A Dangerous Temptation by L.R. Olson

Author:L.R. Olson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: romance, historical, victorian, regency

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James

“What the hell do you mean you can’t find my wife?”

I moved through the foyer and headed toward the front door. After having ridden around the estate to visit with crofters, I’d returned to my chambers to change. I’d stayed away from the house as long as possible, but lack of sleep and food had forced me to return. Yes, I’d been avoiding Jules. I hadn’t expected to be waylaid and told my wife had vanished.

“Gone, my lord.” My butler nervously explained as I tore open the front door and moved down the steps. Three hours. I’d been gone for three hours. When had she left? An hour ago? Two? Five?

“My horse,” I demanded of the groomsman.

Anger and fear combined in a lethal combination. The little idiot. Didn’t she realize how dangerous the moors could be? Furious, I scanned the open countryside, the rain-soaked clouds that hung heavy in the sky. Nothing. No stirrings or movement of any kind. Damn her.

“South, my lord.” The gamekeeper met me in the drive. “We found what we think are her prints heading south.”

She thought to flee, to make me look the fool. She would see soon enough that she was as trapped as I was in this damned marriage. If I was going to suffer, so would she. “How long ago?”

He rubbed his chin, gazing toward the south. “Can’t say.”

“My lord,” Mrs. Vita called out, rushing down the stairs. “A kitchen maid spotted her around dawn this morning.”

I glanced at the sun, not long over the horizon. One hour? Two? She couldn’t have gotten far. Not in the rain, the cold, and on foot. Where the hell did she think she would go? Walk to Dorset?

“My lord,” Mrs. Vita continued. “She seemed upset.”

“And no one thought to stop her?” I demanded, even knowing how unjust I sounded. She was lady of the house, no one would question her. Hell, she was going to regret leaving. I’d lock her in her bloody room, if I must.

“Your mount, my lord,” the stable lad called out, racing down the drive with the reins in hand. “A fresh horse.”

I knew it wasn’t fair to take my anger out on the staff. In reality I was more upset with myself than them. Damn it all, I should have watched her better. Should have known she’d try something so drastic. “I will find her.”

I mounted the horse.

“My lord, she could be injured, or…” Mrs. Vita tapered off, paling as she realized how close she’d come to speaking my worst fears.

“She is not dead,” I snapped through gritted teeth.

How dare she even think it.

“Of course not, but shall I call for the doctor in case she’s injured?”

“Yes.” Without further comment, I raced south, a cold panic spurring me forward. Thunder rumbled in the distance. The entire house was in an uproar, shirking their duties to search for Jules. By leaving she had not only set out to humiliate my family name, but upset my staff.

Thank God most of the servants had been with my family for years.

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