‘Why are you doing this, Beth?’
Guy was sitting on the bed beside her, positioned so that he did not prevent the candlelight from falling on her face. She smiled, but he detected a wariness at the back of her eyes.
‘Does there have to be a reason?’
He did not reply. Desire still raged through him, and he had to work hard to fight against it.
‘You think that you can seduce me, so that I will not betray you?’
‘No! I—’
He put a finger on her lips.
‘Do not lie to me, Beth.’
She sat up, pulling up the neck of her nightgown, not realising that the flimsy covering did nothing to hide her body. It merely heightened her charms.
‘I th-thought I might persuade you …’
‘I am not so cheaply bought!’
The Dangerous Lord Darrington
Sarah Mallory
AUTHOR NOTE
THE DANGEROUS LORD DARRINGTON sees the return of a favourite of mine: Guy Wylder, the older brother of Nick, my hero from WICKED CAPTAIN, WAYWARD WIFE. I always planned that both the Wylder brothers should have their own book, but Guy has had to wait a little while! He is the Earl of Darrington and, while he is the more serious of the two brothers, he has gained a reputation as a dangerous flirt. Woe betide any woman who loses her heart to him!
Fate brings Guy to Malpass Priory, where he finds Beth Forrester, a beautiful young widow. She is not impressed by his title, and is wary of his reputation, but when she is obliged to accept his help in clearing her brother’s name she finds the Dangerous Lord Darrington to be a true friend.
This romantic adventure has everything—a spooky old house, French émigrés, greedy villains and wicked villainesses. And of course it has a hero and heroine who are clearly made for one another. But they both have secrets and must learn to trust each other before they can find happiness.
Happy reading!
About the Author
SARAH MALLORY was born in Bristol, and now lives in an old farmhouse on the edge of the Pennines with her husband and family. She left grammar school at sixteen to work in companies as varied as stockbrokers, marine engineers, insurance brokers, biscuit manufacturers and even a quarrying company. Her first book was published shortly after the birth of her daughter. She has published more than a dozen books under the pen-name of Melinda Hammond, winning the Reviewers’ Choice Award in 2005 from Singletitles.com for Dance for a Diamond and the Historical Novel Society’s Editors’ Choice in November 2006 for Gentlemen in Question.
Previous novels by the same author:
THE WICKED BARON
MORE THAN A GOVERNESS (part of On Mothering Sunday) WICKED CAPTAIN, WAYWARD WIFE THE EARL’S RUNAWAY BRIDE DISGRACE AND DESIRE TO CATCH A HUSBAND … SNOWBOUND WITH THE NOTORIOUS RAKE (part of An Improper Regency Christmas)
THE DANGEROUS LORD DARRINGTON
features characters you will have met in WICKED CAPTAIN, WAYWARD WIFE
Did you know that some of these novels are also available as eBooks? Visit www.millsandboon.co.uk
For TGH
Chapter One
The news that Dangerous Lord Darrington was staying with Edwin Davies at his Yorkshire hunting lodge had spread, but it posed something of a dilemma for those fond mamas with unmarried daughters. Guy Wylder, the Earl of Darrington, was a bachelor and it was generally agreed that it was time he settled down and produced an heir. There had been a serious scandal in his younger days, but most parents were prepared to overlook that in view of his wealth and his title. However, the earl resisted all attempts to lure him into matrimony; any young lady who forced herself too openly upon his attention was likely to suffer, for the earl would embark upon a furiously intense flirtation, setting tongues wagging and leading the young lady in question to suppose that he had quite lost his heart. Then, just when she was in daily expectation of receiving an offer of marriage, the wicked earl’s ardour would cool and he would have difficulty remembering her name when they next met.
Such behaviour had caused more than one young lady to go into a decline and, despite Lord Darrington’s wealth and wickedly handsome appearance, all sensible parents now went out of their way to warn their daughters against encouraging the earl’s attentions. Unfortunately, in Guy’s opinion, there were not enough sensible parents.
On this occasion, however, precautions proved unnecessary. Mr Davies’s shooting party at Highridge comprised only gentlemen; apart from an occasional sighting at the White Hart, the sporting company kept very much to Mr Davies’s extensive acres or rode over the largely uninhabited hills and moors that stretched eastwards to the coast.
‘I shall be given the cut direct when I go into the town,’ was Mr Davies’s laughing complaint. ‘To have had a peer of the realm staying with me and not paraded him at one assembly. My neighbours will be ready to pluck any number of crows with me!’
‘Davey, you know I came here only because you promised me a couple of weeks’ sport in the company of friends,’ replied Guy.
‘And that’s what you have had, but I cannot see what harm there would have been in attending a dance or two in the town.’
One side of the earl’s mobile mouth lifted a fraction.
‘Ah, but that is sport of a different kind, Davey, and we would be the quarry.’
They had been roaming the hills for some time, climbing to ride along the ridge that looked over the lush green farmland to the west and the hills and moors of north Yorkshire to the east. Guy stopped for a moment, taking in the view.
‘That is always a danger, of course,’ remarked Davey, bringing his horse to a stand beside him, ‘but surely the cautionary tales about your cavalier behaviour towards the fairer sex give the ladies pause.’
Guy shook his head.
‘Some, perhaps, but not all.’ He added bitterly, ‘I might be a veritable Bluebeard and some parents would still be offering their daughters to me. It seems my title and my fortune outweigh every other consideration!’
‘Your fortune and title certainly mean you are constantly mentioned in the society papers. Those damned scoundrels who write the Intelligencer are happy to print any amount of gossip about you.’
‘That scandal-sheet!’ Guy’s lip curled. ‘Ignore it, I do. What they cannot find out they make up, and as long as it is only about my amorous adventures it does not bother me at all. Besides, if the scandals are bad enough, perhaps those ambitious mamas will finally give up the chase.’
‘I know the gossip doesn’t bother you, but it does anger your friends. Take the latest on dit about the Ansell chit, for example.’
‘By heaven, I dance twice with a girl and immediately I am thought to be in love!’
‘Well, her mother thought so, at all events. Told everyone you had invited them to Wylderbeck.’
‘They invited themselves. Ansell started telling me how his