The doxy and the duke, p.1
The Doxy and the Duke, page 1
The Doxy and the Duke
Caroline Lee
Contents
Copyright
About This Book
Other Books by Caroline Lee
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Epilogue
Bonus Epilogue
AUTHOR’S NOTE
Other Books by Caroline Lee
About the Author
Copyright
Copyright © 2021, Caroline Lee
Caroline@CarolineLeeRomance.com
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. This book contains material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from the author.
First edition: 2021
Printing/manufacturing information for this book may be found on the last page
Cover: EDHGraphics
About This Book
Lady Raina Prince might be the daughter of a powerful Highland earl, but polite society wants nothing to do with her, thanks to the illegitimate son she bore five years ago. She wouldn’t trade wee Ewan for all the parties and musicales in the world, but when her old teacher, the Countess of Fangfoss, invites her and her five dearest friends to a summer house party, Raina can’t resist the chance to see her chums again. She brings Ewan along as a reminder to herself, and everyone else, that she’s not going to play their silly matchmaking games…and it works.
That is, at least until the day she takes her son swimming and meets a handsome and mysterious stranger enjoying the water with his son. What harm could there be in having some fun with a man who refuses to tell her his full name or rank? And if he thinks the worst of her…well, that could lead to some fun too!
The Duke of Cashingham has no time for frivolities, but he’s given his heir, Matthew, his word that he’ll make an effort to find a second wife. Thus, he has made a point of attending the Fangfoss affair to meet each eligible lady, and has been disappointed. But when he meets an intriguing—and obviously easy-virtued—Scottish lady by the river, he sees no harm in suggesting an informal liaison.
But the more time Cash spends with her, the more he realizes Raina is exactly the sort of woman he wants for a wife. Too bad a duke can’t marry his doxy…
It’s up to mischievous Ewan and studious Matthew to convince their parents that, not only are the two adults in love, but they have a chance at their very own Happily Ever After…before the end of the house party!
Other Books by Caroline Lee
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Steamy Scottish Historicals:
Those Kilted Bastards (3 books)
Bad in Plaid (6 books)
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The Sinclair Jewels (4 books)
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Chapter 1
“It’s a tiger? A lion?”
Raina Prince hummed thoughtfully and continued her invisible sketch on the naked back draped across her lap.
“Nay,” she murmured, one finger drawing the curve of the feline’s back. “But close.”
Her wee son propped his chin in his hands and frowned as he concentrated on her touch, trying to feel the shape of the image. “There are whiskers, aye?”
“Aye, indeed.” The gentle burble of the River Derwent, wide and calm here and excellent for swimming, seemed to echo throughout the perfect summer afternoon. “What else has whiskers?” she asked as she sketched the animal’s fluffy tail.
“A dog has whiskers!”
Ewan was almost five years old, and visiting this part of the river had become a part of their daily routine. She would pack a picnic lunch, and they’d swim and eat until he was exhausted, then he’d nap in the shade of a magnificent oak while she read. But first she had to calm him to a restful state, so she’d invented this game where she drew pictures on his back and he tried to guess what they were.
“A dog does indeed have whiskers, my love.” She drew claws beside where she thought she’d drawn the creature’s feet a few minutes ago. “But ye were closer with yer guesses of lion and tiger.”
“Oh! A panther!” Ewan guessed in excitement, thrusting his upper body up by straightening his elbows. “It’s a panther!”
This wasn’t calming him for a nap, was it?
Smiling gently, Raina wiped her palm across the lad’s back, gently pushing him back down. “It’s no’ a panther.”
“A jackal?”
Lightly, she pinched her son’s bare arse, which wasn’t as white as it had been at the start of the summer. Perhaps she should find him a bathing costume. But it’s not as though anyone came to this remote bend in the river; in fact, it was almost at the end of the Fangfoss estate!
“A jackal isnae a feline, son.”
“What’s a feline?”
Hmm. Perhaps she ought to have a word with the nurse she’d hired to bring along on this trip. Annie was obviously not teaching the lad as much as Raina had hoped.
“A feline is a cat.” To punctuate this lesson, she added a sketch of what she imagined might’ve been a dead mouse by the feline’s front paws. “Like the barn cats back home.”
When he still didn’t pick up on the hints, Raina began to stroke her palm across her son’s back, as if she were stroking the cat’s fur.
“Ye’re certain it’s no’ a panther?”
She couldn’t hide her grin. “Nay, it’s no’ a panther.” The lad wasn’t tired at all, was he? “But he’s gray and white—”
“Like the barn cats back home?”
Ah, he was beginning to understand.
“Aye, just like the wee beasts,” she murmured softly.
“Panthers are gray and white—”
“Nay, they’re no’. It’s no’ a panther, Ewan. It’s a feline who has just caught a mouse.”
He pushed himself up on his arms once more. “Like the barn cats?”
“Aye,” she huffed in exasperation. “Like the barn cats! He’s gray and white like the barn cats, and he has whiskers like the barn cats.”
“But how can ye be certain it’s no’ a panther?”
Raina’s frustrated laughter burst out of her at the lad’s dogged line of reasoning just as a new voice said quietly, “Is it a barn cat?”
Her son jumped up off her lap as Raina twisted to find the newcomer: a lad of about ten years in a bathing costume, standing quietly over her shoulder. He offered her a small grin and a shrug, as though he knew he’d startled her.
“Aye.” She managed to find her voice. “It was a barn cat.”
Ewan made an irritated sound and stamped his foot. “A barn cat? That was too simple, Mama!”
Hiding her grin, Raina busied herself picking up the remains of their lunch. “Ye didnae guess it. Our new friend had to.”
“I could’ve guessed it if ye’d given me more hints!”
Wondering what further hints she could’ve possibly given him, Raina turned her attention to the newcomer. “And ye must be a smart lad to guess the drawing despite no’ being able to feel it.”
The lad shrugged again, his attention on Ewan. “Sometimes it’s easier to see the whole picture from afar.”
It was a surprisingly complex statement from one so young, and Raina was about to ask him about it when she heard yet another new voice.
“Matthew! Matthew, you win, lad! Where are you?”
The boy—Matthew?—flushed and whirled around, before calling out, “I’m here, Father. Already at our swimming spot!”
Our swimming spot?
Raina didn’t have time to wonder about the claim before footsteps along the river path alerted her to the lad’s father’s arrival. And then she couldn’t say a blessed thing, because her throat—and her lungs, and likely, her heart—seemed to freeze when the man stepped into the light.
He was beautiful. The man’s pale hair glittered gold in the sunshine, and his tall, lean body was encased in a form-fitting bathing costume. She’d always had a soft spot for well-built men, and this one was no exception. From here, she could see the corded muscles in his forearms as he shifted the towels he carried to the other arm.
But his expression turned to confusion as his blue eyes s
wept over her and Ewan, and she watched as his eyes turned cool.
“Good afternoon,” he said stiffly.
Instead of climbing to her feet, as though she and her son had done something wrong, Raina instead crossed her feet at the ankles and rested her weight on her palms. She saw the man’s gaze travel down the length of her legs encased in dark wool, which was so popular for ladies to swim in these days, before lingering on her bare feet.
She wriggled her toes and was rewarded when he cleared his throat and glanced away.
“Have ye come to swim then?” she asked cheekily. “Do join us.”
Although she’d been hoping Ewan would nap, he seemed even more energized by the newcomers’ presence.
Her son rushed up to the new lad, Matthew. “My name’s Ewan. I’m almost five, and I can swim! My granda says I swim like a fish, but I cannae breathe underwater.”
Matthew nodded solemnly and offered his hand, as if unconcerned by Ewan’s nakedness. “I’m Matthew, and I’m ten. My father says I’m a good swimmer, although the water here isn’t over my head anymore.”
Ewan shook the lad’s hand enthusiastically. “Do ye come here often? Mama has brought me almost every morning this summer. Nurse says it’s to keep me out of trouble, but I think it’s because she loves me. Mama, not Nurse.”
“You don’t love your nurse?” Matthew was still allowing his hand to be shaken.
“She’s alright, but she’s no’ Mama.”
“I don’t have a Mama,” the older lad said solemnly. “She died when I was a baby.”
So the golden-haired god glaring at them from the path was a widower? Interesting.
“I don’t have a da,” Ewan announced cheekily, “but Mama loves me enough for two, she says. Also, I have a million uncles and a granda and a barn cat. Do ye like it here? I like it here!”
Raina smiled as she watched Matthew—such a dear, serious boy—extricate himself from Ewan’s enthusiastic handshake. “My father and I come here once a week in the afternoon to swim.” He glanced over his shoulder at the gorgeous man who was slowly stalking toward the pair, and lowered his voice. “I don’t get to spend much time with him otherwise.”
Her heart clenched for the lad. Judging from the man’s imperious gaze, he was some sort of local lord, likely too busy for much time with his son. But the fact he had made this time, and the fact they’d been racing here, meant he obviously loved the lad.
She was wondering if she should gather their things—and find some clothes for Ewan—and leave early in order to give the newcomers more time, when her son asked, “Is this yer favorite spot then?”
Matthew nodded. “It’s the best for swimming. Father says his mother brought him here as a boy. And then he brought his little sister here—Aunt Carlotta—before I was born. But I’ve never had a friend to swim with before.”
Raina’s good-natured son smiled. “Now ye do! I’ll show ye how long I can hold my breath, as long as ye dinnae let me drown. That’s what Mama says.” He whirled about with pleading eyes. “Is that fine, Mama?”
“I won’t let him drown, ma’am,” Matthew piped up.
Well, how could she deny two such adorable smiles? She couldn’t drag Ewan away now, not by hook nor crook, with Matthew looking so excited for a playmate. “Have fun, the pair of ye.”
The lads gave nearly identical whoops and lunged for the water. Matthew splashed right in, and Ewan flopped on his belly, coming up with a shriek of, “It’s cold!”
“That’s because you’re naked, lad,” the man murmured over her shoulder.
Knowing Ewan couldn’t hear Matthew’s father’s chastisement, Raina assumed it was meant for her to hear only. But since she’d never been one to follow Society’s dictates, she simply chuckled in response. Since she was still stretched out on the blanket, she tilted her head back and smiling at him invitingly.
“Will ye join me then, to watch our lads cavort?” As the man lowered himself to sit stiffly beside her on the blanket, her smile faded to a rueful one. “I’m sorry Ewan and I have stolen yer favorite spot. He’s right in that I try to bring him here most mornings. We learned about the spot from one of the grooms at Fangfoss Manor.”
When he exhaled, he seemed to lose some of the proper starch. Tossing the towels down beside him, he rested one elbow on the pile. “The Fangfoss property ends over there.” He pointed to the next bend in the river. “I’ve been enjoying the shade of this tree since I was your lad’s age.”
So she was no longer on Fangfoss land? Whose land was this then? Did it belong to this intriguingly handsome man? Did she care?
Deciding the informality of the afternoon—her son was cavorting naked, by St. Columbine!—called for relaxed standards, Raina offered him her hand. “I’m Raina Prince.”
He hesitated for a moment, then took her hand.
A tingly warmth—an awareness—encased her fingers and flowed up her arm toward her heart. She tamped down a shiver and met his gaze boldly.
Dear Lord in Heaven, but this man could make her do all sorts of things. She didn’t know him, but she knew what she liked. And right now, she liked him very much!
“You can call me Cash,” he finally said.
She cocked her head to one side, studying him, glad he hadn’t released her hand. “Why? Is that yer name?”
He opened his mouth, but hesitated again. Slowly, as if considering his answer, he said, “It is part of my name.”
“Then I have no choice but to assume your given name is Cassius.”
From the river, his son’s voice called out, “His given name’s Adolphus!”
A laugh burst from her, and when the man pulled his hand away, she was immediately sorry. Instead of apologizing though, she offered him another smile.
“I think, were my given name Adolphus, I would choose to go by my family name as well.” She guessed “Cassius” was his last name. “I apologize for giggling.”
He shrugged and draped his forearms across his knees. “No one calls me Adolphus. I wasn’t aware my son even knew my name.”
She was surprised. “He’s a smart lad, why would he no’?” Before he could answer, she teased him, “So I shouldnae call ye Dolly?”
She was relieved to see his lip’s twitch upward as he snorted derisively. “I had an aunt who called me that. I hated it.”
Glad he was accepting of her teasing, she said, “Then ‘Cash’ it is. It is better than Adolphus Cassius, which is truly horrible.” She winked. “I’m pleased to meet ye, Cash.”
There was something about the afternoon’s informality which gave her the bravery to nudge his shoulder with hers. From the startled expression on his face, he hadn’t expected it. He turned thoughtful blue eyes on her, considering his words, before nodding.
“I think I’m very pleased to meet you, Mrs. Prince.”
Missus. The reminder he assumed her married should’ve been a bucket of cold river water over the warmth of the encounter. But she was far too used to the sneers of Society, and her body’s reaction to him was far too intriguing, to be shunted aside by some flimsy reminder.
“Oh, ye should call me Raina,” she corrected him. “Since we’re being informal.” She nodded to the river, where Matthew was trying to coax Ewan to sit on his shoulders. “Ewan, Matthew, Cash and Raina.” She shot him a cheeky grin. “Just four people enjoying the summer.”
He nodded slowly. “Yes. Yes, I think I should like that very much.”
Out in the river, the lads seemed to be competing for who could hold their breath the longest now, but since Ewan couldn’t count reliably past twenty, it was hampering the athletic competition.
“I know I was underwater longer than twenty-two seconds, Ewan!”
“I counted right!”
The older lad propped his hands on his hips, just visible under the surface of the river. “Show me,” he demanded.
