Diane Gaston - A Lady of Notoriety

DESIRED FOR HERSELF ALONE…

When fallen beauty Daphne, Lady Faville, is carried to safety from a rampaging fire, she’s horrified to recognize her rescuer as Hugh Westleigh—a man with every reason to despise her!

But Hugh has been blinded and Daphne must nurse him back to health. Unable to see, he is driven to distraction by her tantalizing scent and gentle touch.

For the first time, Daphne feels truly desired for herself alone. But when Hugh finally regains his sight, will she find forgiveness in his arms?

If Hugh wished to be completely honest with himself he’d admit what was really keeping him awake.

Daphne.

His thoughts were consumed by her. A second kiss with a promise of passion equal to the first had done it. He’d counted how many times she’d poured herself brandy. Only three times, and all had been short pourings, not enough to explain her response to him. No, she’d chosen this kiss with a clear mind.

Had he gone too far? He’d meant only to touch her.

Hadn’t he?

His masculine urges were surging, unleashed by that kiss. She was not far—a few steps. He could find his way. By God, she drew him so strongly he believed he could find his way even without his cane.

Welcome to Diane Gaston’s

THE MASQUERADE CLUB

Identities concealed, desires revealed…

This is your invitation to Regency society’s most exclusive gaming establishment.

Leave your inhibitions at the door, don your disguise and indulge your desires!

A REPUTATION FOR NOTORIETY

Already available

A MARRIAGE OF NOTORIETY

Already available

A LADY OF NOTORIETY

July 2014

A Lady of Notoriety

Diane Gaston

www.millsandboon.co.uk

As a psychiatric social worker, DIANE GASTON spent years helping others create real-life happy endings. Now Diane crafts fictional ones, writing the kind of historical romance she’s always loved to read. The youngest of three daughters of a US Army Colonel, Diane moved frequently during her childhood, even living for a year in Japan. It continues to amaze her that her own son and daughter grew up in one house in Northern Virginia. Diane still lives in that house, with her husband and three very ordinary housecats. Visit Diane’s website at http://dianegaston.com

Previous novels by the same author:

THE MYSTERIOUS MISS M

THE WAGERING WIDOW

A REPUTABLE RAKE

INNOCENCE AND IMPROPRIETY

A TWELFTH NIGHT TALE

(in A Regency Christmas anthology) THE VANISHING VISCOUNTESS SCANDALISING THE TON JUSTINE AND THE NOBLE VISCOUNT† (in Regency Summer Scandals ) GALLANT OFFICER, FORBIDDEN LADY* CHIVALROUS CAPTAIN, REBEL MISTRESS* VALIANT SOLDIER, BEAUTIFUL ENEMY* A NOT SO RESPECTABLE GENTLEMAN?† BORN TO SCANDAL A REPUTATION FOR NOTORIETY** A MARRIAGE OF NOTORIETY**

†linked by character

* Three Soldiers mini-series ** The Masquerade Club

and in Mills & Boon ®Historical Undone! eBooks:

THE UNLACING OF MISS LEIGH

THE LIBERATION OF MISS FINCH

Did you know that some of these novels are also available as eBooks? Visit www.millsandboon.co.uk

To Catherine, a beautiful friend in all ways.

AUTHOR NOTE

Beauty and redemption. Two subjects that continue to fascinate me.

Can people truly change or are their characters fixed for life?

I believe in change. I believe any of us can overcome past mistakes, past weaknesses, past faults, and strive to become better people.

Beautiful people, though, may have a more difficult path than the more ordinary of us. Prized, cosseted, celebrated for their appearance alone… I believe beautiful people have fewer opportunities to face their imperfections. I suspect it is more difficult for them to learn and grow into better people.

In my previous The Masquerade Club book, A MARRIAGE OF NOTORIETY, a beautiful lady tries to wreck the marriage of a man she’s long desired. As a result she creates a destruction that might be devastating. Can such a woman learn from that experience? Can she redeem herself? And can any man truly believe in her redemption and love the woman she strives to be inside?

Read on and see.

Contents

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

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Epilogue

Chapter One

Ramsgate, Kent—April 1821

‘My lady! My lady! Wake up! Fire!’

Daphne, Lady Faville, jolted awake at her maid’s cries. Smoke filled her nostrils and stung her eyes. Shouts and pounding on doors sounded in the hallway of the Ramsgate inn.

‘Fire! Get out,’ a man’s voice boomed.

Fire. Her biggest fear.

Daphne leaped out of bed and shoved her feet into slippers. Her maid began gathering their belongings, stuffing them into a portmanteau.

‘Leave them, Monette.’ Daphne seized her coin purse and threw her cloak around her shoulders. Her heart raced. ‘We must go now!’

She reached for the door latch, but her maid pulled her arm away.

‘Wait! The hall may be on fire.’ The maid pressed her hand against the door. ‘It is not hot. It is safe.’ She opened the door.

It was not safe.

The hallway was filled with smoke, and tongues of flame licked the walls here and there, as if sneaking up from below. In a moment the wallpaper would curl and burn. The fire would grow. It could engulf them.

Daphne saw a vision of another time, another fire. Her heart pounded. Was she to die in flames after all?

‘Keep your skirts away from the fire,’ she cried to Monette.

They moved blindly ahead, down the long hallway, through its fiery gauntlet.

‘Hurry, Monette.’ She took the maid’s hand and lamented asking the innkeeper for rooms that were as private as possible.

Their rooms were far from the stairway.

‘Someone is in the hallway. At the end,’ a man’s voice cried.

Through the grey smoke he emerged, an apparition rushing towards them. He grabbed them both and half-carried them through the hallway past other men who were knocking on doors, and other residents emerging in nightclothes.

They reached the stairway and he pushed Monette forwards. The girl ran down the stairs. Daphne shrank back. The flames below were larger, more dangerous.

‘I’ll get you through.’ The man gathered her up in his arms and carried her down the three flights of stairs. She buried her face in his chest, too afraid to see the fire so close.

Suddenly the air cooled and she could breathe again. They were outside. He set her down and her maid ran to her, hugging her in relief. They were alive! Daphne swung back to thank the man who rescued them.

He was already running back into the fire.

Her footman appeared. ‘You are safe, m’lady. Come away from the building.’

He brought them to where a group of people in various stages of undress huddled together.

‘I must go back to the buckets.’ He looked apologetic.

‘Yes, Carter. Yes,’ Daphne agreed. ‘Help all you can.’

He ran to the brigade passing buckets of water to the fire. Other men led horses out of the stables and rolled coaches away from the burning building.

Daphne’s eyes riveted on the doorway, willing their rescuer to reappear. Other men carried people out, but she did not see him. She’d not seen his face, but she knew she would recognise him. Tall, dark haired and strong. He wore the dark coat and fawn pantaloons of a gentleman.