Joanna Maitland - His Reluctant Mistress

The Aikenhead Honours Three gentlemen spies: bound by duty, undone by women!

Introducing three of England’s

most eligible bachelors:

Dominic, Leo and Jack

code-named Ace, King, Knave

Together they are

The Aikenhead Honours A government-sponsored spying ring, they risk their lives, and hearts, to keep Regency England safe!

Follow these three brothers on a dazzling

journey through Europe and beyond as they

serve their country and meet their brides, in

often very surprising circumstances!

Meet the ‘Ace’, Dominic Aikenhead,

Duke of Calder, in

HIS CAVALRY LADY

Meet the ‘King’ and renowned rake

Lord Leo Aikenhead, in HIS RELUCTANT MISTRESS

Meet the ‘Knave’ and incorrigible playboy

Lord Jack Aikenhead, in

HIS FORBIDDEN LIAISON

Joanna Maitlandwas born and educated in Scotland, though she has spent most of her adult life in England or abroad. She has been a systems analyst, an accountant, a civil servant, and director of a charity. Now that her two children have left home, she and her husband have moved from Hampshire to the Welsh Marches, where she is revelling in the more rugged country and the wealth of medieval locations. When she is not writing, or climbing through ruined castles, she devotes her time to trying to tame her house and garden, both of which are determined to resist any suggestion of order. Readers are invited to visit Joanna’s website at www.joannamaitland.com

Recent novels by the same author:

A POOR RELATION A PENNILESS PROSPECT MARRYING THE MAJOR RAKE’S REWARD MY LADY ANGEL AN UNCOMMON ABIGAIL(in A Regency Invitation anthology) BRIDE OF THE SOLWAY HIS CAVALRY LADY*

* The Aikenhead Honours

Joanna Maitland

www.millsandboon.co.uk

Chapter One

The butler’s discreet cough interrupted what was promising to be a most rewarding encounter.

Lord Leo Aikenhead raised his head from the naked breast of the damsel sitting in his lap and swore fluently. She might be only a member of the muslin company, albeit a highly paid one, but even she did not deserve to have her charms exposed to the gaze of a disapproving servant. Unhurriedly, he began to restore a semblance of decency to her clothing, all the while keeping his back between his light o’ love and the butler. Gibson knew better than to gawp. He would wait by the door until Leo was good and ready to attend to him.

‘Have to excuse me, m’dear,’ Leo said at last, allowing a touch of regret to enter his voice as he retied the final silken ribbon of her bodice. ‘Much as I should like to continue our…um…conversation, I fear that pressing business calls.’ He put his hands to the girl’s trim waist and set her on her feet.

When she began to protest coquettishly, Leo looked up into her lovely face, spoiled now by the mulish curve to her mouth. ‘Go and find William,’ he said easily. ‘You know he’s been ogling you since the day he arrived. He’ll be more than happy to take over where I left off.’

She made no move to obey.

‘Go along now, do,’ he said, rather more sharply, giving her a friendly slap on the bottom. ‘He’s a better bet than I am, you know. Much more of a stayer. And richer, to boot.’

With a sudden giggle, the girl ran from the saloon.

Leo quickly checked the state of his own dress before turning to the butler, who stood impassively by the door, staring straight ahead. ‘You may cast off your puritan blindness now, Gibson. The young woman has gone. For the moment, at least.’

‘As you say, my lord.’ The butler’s tone was clipped.

Leo rose and walked slowly across to the fireplace. In the huge gilt-framed mirror hanging above it, he saw that, although his coat was surprisingly uncreased, his cravat looked as if he had been rolling around in bed. Pretty near the truth, too . He began to straighten it. In the glass, he could see that Gibson’s patience was under strain, for he was almost hopping from one foot to the other. Just what he deserved for that unwelcome interruption. Leo deliberately spent another thirty seconds carefully rearranging his cravat. Then he said into the mirror, ‘Well, Gibson?’

The butler did not make any apologies. He merely said crisply, ‘Your lordship’s brother has arrived. He asks to see you urgently. He is waiting in the small saloon.’

This time, Leo’s curses were even more choice, but he managed to swallow most of them. Leo’s elder brother, Dominic, Duke of Calder, had been sent to Russia on government business some weeks before. That left only Lord Jack, the youngest of the Aikenheads. He was an engaging lad, and both Dominic and Leo were very fond of him, but his scrapes were becoming increasingly expensive. Dominic and Leo, both older than Jack by more than ten years, had indulged their brother for too long, as both would now admit. Jack would soon be twenty-five, an age when he ought to be preparing to become master of his own estate. But he was still far from ready.

It seemed that life, to Jack, was one long, rollicking spree in which responsibility played no part. His problem would be gambling again, no doubt. Whereas Leo’s tastes ran to women—and lots of them—Jack had a fascination for the gaming tables. Sadly, and predictably, he tended to lose much more than he won. Well, if he needed yet another tow out of River Tick, it was perhaps time to refuse. Let the boy struggle a bit and get the feeling of what it would be like to drown before anyone threw him a lifeline. It really was time he began to grow up.

Leo started for the door. Gibson reached to open it for him, but Leo stopped him, slapping a hand flat on the panel. ‘How does Lord Jack seem on this occasion, Gibson?’

Gibson stared unblinkingly past his master’s shoulder. ‘Not…er…not precisely à point , my lord. As if he had undertaken his journey in some haste.’

‘Hmm. Has he not brought his valet?’

‘No, my lord. And no valise either.’

Leo grunted and flung open the door. If Jack had fled from London to The Larches without even taking the time to pack a valise, he was undoubtedly in deep, deep trouble.

His anger mounting, Leo strode down the corridor and into the blue saloon. ‘So you decided to come and join my little orgy after all, brat?’ Behind him, Gibson closed the door without a sound. ‘Good of you to favour us with your company. Planning to remain long?’

Jack jumped up guiltily from the wing chair by the fireplace. There was the beginning of a flush on his neck. He was wearing evening clothes, with silk knee-breeches and hose, and dancing shoes. Totally inappropriate dress for driving well over a hundred miles. Leo let his gaze travel disapprovingly over his brother’s dishevelled and grubby cravat, his creased coat, then on down to Jack’s feet and, finally, back up to his face. Jack’s mouth had opened, as if he were straining to speak. The flush had reached his cheekbones.

‘Valet abandoned you at last, has he?’ Leo said sardonically. ‘Can’t say I blame him. But we can’t present you to the ladybirds looking as if you’ve been dragged through a hedge, y’know.’

Jack’s jaw slackened and his mouth opened even wider.

Suddenly, Leo had had enough of playing games. ‘Oh, sit down, for heaven’s sake, and stop looking like the village idiot at the May fair. You’ve come hot-foot to The Larches, without so much as a spare cravat. So you’re in trouble again. I take it you were planning to tell me what you’ve done this time?’