Taming the Rake Read online

  He was right, she would do her duty. She wouldn’t stay where she was no longer wanted.

  He seemed to guess how she was feeling. “I just want you to be happy, Gina. Would you really wish to spend a lifetime with a man like Coventry? Trust me, a man of his ilk would only succeed in making you miserable. Men like him cannot be tamed for a simple life of domestication.”

  Not trusting herself to speak, Gina shook her head. She wished she could explain that it was all a ruse, that she had no intention of marrying Coventry. But she couldn’t. Nor was she sure that it would make a difference. Her father was like her, once he made a decision, he stuck with it—no matter how ill-conceived. And he’d decided it was time for her to leave.

  “Rockingham is an excellent suitor. I thought you would be happy. But if there is someone else that you would prefer—”

  “There’s no one,” she said hollowly. “If that is all, I think I would like to retire to my room before the party.” Not trusting herself to look at her stepmother again, Gina spun on her heel and raced from the room.

  He might argue with the semantics, but her father was forcing her to marry. How could he do this to her?

  If only it had just been a baby.

  The duchess rose from her seat and circled around the desk to comfort her visibly distressed husband. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she bent down to place a soft kiss on his temple. “I’m sorry, my love. You knew she would be upset. Georgina is a proud girl and doesn’t like having her hand forced. But she’ll come around. Lord Rockingham is charming and handsome and completely besotted. If she gives him a chance, I know she will see that this is for the best. Lord Coventry would only break her heart.”

  She’d never seen her husband look so strained. The duke loved his daughter and watching the betrayal cloud Georgina’s face had been difficult to withstand, even for the duchess. She could only imagine how he must feel.

  The duchess was aware of how her stepdaughter felt about her, and she understood. She’d probably feel the same in her position. Not that understanding had made her adjustment any easier. But Georgina was a good girl. She’d come around. Eventually. She hoped.

  “She was looking at me like I’d just slipped a knife into her back.”

  “It wasn’t that bad.”

  He gave her a look. “It wasn’t?”

  She gave a half laugh. “Well, I suppose it was. But remember you’re only giving her a nudge. I know you won’t force her to marry against her will, and deep down, so does Georgina.”

  “I know you’re right. I just hate to see her so unhappy. The Earl of Coventry, for God’s sake. I like the man well enough, but not for my daughter. With his reputation?” He shook his head. “He is uncontrollable. As soon as Georgina realized that she could not make him toe the line, she would be miserable.”

  The duchess kept her own counsel, comforting her husband as best she could with her gentle ministrations, massaging the tension from his neck with her fingers. As difficult as that scene had been to witness, the duchess knew that what could happen if Georgina continued unchecked was much worse.

  Georgina had guessed correctly. It had been at the duchess’s urging that the duke insisted she marry. She had to do something. A few days ago, the duchess had overheard an unlikely conversation about the Rake Slayers. To say that she was shocked would put it mildly. Never would she have imagined that her stepdaughter would be involved in something so beyond the pale.

  Although she had to hand it to her; the duchess hadn’t thought her very proper stepdaughter had it in her. Everything about Georgina was so prim and perfect, the duchess was relieved to see that she was capable of breaking the rules and making an occasional mistake.

  And she had no doubt, despite the ring of justice to their plan, toying with Lord Coventry was a mistake. An egregious one. The duchess had seen enough women fall victim to his indifference over the past few years. Intentionally or unintentionally, he chewed women up then spit them out when he was finished with them. She didn’t relish seeing the same thing happen to her stepdaughter. And despite Georgina’s protestations to the contrary, Georgina did not seem altogether unaffected by Coventry’s considerable charms. He was a heartless rogue to be sure, but a handsome and undeniably appealing one, all the same. It really was a pity that he’d been so irreparably scarred. The duchess had no doubt that if Georgina fell in love with Lord Coventry, she would get hurt—with his past there was simply no other possible outcome.

  The duchess had known his first wife, and stood witness to the hell Lady Serena Lyons put him through. Perhaps that was why she’d always felt a bit sorry for him. She understood his lack of trust and his anger. Serena had humiliated him with countless liaisons and her all-too-vocal accompanying slurs against his manhood.

  He’d spent the past few years proving his wife wrong. No one could question his prowess now.

  Georgina simply didn’t understand the sort of man she was trifling with. God help the girl, if he ever found out what Georgina intended. To be made the butt of a silly girl’s drawing room prank would likely be the height of humiliation for him—especially if Georgina succeeded. So the duchess had devised her plan to protect both Gina and Coventry. The ramifications, the potential for disaster, was simply too great for her to do nothing.

  She only hoped it worked. She didn’t want to have to tell the duke what his beloved daughter was up to.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  What was she going to do? Hours later, as Gina stood chatting with a group of friends at Count and Countess Lieven’s soirée, she was no closer to a decision. She felt like some tragic heroine in a bad novel: Aging spinster daughter forced by jealous young stepmother to marry. Perhaps it wasn’t an entirely accurate characterization, but Gina’s feelings were too raw right then for fairness.

  Her father’s betrayal still stung. Clearly he didn’t want her around any longer, but how could he ask her to marry a man whom she didn’t love? Whom she barely even knew?

  Admittedly, she should have told him the truth about the house party, but did one tiny lie of omission really warrant such drastic consequences? It’s not as if she’d been compromised… exactly. She grimaced. Well, that anyone knew of at least.

  She sighed and scanned the ballroom, resigned to her fate. Her father knew her well. She would do her duty and marry. But who? Lord Rockingham? Another Hellfire Rake? And what of the wager? How was she going to find a suitable man to marry and bring Coventry up to snuff at the same time? It simply wasn’t possible. As much as she detested losing or conceding, she’d have to put Coventry and the wager aside. In the limited amount of time she had before the end of the season, finding a husband—a real husband—took precedent.

  Gina was surprised by how much the idea of ending her pursuit of Coventry disturbed her. Once again she admitted that Cecelia had been right. Gina had enjoyed herself the past few weeks. The challenge of the hunt had been invigorating; there was nothing boring about Lord Coventry. Pretending to pursue him, upsetting his life of debauchery, trying to convince him that he needed a wife, it had given her a purpose. One that she wasn’t ready to relinquish just yet. She hadn’t achieved her objectives.

  But it wasn’t just losing a wager or conceding defeat that bothered her.

  She didn’t want to stop seeing him. Didn’t want to stop experiencing that strange surge of energy whenever he stepped into the room. As if every nerve ending buzzed with awareness. No other man had ever made her heart pound and skip with the mere cast of his sultry gaze.

  No other man had ever made her weak with desire.

  A lump of dread settled low in her belly. Despite all the warnings, after what he’d done, had she actually begun to care for him? Could she really be that foolish?

  She shook off the ridiculous notion before it could take root. There were dozens of gentlemen just in this room who were just as handsome and infinitely better choices for a husband. Dozens of men who her father would not refuse.

  Determined to find on