Regency Betrayal: The Rake to Ruin Her / The Rake to Redeem Her. Julia Justiss
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this. Not that I would mind being ruined, but I should be indignant if anyone were to try to force me to marry Henshaw.’
‘That sorry excuse for a man?’ Max said in disgust. ‘I should think not.’
‘A sorry excuse indeed, but stronger than I anticipated,’ she said, looking down at the fingers clutching her torn bodice. ‘I thought I could handle him, but …’ She took a shuddering breath, as if shaken by the evidence of how close she’d come to being ravaged. ‘If only you had accepted my first offer! I’m certain you would have c-compromised me much more g-genteelly.’
She was trying to put on a brave face, but tears had begun slipping down her cheeks and she started to tremble again.
Making a vow to seek out Henshaw wherever he went to ground and pummel him senseless, Max abandoned discretion and drew Miss Denby into his arms. ‘If I were to compromise you, I would at least make sure you enjoyed it,’ he said, trying for a teasing tone as he cradled her, gently chafing her hands and trying to use his warmth to heat her chilled body. ‘And it would have been done with much more expertise and finesse. Like this,’ he said and kissed just the freckled tip of her nose.
The last time he’d encountered her in the conservatory, he’d burned to plunder her mouth and let his lips discover every wonder of nose, chin and eyelids. As indignant as his aunt would be that a guest of the Ransleighs had been assaulted, all he wished for now was to erase from her memory the outrage that had just been perpetrated against her.
To his relief, she gave herself into his hands, snuggling with a broken little gasp against his chest. For long moments, he simply held her, one finger gently stroking her cheek, until at last the tremors eased and she pulled back a bit, still resting in the circle of his arms.
‘You do compromise a lady most genteelly,’ she said. ‘Thank you, Mr Ransleigh. I shall never forget your kind assistance.’
‘Max,’ he corrected with a smile. ‘I should be honoured to have you call on me at any time.’
Before she could reply, a loud shriek split the air. ‘Miss Denby!’ a shrill female voice exclaimed. ‘Whatever are you about?’
A sense of impending disaster stabbing in his gut, Max looked over Miss Denby’s head to see Lady Melross hurrying toward them.
Clutching the ragged edges of her bodice, Caroline stared in horror as Lady Melross marched up to them, her eyes widening with shock, then malicious glee as she perceived Caro wrapped in Ransleigh’s arms, her bodice in ruins.
A sick feeling invaded Caro’s stomach. How could things have gone so hideously wrong? In Lady Melross’s accusing eyes, Mr Ransleigh, who had protected and comforted her, must now appear to be the one who’d tried to ravish her. And the old harpy would lose no time in trumpeting the news to all and sundry.
‘This isn’t what you think!’ Caro cried, furious, frustrated, knowing the denial was hopeless. Oh, that she might run after Henshaw and rake her fingers down his deceitful face!
Ransleigh had never wanted to compromise her. Now, through the hapless intervention of the detestable Henshaw, the scandal he’d scrupulously avoided would fall full upon him.
It was all her fault … and she couldn’t think of a single way to stop it.
‘Not what I think?’ Lady Melross echoed. ‘Gracious, Miss Denby, do you believe me a simpleton, unable to comprehend what I see right before my eyes? No wonder a little bird told me I might find something interesting in the conservatory.’
‘A little bird?’ Caro echoed. ‘What do you mean?’
‘Oh, I had a note … from someone who knew about your rendezvous. Or maybe you sent it yourself, Miss Caroline?’
‘Henshaw,’ Caro whispered, her eyes pleading with Max, who’d already stepped away from her, his face going grim and shuttered the moment he saw Lady Melross charging toward them down the glasshouse path, Lady Caringdon trailing behind.
Henshaw must have sent the note, wanting Lady Melross to find them with her gown in tatters, ensuring a scandal public enough that they’d be forced to marry.
Surely Max Ransleigh understood that?
‘You, Ransleigh,’ Lady Melross said, turning to Max, ‘I wouldn’t have expected something this lacking in taste and finesse … although after Vienna, I suppose maybe I should have. What a sly thing you turned out to be, Miss Denby,’ she continued as she snatched up Caroline’s cloak and tossed it over her shoulders. ‘There, you’re decent again.’
Lady Caringdon stared at them both accusingly. ‘Aren’t you a rum one, Ransleigh, sneaking around, keeping your distance from the company while you plotted to seduce an innocent right under the nose of her chaperone! And you, young lady, have got exactly what you deserve!’
‘Indeed!’ Lady Melross crowed. ‘Don’t you understand, you stupid girl? Ruining yourself with Ransleigh won’t earn you the elevated position in society you expect, for his father isn’t even receiving him! While you were immured in the country at that dreary horse farm, he was creating a scandal—’
‘Lady Melross,’ Max broke in on the lady’s tirade, ‘that is quite enough. Abuse me as you will, but I cannot allow you to harass Miss Denby. She has suffered a shock and should return to the house at once to recover. Miss Denby,’ he continued, turning to Caroline, his voice gentling, ‘will you allow these ladies to escort you back to your chamber? We will talk of this later.’
‘I should like to settle it now—’ Caro said.
‘No, in this at least, Ransleigh has the right of it,’ Lady Melross broke in. ‘You cannot stand there chatting in that disgrace of a garment! Come along, both of you. Though I cannot imagine what you could say that might excuse your behavior, Ransleigh, before you present yourself to Lady Denby, you’d best go and make yourself respectable.’
‘Perhaps it would be better if I talk with Stepmother first,’ Caroline conceded. Poor Lady Denby would be close to hysterics if the outcry about this disaster reached her before Caro did. She’d need to explain and calm her down before Max called on her.
Lady Caringdon sniffed. ‘Poor Diana. What a tawdry, embarrassing predicament—and with dear Eugenia set to make her bow next spring! Dreadful!’
‘Dreadful indeed,’ Lady Melross said, sounding not at all regretful. ‘Come along now, and wrap that cloak tight about you, miss. I shouldn’t want to shock any of the proper young ladies we might encounter on the way. Doubtless Lady Denby will summon you later, Ransleigh. Perhaps you’d better go and acquaint your aunt with the débâcle you’ve created in the midst of her party.’
‘Don’t worry,’ Ransleigh said to Caro, ignoring Lady Melross’s disparaging remarks. ‘Get some rest. I’ll see you later and make everything right.’ Giving her an encouraging smile, he stepped back to allow Lady Melross to take her arm.
Having a sudden change of heart, Caroline almost reached out to snag his sleeve and beg him to walk in with her. If only they could face Lady Denby now, together, and explain what had happened, surely they could sort it out and keep the dreadful Lady Melross from spreading her malicious account of the events!
But she suspected Ransleigh wouldn’t deign to explain himself with Lady Melross present, and there was no chance whatsoever that the lady would let herself be manoeuvred out of escorting her victim into the house.
‘I will call on Lady Denby soon,’ he told Caro, then moved aside to let them pass.
‘Speak with me first!’ she tossed back as, Lady Caringdon seizing her other arm, the two women half-led, half-dragged her down the path.
They