To Save A Marriage: Short Steamy Regency Romance (The Rakes Club)

CHAPTER 1

Lizzy picked up an acorn from the ground, threw it across the grass and slumped back against the oak tree. The two mares she and Dianna had loosely reined to the fence nearby snorted at the disturbance.

“You are acting very out of sorts, today, Lizzy.” Her friend twirled a daisy between her fingers. “What is wrong with you?”

“I despair of there being any eligible bachelors who don’t leave me cold when they smile at me or that have my stomach churning like I’ve eaten a sour plum when our hands touch in a quadrille.”

“They do exist. You know they do. I found my James. You will find him.”

“Oh, shush. You met James at your first ball of your first season. I am into my second season and have probably seen every eligible bachelor already. And no one has stirred my interest.”

“You have had offers,” Dianna reminded her. “And your parents have let you decline them. Not everyone has that luck.”

She was right. Thankfully her family wasn’t in dire need of her to make an advantageous marriage and had allowed her to refuse the three offers that had come her way so far. But while they had not pushed her, they would not countenance their daughter becoming a spinster and that would surely be her fate if she were to have a third season. Unthinkable.

“I have those pins I took from the dressmaker,” Dianna continued. “If you’re still not spoken for by St Agnes Eve, we can perform the ritual and you will dream of your husband.”

“You are a true friend,” Lizzy teased. “But it might not come to that.” She picked up another acorn and rolled it between her palms. “Mother and papa know of someone suitable, and I am seriously considering accepting.”

“Elizabeth Charters, what secret have you been keeping from me?” Dianna discarded the daisy and gripped Lizzy’s hands.

“I haven’t. They only told me last night. That’s why I wanted you to come riding today, so we could talk without the chance of someone hearing, or of being interrupted.”

“So, who is it? What do you know of him? Lud, Lizzy, what if he’s old with a belly like a wine barrel?”

“An acquaintance of an acquaintance. A Marquess who is need of a wife but doesn’t want the tedium of flirting and courting.”

“Perhaps that is because he looks like a horse’s rear end and has had refusals galore and the only way he can get a wife is to remain anonymous.’

‘It matters not. He is in need of a wife, and I need a husband. It would be an arrangement of mutual benefit. Of mutual understanding. I am at the point of believing that finding someone both handsome and interesting is a Banbury tale.’

Dianna contemplated her friend’s proclamation. ‘But don’t you want love?’

‘If I have never had it, then I won’t miss it. Besides, a love match leaves the way open to having one’s heart broken. Surely it is better to make a match where neither’s heart is involved. I am tired of having to feign smiles and interest.’

‘You will have to feign a lot more than that once you are wed. If he is breathing, then you can rest assured he will not be wanting a marriage in name only. No doubt you will be expected to produce an heir.’

‘It has always been my intention to give myself fully to a marriage. In every way. Whether it came from a love match or…now…’

Unlike many of the girls from her season who desired nothing beyond being able to call themselves married, Lizzy had given thought to life as a wife and would take her role seriously.

‘I will not have a sham of a marriage with a husband who seeks to amuse himself away from the marriage bed.’ She stole a glance at her friend. ‘Surely you want the same with James?’

Dianna met her eyes, and a hint of a smile lifted the corners of her mouth. ‘I will not have to pretend interest.’

‘Oh?’ Lizzy nudged her friend’s thigh. ‘Now who is keeping secrets? Has James been less than a gentleman?’

‘The blame is not entirely his. I did nothing to discourage him. And it has only been an occasional stolen kiss. But…oh, Lizzy.’ Dianna hugged her knees, a smile blooming on her lips. ‘I did not know I could feel such things from just a kiss. I cannot even image what…doing more will be like.’

‘That is what I want to feel, but I fear it may not happen. That I will not please him.’