Desperately seeking sedu.., p.1
Desperately Seeking Seduction, page 1
Someone has to set a bad example…
* * *
Winston quickly hung the gown on its usual peg. “If you will excuse me.”
As she moved to walk past Lord Stratford, he grabbed her arm and held her still. His eyes widened even more when she looked up at him, and he gulped. “Winston?”
He knew. She was discovered. “Yes, my lord?”
His tongue darted out to wet his lips and she couldn’t look away as he said, “Have you ever considered wearing a gown before?”
Desperately Seeking Seduction
Scandalous Brides
Book Two
Heather Boyd
www.Heather-Boyd.com
Contents
Blurb
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Epilogue
Need more Steamy Regency Romance?
About Heather
Lord Stratford’s new valet is hiding an outrageous secret!
* * *
Born female, but living the whole of her life as a male, Dane Winston has stumbled into the employ of Lord Stratford, youngest brother of the Duke of Ravenswood. As his valet, she can barely keep the chatty lord on schedule…nor can she keep his hands off her person, once he discovers her true gender. The only thing more surprising than his attention is how much Winston enjoys it. But their dalliance must be short-lived. As she navigates a house party where certain guests are keen to cause trouble for the duke, she discovers trouble of her own in the form of jealous servants…and someone from her past she hoped never to meet again.
* * *
Lord Stratford Sweet has returned home to find his deceased father has left the duchy in dire financial straits. As he scrambles to help his eldest brother, the new duke, hide the extent of their insolvency from a houseful of guests, he certainly needs no further distractions. But he finds one in the form of his new valet, a man who looks too young, too soft…too good in a pair of breeches. When Stratford discovers her secret, keeping Win in his employ could cause a scandal the likes of which the estate can scarcely afford. But the more he learns about Win, and the uncanny connection they share, it may be a scandal he’s willing to endure…forever.
* * *
Scandalous Brides series:
Wicked with Him
Desperately Seeking Seduction
Love and Other Disasters
and more to come
DESPERATELY SEEKING SEDUCTION
Copyright © 2023 by Heather Boyd
Editing by Kelli Collins
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced nor used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for use of brief quotations in a book review.
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be resold or given away to other people. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return it and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used facetiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
Chapter 1
Stratford smirked. “It’s big, isn’t it?”
His companion turned obediently to look. “I’ve seen bigger.”
“I’d like to know where,” Stratford muttered, and then sat back with a grunt.
“It is impressive,” Mr. Dane Winston offered with an indifferent shrug.
Stratford pursed his lips in annoyance at the faint praise for so grand a view. “Ravensworth Palace is one of the largest homes in all of England. You could get lost in there on the first day.”
“I’ll do my best not to,” Winston murmured, a faint twist of condescension hovering on the fellow’s lips. “But if I do, I will ask for directions, or perhaps a map.”
Stratford had been forced to hire a replacement for his usual valet, Cuthbert, who’d been injured at the first inn they’d stopped at on his journey home. Cuthbert couldn’t have carried out his duties with a broken wing and banged up head from his tumble down the staircase, and Stratford couldn’t function without a valet to clean up after him. That way led to chaos and tardiness his brother the duke would tease him about. Although this fellow was young, Dane Winston had been eager to escape the inn where he’d been slaving away underpaid, for a better position and wages. Even if it was only to be a temporary position.
Winston was hard to figure out and harder to impress.
Stratford had taken him on despite only having the innkeepers word he was a sensible and dedicated worker and would give him no trouble. But as a traveling companion, he left a lot to be desired.
Winston’s indifference to the things that mattered had begun to irk the longer they were trapped inside the slow-moving carriage. Stratford talked a lot, but Winston seemed to prefer their journey be conducted in near silence. It had already been an hour since their last real conversation. Stratford was about ready to toss Winston out to ride on the back of the carriage with the grooms. However, given the man’s small stature, there was an obvious risk he’d lose the valet at any rough spot along the road.
He regarded Winston with a critical eye, yet again wondering if he’d made a mistake plucking him out for the plum role. Stratford was the younger brother of the new Duke of Ravenswood, after all. But given that Winston had performed all the duties expected of a valet exceptionally well—save for conversation—he had little choice but to keep him until Cuthbert recovered and appeared at Ravenswood Palace. If only Winston had a more outgoing personality, Stratford would be entirely satisfied with his new employee.
He sighed and set his preoccupation for getting a rise out of his new employee aside until later. Coming home would be interesting. It was the first time he’d ever looked forward to it, that he could ever remember. The long-suffering servants should be happy about it too. “You can trust the butler to set you right. That man knows every nook and cranny in the place. He rose through the ranks from pot boy. As for the other servants, I could not say who you might rely upon.”
Winston nodded. “I will be guided by your wisdom.”
“That would be a nice change. I told Cuthbert to watch that step and he still blundered into a fall,” Stratford complained. “Cuthbert surely must have noticed the wobble going up.”
But on the trip down the next morning, he took a tumble and had broken bone. Quite an unsettling howl he’d made, too. By midday, Stratford had known he had to leave the moaning servant behind. It was not every day your beloved elder brother hosted the family for the first time since becoming the Duke of Ravenswood. Stratford was already late.
He turned to take in the view of his ancestral home as they drew nearer. Ravenswood Palace, deep in the heart of Somerset, was a truly spectacular building. Four floors in total, thirty-five bedchambers. Nestled on a slight rise of land. It commanded a view of many miles in every direction.
But best of all was what would be found inside. He could not wait to see all those smug faces in the family wiped clean when they were denied the privilege of the new duke’s favor. Their hands outstretched and smiles imploring, and then those same greedy hands closing over nothing but air as their smiles became a mere memory. It was their own damn fault that Ravenswood would never give any one of them a penny. They should have been kinder to him all along, rather than pandering to the late Duke of Ravenswood’s capricious whims because he preferred to foster competitiveness for his attention.
Stratford’s elder brother, Algernon Sweet, sixth Duke of Ravenswood, did not suffer fools. And the family had a legion of those. He would have to be on his guard, and Stratford had counted on Cuthbert keeping his ear to the ground in the servants’ hall for any potential signs of trouble. Without Cuthbert’s insights, he would have to face the family at large with more of a disadvantage than usual.
But Stratford had made the best of a bad situation. The inn really had only the one decent footman who had dared apply for the position before Stratford had decided he even had need of a replacement. Mr. Dane Winston had seemed the only logical choice. Quite bold, too. He’d quickly gathered up Stratford’s things strewn about the room, spoke with his moaning valet, and promised Stratford would not regret his hire.
And he had not, for the first days, but he would wait to pass judgement until he’d spent a few days at Ravenswood. That would surely be a test of his new valet’s mettle.
When the carriage finally stopped at the front of Ravenswood Palace, he bounded out and rushed toward the massive carved old entrance doors, leaving the servants to do what they normally did when he wasn’t around. It was not strictly a palace, Ravenswood, but the name had stuck, and Father of course would never have diminished the family’s importance by changing it back to merely calling it an overly large manor house.
The Ravenswood butler stepped out the doors before he could reach them, beaming a smile of welcome. “Lord Stratford. Welcome home.”
&
Seymour nodded. “The duke is in his study, my lord. I believe your brothers are with His Grace there, too.”
“Good.”
Stratford hurried inside, his boots ringing upon the marble entrance floor, and headed toward the ducal study, keen to be reunited with his elder siblings and hear the latest ondit.
Algernon Sweet, Duke of Ravenswood, clad all in black, stood with his back to Stratford when he rushed into the room, looking out upon the lawn that was now his own, but Nash and Jasper faced the door. They saw Stratford and burst to their feet.
“My apologies for being the last to arrive,” he said in a rush.
“Trouble?” Jasper asked, coming closer to embrace him. Jasper was just a year older than Stratford, but far wiser…and a worse rogue than them all combined.
“Only that my valet fell a day out of London. I had to leave him behind to recover his health and composure.”
“I’ll loan you mine,” offered Nash, the second eldest, holding out his hand to shake.
“Not necessary. I found a replacement at the inn.” Stratford ignored the hand and embraced his brother. Nash, as usual, was stiff and unyielding and their embrace was awkward and brief. He didn’t know why he continued to hug his second-eldest brother. He’d simply always tried to breach his reserve, and usually failed to close the distance between them.
He turned his attention to Algernon, the eldest of them all, who had finally turned, and Stratford bowed deeply and theatrically to the new duke. “Your Grace. It is a pleasure to see you again.”
Ravenswood stepped close, looking down at him with a scowl from his greater height. “You’re not quite the last to arrive for the gathering,” Ravenswood chided, but then ruined the complaint by suddenly scuffing up Stratford’s hair, as he’d always done when Stratford was younger. He stepped back with a laugh before Stratford could attempt to retaliate. “You’ll need better wits about you today,” Ravenswood warned.
Stratford rushed to straighten his hair again, grinning and pleased that inheriting a lofty title of duke had not affected their bond yet. It was nice to be around family who cared about him. Algernon always had been his favorite brother. “Who are we waiting for?”
“You’ll see in due time. But first…” He gave a signal to his other brothers and as one, they closed and locked the study doors and windows, keeping everyone out. “Since you are the last brother to arrive, you are unfortunately the last to know.”
Stratford stilled. “Know what?”
Ravenswood threw his arms wide, clearly agitated. “That the estate is in a bloody shambles. Not a penny to spare anywhere!”
Nash hurried to their brother’s side and placed a restraining hand on the new duke’s chest before he could make a further loud outburst. “Calm yourself, Ravenswood.”
“I am trying,” the duke said through gritted teeth.
Stratford shook his head and looked about. Everything that he’d seen since his arrival was exactly the same as when their father had lived. “That’s not possible.”
“He wasted it all,” Ravenswood growled softly. “Bastard left me with empty accounts and a mountain of debt plus the inevitable embarrassment of trying to pay it back.”
Stratford glanced at his brothers, seeking their reactions. Neither looked shocked by the news now. Though they’d probably had time to calm themselves, unlike Stratford. He struggled to believe it. They had all believed the estate would go on as it always had, just with a kinder duke at the helm. The reading of the will had not alluded to any particular problems for the estate. But the running of the Ravenswood duchy was a costly enterprise.
And now there was no money to pay for anything.
Stratford glanced at Ravenswood again and feared for his favorite brother. “What will you do?”
Ravenswood exhaled loudly, and Nash moved away from the duke. “What I must before the news breaks and the laughter starts.”
Stratford’s eyes rounded, and he looked to the windows and imagined the awkwardness of meeting his entire family shortly, hiding the burden of a mountain of debt. “Does anyone suspect yet? The cousins and uncles and aunts beyond us four, I mean.”
“We sincerely hope they do not,” Jasper murmured, clapping a hand on Stratford’s shoulder.
Stratford took in his brothers’ worried faces and gulped. He was the youngest, but he was one of them. A Sweet. And loyal to his elder brothers and their ambitions. “Well, I’m not going to tell anyone.”
“We never imagined you would,” Nash murmured, coming up on his other side. “It is vital we all pretend everything is as expected for the duration of the family gathering and for as long as possible beyond.”
Stratford agreed. For years, they had all danced to their father’s tune, waiting for this moment to arrive when they would be free. Even though they were all the duke’s legitimate sons and heirs, other parts of the family had been treated far better. And to make matters worse, the late duke had encouraged that family friction and enjoyed their small squabbles. He’d had his favorites, and had always sided with them against his own grown sons. All in an effort to prove his power. To make them toe his line or risk being cast out of the will.
Those favored relations would enjoy their embarrassment when the news of the state of their financial affairs became known. Rub the loss in their noses. Ravenswood, particularly, would be placed in an awkward position. He had gained a title but an empty one.
He might be forever in debt.
Stratford had always believed that upon the duke’s death, things would improve with Algernon as the head of the family. That they would all have the upper hand for once and live peacefully. But they would likely only have more trouble than before with this development.
Stratford took in his eldest brother’s face and noticed the tightness of his jaw and high color upon his cheeks. Algernon was understandably humiliated by this turn of events.
Stratford gulped when Nash made an effort to check the duke’s heart by grabbing his wrist to feel for the pulse. Nash would have been an excellent physician in the family if father had let him go for a proper career. As it was, he had only studied in secret, practicing his doctoring on his brothers and their willing servants. He was utterly devoted to Algernon’s continued good health and happiness, wishing fervently that nothing stand in the way of their elder brother’s inheritance. Nash would be watching him very closely, now he was duke. They all would be.
“What can I do?” he whispered.
Nash nodded, leaving the duke be at last. “We have, Jasper and I, given over our entire fortunes to our eldest brother in an effort to keep the estate running smoothly, but even that is not going to be enough.”
Jasper and Nash stared at him, but Ravenswood glanced away, no doubt embarrassed by their generosity. Ravenswood had always helped them. Paying off any small debts incurred beyond their quarterly allowance from his own pocket so father might never know.
Stratford shuffled his feet, knowing what was being asked of him without it being said out loud. While he wanted to help his eldest brother, what he had saved himself in the last years was not very much at all. He’d never been good at keeping track of where his money went. And it seemed to have slipped through his fingers like water in recent years for one reason or another while living in London. He ought to have paid more attention to his finances.
