Rescuing the Duke (Regency Romance) (Regency Tales Book 9) by Regina Darcy

Author:Regina Darcy [Darcy, Regina]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Clean and Wholesome Romance
Published: 2016-10-05T21:00:00+00:00

EIGHT

She would borrow a horse, she decided. She knew how to ride, and while it was unheard of for a young woman to ride without an escort, it would be far worse to remain on the premises. She would borrow the horse, she mentally repeated, and ride until she came to the village, where she would obtain a seat on the next stagecoach that would take her to Bath. She would direct the innkeeper to return the horse to the Duke.

“I’ll see ‘im dead for what ‘e’s done.”

Lizzie halted. The voice was coming from inside the stables. The voice was rough and uneducated, layered with anger.

“‘E’s a villain,” agreed another voice. “A villain who deserves what ‘e’ll get.”

“And ‘e’ll get his due. But ‘e’ll never know. We’ve got to plan careful. If the magistrate suspects that it’s us what kills ‘im, we’ll ‘ang.”

“‘E’s the one should ‘ang for what ‘e’s done. A man can do whatever ‘e wants if ‘e’s a dook and there’s no one to stop ‘im, even if it means forcin’ ‘imself on an innocent lass, ruinin’ her and leaving her with a babe and no father for the child. I’m in. What’s the point of fighting the French if we’ve got villains like this running things right ‘ere in England?”

Slowly, Georgiana backed away. They were talking about the Duke. Plotting his death. It sounded as though he had ruined a girl. Would he do that? She had seen his behaviour this very night and there could be no denying that his intentions had not been honourable. But was he capable of forcing himself on a woman? She knew that the answer to that was a resounding no. This left her with only one course of action – she could not leave him to a dastardly fate.

Georgiana returned to the bedroom in the castle. The night was still dark; it would be hours before the stagecoach would arrive. She did not undress.

Pulling a chair to the door, she left it there so that, if anyone did attempt to intrude, there would be an obstacle to alert her. She remained in her clothes as she laid atop the bed, keeping her eyes open throughout the night. Her thoughts continued to travel throughout the events of the evening, continually returning to the conversation she had overheard in the stable.

The Duke had not forced himself upon her. As soon as he realised that she was not like the others—and now Georgiana perceived that the performers had not been invited to the castle solely to present a musical act—he had apologised and left her alone in her bedroom. Did he have different standards for different classes of women? But he did not know who she was, and he assumed that she was one of the performers, so that could not explain the discrepancy between his behaviour toward her and the act that the men in the stable accused him of.

That kiss. When she’d thought she was dreaming, she’d responded to a kiss that employed no force.

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