of her lips. "No," she said with a sigh, "I fear you must be wrong. I have never roused strong feelings in any man, nor felt any myself. I doubt that I could," she said with a touch of wistfulness.
"What? Never—" A grim expression hardened his features. He strode toward her, jerking her out of the chair. She came willingly, leaning toward him.
He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her against his hard body as his lips claimed hers. She opened up to him eagerly, lifting her hands and threading her fingers through his hair, keeping him close. The prickly tingles swept her body. She gave herself up to the feeling, riding it as a ship rides the waves, glorying in it.
He groaned as he took his lips from hers and kissed her neck. Abruptly he bent to pick her up, raising her high in his arms. She laughed delightedly, her arms around his shoulders, her green eyes shining. He sat down in a chair with her on his lap. She nestled close to him.
"Baggage," he said.
She smiled. "That’s what Sir Helmsdon called me yesterday," she murmured.
"Well, he was right. You tricked me."
"Did I?" she asked blandly. "You mean you did not want to kiss me?"
"Yes I did, and you know it. But I was determined not to. "
"Why?" she asked, running her fingers through his hair, delighting in the feel of it.
He grabbed her wrists and pulled her hands down. "Because, damn it, I love you! But I would not have you marry a fortune hunter with a disreputable reputation. You deserve more than that."
"Are you saying you’ve been toying with my affections?"
He groaned. "No, but I’m damned certain you’re toying with mine!"
"Oh, no! For you see I am quite ready to do the honorable thing by marrying you, so that can’t be toying, can it?"
"You don’t know what you are saying."
"Yes I do. But I really did not expect you to ruin a woman’s reputation quite so callously."
"What are you talking about?" he asked suspiciously.
"The rumors and the gossip surrounding this encounter shall be all over the neighborhood within hours. And from the neighborhood, I’m quite certain it will spread to London. Highly embroidered, of course. Scandal broth. How society loves a good tale, as you yourself well know. "
"It won’t wash, Jane. There is no one about but us to know of this interlude."
She thrilled at his use of her first name, for it told her, despite his words, how he felt about her. But she did not bring it to his attention. Instead, she turned her head toward the door.
"Jeremy knows, don’t you Jeremy?" she said in an even, conversational tone.
"What?" demanded Royce, leaping to his feet as the door opened.
Jane slid to the floor. "Well, really, Vernon!"
He blushed red, looking from her to Jeremy. He put out a hand to help her to her feet, then turned an angry stare on both of them. Jeremy trembled slightly until he noted Jane’s calm acceptance of Royce’s anger. She even nestled closer to him.
"Now Jeremy," she said, "from what you have heard, do you think Lord Royce has remained scrupulously honorable?"
He grinned, understanding her game. "No, ma’am. "
"Would you say he has compromised me?"
"From what I heard ma’am, I’d say definitely. "
The earl emitted a low-throated growl.
Jeremy looked at him a little apprehensively, but remained firm.
"This is blackmail," Royce said. ’
"Yes, I believe it is," Jane responded tranquilly. "But what do you expect? You told Serena and Millicent that you could not be bought or bartered for, so what was left to me except blackmail?"
He smiled wryly. Then his eyes narrowed and he stared at Jeremy. "I fear your talents are wasted here. The Home Office or Bow Street would delight in your skills. Now, get out of here. You’ve done your part. Allow me to do mine. And this time, see that no one listens at the door—including herself!"
"Yes, sir," he said eagerly, backing out of the room, but not before he caught Jane’s broad wink.
The earl caught it, too. "Baggage."
"Yes, I believe you already said that," she said, turning to face him and linking her arms about his neck.
"Are you quite certain, my love, that you want an old reprobate, such as myself?"
"I don’t think I’d be happy with anyone else."
"I’m almost as heavily into debt as Helmsdon," he reminded her.
She shrugged. "I’m not, and you won’t be for long."
"Be very certain, Jane, for I don’t know that later I could muster the strength to do the noble thing and walk away from you."
"I would call that ignoble. I love you, Vernon."
"Society will talk."
"Will you please desist and surrender gracefully?" she said with laughing exasperation.
He grinned. "With all my heart."
And even if Jeremy had still been listening, he would not have heard anything but the sighs of two people in love.
Thanks so much for reading The Heart's Companion. If you enjoyed my book, please considered going back to Amazon and leaving a review and "Like"ing it.
As a child I was an avid reader, and if I didn't have anything to read, I wrote stories for myself. I wrote mysteries and action stories and science fiction. I wrote in pencil and filled notebook upon notebook. I still have one of those notebooks sitting on a shelf over my desk.
But I never thought of writing historical fiction. Then I joined a regency historical dance recreation group and immersed myself in the regency era. Consequently, I played at writing regency stories.
When I had the opportunity to speak to a literary agent I pitched my romantic suspense novels to her. That didn't interest her. She asked if I had anything else. I said I had been playing with a regency romance. That got her interest and she asked to see it. A few months later she found a publisher and I was off and writing furiously.
Unfortunately, publishers don't keep most books available in stores for very long, so I am bringing out my novels once again, but this time available for you on Kindle.
Titles available now are:
The Waylaid Heart
The Rocking Horse a Regency Christmas short story
Coming to Kindle eBooks in 2013:
A Heart in Jeopardy
The Heart's Companion
Copyright © 1990, 2012 by Holly Newman
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
Table of Contents
COVER
COPYRIGHT
TITLE PAGE
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
A NOTE FROM HOLLY
Table of Contents
COVER
COPYRIGHT
TITLE PAGE
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
A NOTE FROM HOLLY