An Accidental Affair

AN ACCIDENTAL AFFAIR

by

Heather Boyd

The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.

AN ACCIDENTAL AFFAIR

Copyright 2014 by Heather Boyd

Published March 2014

LLD Press

ISBN: 978-0-9875614-7-3

Edited by Anne Victory

Cover Design by Heather Boyd

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by any electronic or mechanical means—except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews—without written permission.

For more information visit:

www.heather-boyd.com

London’s ballrooms and bedrooms thrive on scandal and decadent pleasure and the summer of 1814 will be no exception for the Distinguished Rogues in Heather Boyd’s latest Regency romance.

An Accidental Affair

Widowed beauty, Arabella Lawson, Lady Farnsworth, knows the value of independence after being trapped in a marriage that left her unfulfilled. Although she longs for a lover at last, she’s expected to chaperone her flirtatious niece during her first season. However, given the way the girl keeps disappearing every chance she gets, there is little hope of a good or speedy result. While searching for her charge yet again, she blunders into one of Lord Rothwell’s scandalous assignations. This time it’s Arabella’s turn to be on the receiving end of his hungry kisses, and she’s far from prepared to make the most of the opportunity.

Gossip may paint Merrick Bishop, the Earl of Rothwell, as a notorious scoundrel when it comes to women, but this season his intentions are honorable. Duty bound to marry, he’s determined to discreetly court an open-minded bride and prove the gossipmongers wrong by being on his very best behavior… until in his frustration, he mistakenly kisses the wrong lady and discovers that everything about the encounter feels so very right. Merrick never once believed he had a chance with shy Arabella, and when the unthinkable happens, she turns to him not for an affair or hopes of marriage but for his friendship and protection from her own family.
 

Can a rogue with a reputation for breaking hearts convince a widow who only hopes for an affair that their feelings are not only the stirrings of desire but the beginnings of the deepest and truest love?

DEDICATION

For Crystal.
 

Because you made me want to write this story so very badly.

Thank you for your continued support and generosity.

CHAPTER ONE

Being good was a damned nuisance. Merrick Bishop, Lord Rothwell, steered Lady Harrison away from curious onlookers for a moment’s privacy.
 

When they were alone and safe from prying eyes, Louisa’s eyes lit up with mischief. “I thought you came to my ball to further your search for a wife, Rothwell?”

“I did.” He sighed at her suggestion that he was after more than just information from her tonight. Louisa might be very lovely and have curves enough to tempt a man away from honorable intentions, but she had connections he needed to make use of first. Merrick wanted a wife this season, not a potential scandal. He’d put the decision off long enough. He was thirty and at an age when the future, not just his but others, preyed on his mind. “There is still much you can tell me about my quarry. What did you discover?”

She smiled at him fondly and ran her hands over his forearms. “A pity it must be so, but I agree it is high time you married. With your connections and wealth you should have had even the most cautious of fathers lining up to offer up their daughters for marriage to you by now.”
 

He frowned. “That has
not
been my experience. I only need one.” If he wanted to find himself the right sort of wife, then he needed access to information about the candidates and their families before he approached them. Louisa had her ear in the right circles, and the wrong ones too. Merrick cast an anxious glance along the hall, hoping no one was lingering close enough to overhear their conversation. He didn’t want to ruin what he’d started before he’d truly begun. “Where is your husband tonight?”

“Oh, the card room, I imagine. You know how he is when there are high stakes involved. Except”—her brow furrowed and her head turned toward the hall door—“he did seem rather interested in the guest list, so I think he may have his eye on someone I invited tonight. I do hope it’s not one of your possibilities.”

Merrick studied her face, wondering if Louisa had it in her to be the least bit jealous of another woman. “Does that disturb you? That he might be meeting with a lover of his own even now?”

She made a face and then laughed. “Only if he chooses someone I dislike. I do not like to share with my enemies.”

He laughed along with her, but he wasn’t the least bit amused. Marriage was a serious business. When he found the right woman, Merrick would not share. He knew his own mind well enough to believe that when he found a woman who matched his criteria and married her, he would be entirely possessive about her company. “Tell me.”

Louisa’s gaze softened. “It is as you feared.”

He cursed under his breath. “Why?”

“I’m not entirely sure.” She frowned. “The old rumors about your father’s frequent dalliances are circulating again, as well as whispers of your own more recent affair with that dreadful actress. I warned you anyone who named herself after fruit would be trouble. But she has cried so convincingly over the loss of your affection and everyone thinks you were a monster to her.”

Merrick scowled at the memory of his last affair with Josephine Peach. He was not sorry to have ended things as abruptly as he had. “I found her in bed with not one but two grubby stage hands when she’d claimed to be indisposed for dinner. I brought her flowers for heavens sake to brighten her bloody room.”
 

“Well, she is an actress and they do lie for a living.” Louisa shrugged. “Couple that with your new interest in balls and even attending the odd picnic, and your behavior has taken on a wholly different light than what you wished for. I imagine every father with a daughter fresh to the marriage mart is watching you closely, and they don’t believe you intend to marry. It’s no wonder there’s a chill greeting you.”

Merrick slumped against the wall. “I’m nothing like my father.”

“I know. We’ve been friends a long time and that is why you have me on your side. I’ll help ease your way into their good graces, though I’m not sure how much good it will do. You’ll have to prove you have honorable intentions, at least for a while.” Lady Harrison eased closer, her hands caressing his chest fleetingly. “So, the Howard chit is rumored to prefer books to balls, and there is Lady Cecily, who seems meek and mild at first glance, but she has more spirit than most beneath the well-polished exterior.”

She paused for a moment, thinking. “You also asked about Miss Milne’s family. Her father has built a reputation as a shrewd businessman, thanks in no small part to the weight of his pocketbook, though that also makes her less appealing when compared to other young ladies coming out this year. The girl is quiet but always the first to supper. Nerves, I expect. Some women eat when they are anxious. She will regret that later in life, I believe.”

Merrick nodded. “The Howard girl clings to her mama’s skirts at balls and will not leave her side, so we have not spoken more than a few words.” He would never consider Lady Cecily, though he did not mention that to Lady Harrison because he didn’t care to fuel the gossips as to his reasons. Miss Milne was a possibility, though with her common background and lesser connections, she had not been invited to tonight’s ball. Louisa’s remarks about her appetite did explain why he could never find her at other events she attended though. He’d avoided the supper room in the hopes of striking up conversation away from prying eyes. He wasn’t keen to single out any one woman yet, but if he wanted to speak with Miss Milne, he was looking for her in the wrong places. “Thank you for the information.”

“It must be rather tedious to court a proper girl, given your past preference for naughtiness. Everyone expects you to continue as you always have, and there have been more than a few long faces this season, I can tell you.” Louisa’s gloved fingers curled around his. “You should stick to your own kind, Rothwell. You want a wife with an adventurous manner, not a frumpy mouse who’ll clear the sideboard in one sitting. I think Lady Cecily deserves a longer look. She has come into her own in terms of fashion, thanks to her aunt’s excellent influence. If you would simply tell me your exact requirements the pain might be done already. You’re holding back something, I can tell. If I knew all it might make finding the right wife for you easier. I hate to see you unhappy and I know just the way to make you smile again.”

Her hand slipped lower to brush across his groin, tempting him away from his plans for the night. A romp with Louisa would do his body good, though getting caught in an affair, no matter how fleeting, was the surest way to lose ground. The ball underway was in part a way to help him find a wife. He had spoken with Lady Mary tonight, though he still had doubts they would suit. Her mother and father had seemed ill at ease when he joined them, almost frightened, which he found utterly ridiculous. He did not make a habit of seducing virgins, though it was highly likely he would end up married to one. Observing Miss Milne’s behavior around others would require planning on his part and would await another evening.

“What I want precisely is my business to know.” Merrick eased back from Louisa, offering an apologetic smile. “I do appreciate whatever advice you can offer, my dear.”

She pouted. “Whoever you marry had better deserve your skills in the bedchamber. You will find you sacrifice much freedom in a marriage.”

“That is true.” And it was also not. The lady he married would be the one to sacrifice much. The rumors of his father’s misdeeds had plagued Merrick his entire life. His mother had fled society eventually, humiliated and hurt because it was all too true. Once Merrick married, he feared that his wife could be subject to the same sort of speculation.

Yet he needed a son—a legitimate heir to take responsibility for the estate and all those who depended on him.

So in return for taking him on, and the burden of his father’s legacy, Merrick would make his own pledge. Fidelity. His wife would be the only one to bear his children. There would never be a bastard child bearing his likeness. He would not cause the same pain as he had witnessed in his parents’ marriage. He had told no one of his thoughts on the subject because in truth, he expected to be disbelieved. However, he had come to the decision that the woman bound to him for the rest of her life deserved the same consideration. “I should return to the ball.”

“A pity.” Louisa’s gaze searched his, and then she smiled, proving there were no lingering hard feelings about his unavailability for a romp in the foreseeable future. “There is a dinner at Lady Berry’s this week. I shall endeavor to have you invited so you might meet Miss Milne in simpler surroundings. Her parents will be guarding her as carefully as usual, which would get in the way of any seduction, but I am sure your charm alone will win her over the dinner table.” She looked up at him from under her lashes. “And if you change your mind and want my company in private, I’m only too happy to oblige.”

“Thank you.” Miss Milne was at the top of a short list. There were still questions in his mind about her nature to be satisfied, and although she stirred no great passion in him now, Merrick had no doubts he could bed her successfully if they married. He had scant enough new information for tonight, but what he had would have to do.

Louisa flicked her fingers in an intimate wave and departed, leaving Merrick to make his way slowly back to the ballroom. As he returned, he mused at the gamble he was taking in confiding in Lady Harrison and placing so much faith in her information. The one thing in her favor was that she was no friend to his wider family, having locked horns with his aunt, Lady Penelope Ford, on several notable occasions.