Sarah Mallory - Pursued For The Viscount's Vengeance

Beneath that puritanical dress she was quite beautiful

Viscount Gilmorton had never seduced a woman before but, as the only way to avenge himself on her deceitful brother, he was prepared to disgrace the buttoned-up Deborah Meltham.

He was planning nothing more than to shame her, but not beyond repair. Gil would ensure that she came to him willingly, because if Deborah was as lonely as he thought, she should be receptive to him. Only Gil hadn’t counted on his feelings for her changing—nor her reaction when she realized he’d been deceiving her from the start...

It would be no hardship to court her.

Gil felt a sudden constriction in his chest—a jolt of unwelcome attraction.

Her disgrace, her downfall, would hit her brother hard. From all he had learned, Gil was convinced that the only way to be avenged upon the man was through his sister. The fellow had already gambled away most of his fortune, and seemed to care little for the fact. It was only his sister who was keeping him from bankruptcy and disgrace.

Gil turned away from the dancefloor, trampling his scruples. It had to be this way.

And Deborah Meltham?

Again Gil stifled his conscience. It was only a whisper, easily pushed aside. His years as a soldier had inured him to much greater suffering than anything he was likely to inflict here. After all, it was not as if he planned any real harm to the woman. She would come to him willingly, but her seduction would be his revenge upon her brother. A seduction for a life.

Author Note

Pursued for the Viscount’s Vengeance required research into some of the Regency’s darker secrets, such as the use of laudanum. Opium mixed with a little alcohol was widely used to provide pain relief in a time when there was nothing else. Laudanum was highly addictive, and among the ‘opium eaters’ of the day were the poet Coleridge and even the reformer William Wilberforce. The extent of the Regency’s opium addiction was exposed in Thomas de Quincy’s Confessions of an English Opium Eater .

There was also a continuous fight by the Bank of England against counterfeit money. The practice of ‘coining’ was well known—coins had their edges clipped off and the clippings were melted down to make new coins. What is less well known is the Regency’s trade in counterfeit notes. This was particularly prevalent during the time when this book is set, because bad harvests and the ongoing war had reduced stocks of gold bullion to low levels. Clever forgeries of banknotes were circulated via the use of ‘utterers’—poor women who would use the notes to buy relatively cheap goods and receive good coin in change.

The main characters in this story are complex and damaged. Deborah Meltham thinks herself too disfigured for any man to want her, and has devoted her life to looking after her beloved but dissolute brother. Gil, Viscount Gilmorton, is grieving for the loss of his loved ones and carrying a heavy burden of guilt because he was not there to protect them. When Gil and Deb’s paths cross there is an instant attraction. Find out how they overcome the obstacles to achieve their happy ending.

Happy reading!

Pursued for the Viscount’s Vengeance

Sarah Mallory

www.millsandboon.co.uk

SARAH MALLORYwas born in the West Country and now lives on the beautiful Yorkshire Moors. She has been writing for more than three decades—mainly historical romances set in the Georgian and Regency period. She has won several awards for her writing, including the Romantic Novelists’ Association RoNA Rose Award for The Dangerous Lord Darrington and for Beneath the Major’s Scars .

Books by Sarah Mallory

Mills & Boon Historical Romance

and Mills & Boon Historical Undone! eBook

The Infamous Arrandales

The Chaperon’s Seduction

Temptation of a Governess

Return of the Runaway

The Outcast’s Redemption

Brides of Waterloo

A Lady for Lord Randall

The Notorious Coale Brothers

Beneath the Major’s Scars

Behind the Rake’s Wicked Wager

The Tantalising Miss Coale (Undone!)

Stand-Alone Novels

The Dangerous Lord DarringtonBought for RevengeThe Scarlet GownNever Trust a RebelThe Duke’s Secret HeirPursued for the Viscount’s Vengeance

Visit the Author Profile page

at millsandboon.co.ukfor more titles.

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To my fellow Quayistas (you know who you are), for the love, friendship, support and understanding that only other writers can give.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

Introduction

Author Note

Title Page

About the Author

Dedication

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Epilogue

Extract

Copyright

Chapter One

So here was his quarry. Miss Deborah Meltham.

Standing at the side of the assembly room, away from the glitter of the chandeliers, Gil studied the lady as she went down the dance with her brother. There was a decided likeness between the pair although Randolph, Lord Kirkster, was taller and fairer. Gil had to admit he was a handsome young buck, fashionably dressed and with his thick, waving hair brushed back from his pale brow. He was also a graceful dancer, but there was an air of indifference about him, a restlessness to his face, as if he wanted to be elsewhere. The epitome of a Byronic hero, thought Gil, his lip curling, and already as dissolute as the poet himself. He turned his attention to the lady.

Beneath the plain round gown of green muslin her figure looked good, but she was very slim. Petite. Not at all his style. A mirthless laugh shook him at the irrelevance of the popular saying. He had never shown preference for any lady, for he was convinced that soldiers should not marry and he was a soldier. Or he had been. Having sold out, he supposed that at some point he would take a wife, but it would be a marriage of convenience for both parties. There was no need for the heart to be involved. In his experience love meant only loss and unbearable pain.

What he was planning now had nothing to do with marriage or courtship. It was to fulfil an oath he had taken and was the only way to assuage the grief that threatened to devour him. Since leaving the army last summer he had withdrawn from society, a prey to his grief and determined upon revenge. Which was why he was so interested in Deborah Meltham. He turned his attention back to her.

Her features were regular and he supposed she might be quite pretty, if she dressed her hair more becomingly, instead of having it scraped back so severely into a knot. She wore no jewels and her dress was high necked and long-sleeved. A dowd, Gil decided, coldly assessing her. Not at all attractive. But at that moment Lord Kirkster spoke, she looked up and a sudden smile transformed her face. The lively animation in her countenance and the decided twinkle in her green eyes forced him to revise his opinion. Reluctantly he admitted that she was more than pretty.