was falling off.” He chuckled and rose to his feet. Taking her hands in his, he helped her up. “In return for my silence on the matter, she made up stories about me in the Tittletattle. As we got to know each other, I started submitting her stories to the publisher.”

  “Are you saying all of the gossip about you wasn’t true?”

  “Well, I did win every game at White’s and the gambling hells, but everything else was a lie.”

  “I don’t understand, Ethan. Why did you go through all that trouble of lying so you’d seem like a rake?”

  He shrugged. “I had convinced myself that I wanted to stop coming to London so I could enjoy a quiet and peaceful life in the country. Having spent time with you, however, I think the truth of the matter is that I was afraid.”

  “Afraid of what?”

  “Afraid I wouldn’t be happy if I was married. My mother and father were happy. With so few marriages being like theirs, I didn’t think I would have the fortune of having a wife who’d love me and who I’d love back. It was safer to convince my mother to pass on my title to my cousin so I wouldn’t have to worry about having an heir. Then I wouldn’t have to marry at all.”

  Touched by his confession, she softly replied, “I love you, Ethan.”

  With a smile, he lowered his head and kissed her.

  As much as she wanted to melt in his arms and let the rest of the world slip away, there was one thing that bothered her. “Ethan, what were you and Agatha doing in the den?”

  “She wasn’t pleased that I invited Christopher to the dinner party. She knew that I was trying to play matchmaker.”

  “I saw her face when he arrived, and she didn’t look happy.”

  “Well, maybe now he’ll understand that she’s not interested in him and find another lady to pursue.”

  “Maybe.”

  “You don’t think he will give up his pursuit of Agatha?”

  She shrugged. “I don’t know, really. It’s just that from what Claire told me about him, he’s not the kind of gentleman who gives up once he sets his mind to something. But he’s your friend. You know him better than she does.” Deciding they’d talked enough about Christopher and Agatha, she said, “Why don’t you retire to your bedchamber, and after I have Opal help me get ready for bed, I’ll join you. I know how much this room bothers you,” she added in a playful tone.

  “Sometimes lace and ruffles are distracting.”

  She giggled at the way he grimaced and kissed him. “I don’t mind spending the nights with you in your bedchamber. Now, let me tend to my needs, so I can be with you again.”

  He gave her an affectionate pat on the small of her back and left the room. Her spirits lifted, she pulled the cord to let Opal know she was ready for her and got to work on pulling the pins out of her hair. Opal arrived shortly after she started brushing her hair and helped her undress. Once she was in her shift and robe, she thanked Opal. Opal curtsied and left. Unable to hide her excitement over seeing Ethan again, especially since she knew he loved her, she knocked on the door separating their bedchambers.

  “I was beginning to think you decided not to come,” he teased, reaching for her hand and pulling her into his arms.

  She didn’t have time to reply, for he was kissing her once more. To her delight, he picked her up and carried her to his bed where he’d already pulled the covers back. It was wonderful to know he had chosen her—and only her—to take to his bed. He gently set her down and settled next to her.

  Lowering his head, he brought his mouth to hers and traced the length of her body with his hand. She ran her fingers through the silky strands of his hair. After he untied the cord holding her robe together, he ran his hand over her shift, delighting her as he brushed her breasts, lightly teasing her nipples, which hardened in response. Then his hand lowered, traveling down her side, over her hip and to the edge of her shift.

  She squirmed beside him, eager to have him explore her more intimately. He obeyed her silent wish and slid his hand under her shift then between her legs. She widened her legs for him and lifted her hips to grant him better access to her sensitive flesh. His fingers brushed her entrance. She shivered in pleasure and brought her lips to his cheek and then his neck.

  “You feel good,” he murmured as his thumb settled on her sensitive nub.

  She softly moaned, still kissing his neck, her body aching for him to penetrate her. “Please, slip your fingers into me,” she whispered.

  He did as she requested, and she adjusted her hips so that he was
deeper inside her. As he stroked her core, she squeezed his arms. Her body responded so easily to him. He knew exactly how to touch her, ensuring that she would climax. And when she did, she cried out his name, closing her eyes and savoring the moment as he continued to stroke her, his fingers gentle, his rhythm slower than it had been before.

  When she was satisfied, she slipped his fingers out of her and rolled onto her knees so that she could remove her robe and shift. Then she helped him out of his nightclothes. She encouraged him to lie on his back and took a moment to study his body, thrilled that he was aroused simply by being with her in bed. She loved knowing she could get him hard, that he desired her physically. Before she got married, she had no idea the marital bed could bring so much pleasure, nor did she understand that becoming one with her husband would give her such a feeling of completion. But with Ethan, it was easy to be vulnerable and know she was safe with him.

  Making eye contact with him, she smiled and winked before she knelt in front of him. She took his erection in her hand and stroked it, working her way from the base to the tip, her finger tracing the bead of moisture at the slit. He groaned in pleasure and grasped the sheets beneath him. She took him into her mouth and traced his tip with her tongue. He murmured her name and squirmed in pleasure as she continued her ministrations. As much as she loved receiving pleasure from their lovemaking, the act was more complete when he found fulfillment in it, too.

  When he whispered that he couldn’t hold out much longer, she straddled him and took him inside her. He placed his hands on her hips and guided her movements. She rocked back and forth on top of him, her body clenching around him, her sensitive nub rubbing against him in such a way that further aroused her. She worked with him, striving for the same goal as he was, and as she climaxed once more, he joined her, his seed filling her, bringing completion to the act. She remained still on top of him, waiting for the last waves of pleasure to subside before opening her eyes.

  When he looked at her, he smiled so tenderly at her that her heart melted. “Thank you,” he whispered, giving her hips a gentle squeeze.