Temptation Incarnate (No Rules for Rogues Book 3) by Isobel Carr

Author:Isobel Carr [Carr, Isobel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Romance, Historical
ISBN: 9781940160047
Publisher: GoLightly Press
Published: 2020-10-30T00:00:00+00:00

It had been all he could do to wait patiently until four o’clock. Eleanor had given no indication that she was expecting a declaration, or that she would welcome one even, but today might change that. And if not? Well, the Season still had more than a month to go, two if her family stayed late and saw it to the very end . . . plenty of time to bring her round to his way of thinking.

After a good ten minutes of kicking his heels, Eleanor finally arrived. She was wearing a simple saque gown rather than the habit he’d been expecting. He looked her up and down. He’d never imagined Eleanor as unpunctual. She seemed just the sort who was always on time for everything.

‘Do you need time to change?’ he said. ‘I’m happy to wait.’

‘No.’ She sounded more subdued than he’d ever heard her. ‘I think it would be better if we forgot about the wager. About all the wagers.’ Her hand disappeared into her pocket and came back holding all her winnings.

‘I don’t understand.’ Conway frowned, watching her closely and trying to make sense of the sudden change in her. Yesterday she’d been mad to drive his horses. Yesterday she’d been happy to see him too. What had happened?

‘There’s nothing to understand.’ She shrugged, an inelegant jerk of her shoulders that spoke volumes. She wandered towards the fireplace, seemingly at a loss as she confronted the cold grate. ‘I just think that we’ve been making a bit of spectacle of ourselves. I’m going to end up humiliated, and possibly ruined if we continue on as we have been.’ She abandoned his losses on the mantel.

Conway opened his mouth to protest, then shut it again. She was right. And the last thing he wanted was a bride who felt she’d been forced to choose marriage as the lesser of two evils. ‘Would you, perhaps, assent to my driving you around the park? Surely no one could take exception to that?’

She glanced up at him, eyes wavering behind a sheen of tears. ‘I don’t think so, my lord.’

Panic mewled in the recesses of his brain. Tears were not something he was prepared for.

‘Not even slightly tempted, Miss Blakely?’

‘More than slightly, and you know it. You’re not at all stupid.’ She gave him a wavering smile that didn’t reach her eyes.

Conway smiled back at her, unable to help it. She was still in there, the madcap he’d been sparring with all Season. ‘I’m glad we agree on that much.’

Obviously, not only his mother had taken note of the amount of time they’d been spending together. Had her mother—or some other busybody—warned her off? Or possibly urged her on? Either way they hadn’t done him any favours.

‘What if I were to promise no chance of humiliation or ruin?’

She eyed him sceptically. ‘I’d say you’d run mad. That’s a promise you’d find it impossible to keep.’

‘Only if I meant to parade you about and not marry you.’

Eleanor goggled at him, visibly incredulous.

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