Now out from Dreamspinner, my extended Regency love
story.
Threatened by his father with disinheritance, Lord Edwin
Nash arrives in London with a sole purpose: to find a wife. A more than
eligible bachelor, and titled to boot, the society matrons see to it he’ll be
shackled to one of the girls by the end of the season.
During a masquerade ball, Nash hides from the ladies vying
for his attention. He is discovered by Lord Thomas Downe, the Duke of Lynwood.
Nash is horrified when Downe calmly tells him that he knows the secret that
Nash has hidden for years, and that he sees through the mask that
Edwin presents to the rest of the world.
And then he offers him an alternative.
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Excerpt:
Downe
“Good
evening, Downe.”
Thomas
Downe, the present Duke of Lynwood, smiled at the greeting from his friend.
“Evening, Leicester. I’m surprised to see you here. The weather has been foul.”
Lord
Leicester sat in the high wing-back chair next to his. They were the closest to
the fire in the large study, and Downe appreciated the warmth after the chill
of the winter’s day. “I was in London to see my solicitor. The rain was so
heavy I’ve delayed my return to the country for a day or two. Can’t afford to lose
another carriage to the mud.”
“Or the
horses,” Downe said.
At the
start of the winter, Leicester had been lucky to survive a serious accident
after a landslip that had cost him a new carriage and pair.
“Or the
horses,” Leicester agreed. “I thought I was going to lose my stable master. He
was distraught after the accident. It was only the gift of Gideon’s foal that
calmed him down.”
Downe
smiled at his friend. “I’m only too pleased to restore calm in your household.”
Gideon was
Downe’s prize bay stallion and giving his first foal was no small gift, but
then Leicester was no ordinary friend. Downe would have given twice that to
have his friend happy and laughing next to him.
Leicester
looked speculatively at Downe. “If you don’t mind me saying, you look a little
gloomy.”
“I—” Downe
expelled a long breath. “I can’t deny I feel a little below par today.”
“For any
particular reason?” Leicester smiled and murmured his thanks as a footman
brought a pot of coffee and set it at the small table by his elbow.
Downe waited
until the footman had poured the coffee and retreated before he answered.
“’Twas my birthday a sennight ago.”
“Seven-and-twenty.”
Leicester smiled. “I remember.”
“You always
remember, my dear friend. You sent me a fine red.”
“More than
one, as I recall. But why should that make you gloomy?”
Downe
huffed loudly. “The Valentine’s Ball is in a few days.”
Leicester
groaned just as loudly. “You think I don’t know? Charlotte and Elizabeth have
driven me to distraction with their preparations.”
“They are
coming?” Downe was surprised. Leicester’s wife and children spent most of the
year in the country, none of them having a taste for Town.
“My eldest
grandchild is being presented this year. They will be in town for the season.”
“I had no
idea she was old enough to be presented to the king. The last time
I saw, she was a mere slip of a thing.” Life was flying by far too quickly
for Downe’s liking.
“To me
she’s still a mere slip of a thing, as are you, my friend.”
Downe shook
his head. “I am getting old, Monty. It is time I took a wife and started a
family.”
Leicester
frowned. “What brought this on? I thought matrimony was the last
thing on your mind.”
“I’m….”
Downe trailed off. In truth, the thought of a wife and squalling
brats made him feel nauseous, but Leicester knew that as well as he did.
“Lonely?”
Leicester suggested gently.
“Sometimes,”
Downe agreed.
“It’s been
a long time since you’ve been involved with anyone.”
“Over three
years aside from the occasional visit to the Blue.”
The end of
Downe’s last relationship had been so vicious, it had curdled his desire for
another for a while. But “for a while” had extended beyond Downe’s expectations
as he had dealt with the loss of his parents and his sister had been widowed
and returned to the family household. The Blue, a brothel he had been visiting
for many years, satiated his physical desires. The madam was handsomely paid to
supply his demands and keep her mouth shut.
Leicester
frowned, his green eyes fierce. “You don’t want a wife, Thomas.”
Downe
smiled at him. “You only call me Thomas when you think I’m being stupid.”
“Or when we
made love.”
Downe
didn’t bother to look around to see if anyone was listening. They were in a
safe place where they could be honest with each other. “Or when we made love.
But that was a long time ago.”
Leicester
leaned forward and took Downe’s hand. “Do you need…? We could go upstairs.”
Downe
looked at their entwined hands. Despite the fact Leicester was fifteen years
older than him, he was one of the most attractive men Downe had ever met, his
dark hair graying slightly at the temples and green eyes framed by
long lashes. A few years ago, he would have jumped at the opportunity to take
Leicester to bed. As a young man, Downe had fallen desperately in love with
Leicester, but age had brought wisdom and more than a little resignation. The
attraction between them was mutual and occasionally flared into something
physical, but they weren’t destined for anything long-term because Leicester’s
heart belonged to someone else. Downe accepted their friendship as a blessing
because Leicester had shown him how to be the man he was today.
He brushed
the back of Leicester’s knuckles. “I am tempted,” he admitted, his voice hoarse
in its honesty. “But it wouldn’t help. Not today.”
Leicester
pressed a hot kiss into Downe’s palm. “I understand, my friend. I truly do.” He
let go of Downe’s hand and sat back to signal for more coffee.
“If your
wife is in town, will you be at the dinner tonight?” Downe asked.
“Of course.
She has plans to visit my son. His wife is unwell, and she wants to check on
her.”
“Will Asher
be here?”
Leicester’s
face softened as Downe mentioned the name of the man he had loved for over
twenty years. They were the owners of the Gentlemen’s Club and an enigma Downe
had never cracked. The love between them was passionate and fierce, but as far
as everyone knew, they had never consummated it. They both had taken lovers
over the years, yet their hearts remained only for each other.
“He will
be.”
“I look
forward to seeing him.”
Downe had
been away from London for many weeks dealing with business interests at his
various properties. He’d missed his weekly dinner at the club and
looked forward to reconnecting himself with his friends. “Tell me what’s been
happening.”
“Did you
hear about Walsey?” Leicester asked.
“No.”
“He was
found balls-deep in some young whore when he should have been in Parliament.”
Downe
wrinkled his brow. The Walsey he knew was a terrible bore and someone to avoid
at all costs. “Deadly-dull, God-fearing Walsey?”
“The very
same.”
“So he can
get it up for a young filly. Good for him.”
Leicester’s
lips twitched. “It wasn’t a young filly.”
Downe’s
eyes opened wide. “He was screwing a boy? The old hypocrite!” Downe had been
subject to many a lecture on sodomy when he’d had the misfortune to cross paths
with Walsey.
“Caught
hook, line, and sinker by his wife.”
“Where is
he now?”
Leicester
sobered. “He’s in Newgate.”
The
amusement slid off Downe’s face. All of them faced the possibility of the same
nightmare. Being caught with a man and sentenced to hard labor—or worse.
“What’s
going to happen to him?”
“His wife
is determined to have her pound of flesh.”
“Is there
something we can do?”
“I don’t know, my friend. I really don’t know.”
They both
knew that attempting to intervene laid them open to the same kind of charges.
“We should
be extra careful,” Downe said.
“I agree,
but that doesn’t mean you need to take a wife. Even at your vast age of
seven-and-twenty. You have plenty of time to make that decision.”
“You were
married with two children by my age,” Downe pointed out.
“Because I
knew I could never have Asher.” Leicester gave a wry smile. “My wife is a
remarkable woman.”
“She
knows.”
It wasn’t a
question. Downe had met Leicester’s wife on more than one occasion, and he knew
that she was, as Leicester said, a remarkable woman, aware of where her
husband’s true heart lay. She accepted it for a stable marriage, a beautiful
home, two children, and many dogs. Downe knew that many wives among his
acquaintance did the same. He didn’t like imposing that on any woman, but the
alternative…. The alternative was Walsey’s fate.
It didn’t
stop him being lonely, though.
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