Page 1 of Seducing the Knave

Chapter One

March 1824

The Rose and Swan Inn

Northern Hampshire, England

Lady Elvina Fowler sat in the corner of the inn’s common room. The table she’d chosen was near the window where she could watch the comings and goings of other travelers, which were regrettably few and far between. The deep hood of her cloak shadowed her face, but she still received an array of glances ranging from openly curious to somewhat discomfiting.

She ignored them all. There wasn’t much she could do about the fact that she appeared distinctly out of place at the rural inn. Not that it was unheard of for wealthy travelers to pass through on their way to London, but certainly never a wealthy young lady alone and at such an ungodly early hour.

If she’d had a bit of forethought, she’d have switched out her rich velvet cloak for something a bit more common. But her departure had been rather sudden and quite desperate, considering she’d just been told by her wretched excuse for a guardian that she was to become his bride whether she wanted him or not.

She absolutely did not want him. And he’d known it well since she’d shouted exactly that right into the man’s flushed and furious face a moment before he’d struck her hard enough to send her to the floor. As she’d looked up at him with shock and anger, she’d seen the pure contempt in his eyes and knew exactly what marriage to him would be like.

Unacceptable in every way.

Jasper Fenning, her father’s distant cousin who’d inherited the title and holdings entailed to the Marquess of Ilsworth upon her parents’ sudden deaths two years ago, was morally bankrupt in ways she hadn’t known was possible.

She’d first met her cousin nearly two months after her beloved mother and father had been put to rest. Apparently, it had taken the estate solicitors some time to find the man and inform him of his sudden good fortune. From what she’d gathered, Mr. Fenning—now the new Lord Ilsworth—had been discovered deep in his cups in a Parisian brothel.

That should have been the first clue to his dissolute nature, but she had been naïve back then. Barely eighteen, she’d lived a relatively charmed and sheltered life. Born into wealth and privilege, she’d also been an only child who’d been doted on by her loving parents. She couldn’t recall a single day of her life that had been touched by adversity until her entire world had crashed around her when she received the news that a horrid accident had taken both parents from her in an instant.

Overwhelmed with grief, she’d barely taken note of her cousin’s brief visit and awkwardly uttered condolences. What did she care for his discomfort when she was in pieces?

After only a few days at the Ilsworth family seat in Hampshire, the new marquess and her legal guardian had left her to her mourning, deciding he preferred to set up permanent residence in London rather than the country.

She’d been grateful at the time, needing the solitude and comforts of the home she’d grown up in to come to terms with her loss and the significant changes to her future. And it had seemed that Jasper had settled into his new role very well. The gossip pages, when she got around to reading them, often reported on the young marquess as a charming man about town. He attended all the fashionable balls and roues and was considered quite a catch in the marriage market, though he seemed to be in no hurry to wed.

Recently, however, she’d started to receive contradictory and troubling reports. Not from the society pages, which continued to sing Jasper’s praises, but from Ilsworth tenants who reluctantly reached out to her because they could get no response from the marquess. Tenants who’d had their rents raised but who still hadn’t seen evidence of the improvements and repairs they’d been promised.

When she’d followed up with the estate manager, the loyal man hadn’t wanted to tell her anything at first. But she’d persisted until she’d discovered that the Ilsworth coffers had nearly been bled dry. In less than two years, Jasper had managed to drain the family’s significant wealth. Not only had he spent unbelievable amounts on fine clothing, Thoroughbred horses, a newly built London residence, and other exorbitant luxuries, an obscene amount of his inheritance had been frittered away in gambling hells and brothels of all sorts. The man enjoyed his debauchery as much as he liked to play the upstanding lord, and the extreme strain of his personal extravagances was starting to show in the decline of the Ilsworth properties and holdings while the creditors he owed in London were starting to make more and more threatening demands.

Shocked and angry, she’d immediately written to her cousin, demanding he take responsibility for his recklessness and put a stop to his unnecessary spending so the good name of their family wouldn’t be destroyed along with his inheritance.

His response had been to show up in Surry with a special license and declare that she was to marry him and hand over the fortune which had been set aside for her future husband.

Utterly unacceptable. She would not be used in such a way. Not when he’d sneered at her objections and insisted she do her duty, while making it very clear that her dowry would only be used to fund more dissolution and self-indulgence.

And when she made her objection known, he’d struck her to the floor then locked her in her bedroom to await the officiate who was due to marry them the next day.

He obviously hadn’t considered she might heft herself over the balcony railing, leap to the branches of a nearby tree, and scurry through the garden in the middle of the night.

She might never have thought herself capable of such a feat either, but desperation bred a particular kind of courage in Lady Elvina Fowler and she’d never been more desperate than she was to escape the fate her guardian intended for her.

After walking for hours across the countryside under a moonless sky, convinced that every sound was an indication that her flight had been discovered, she’d finally reached the nearby village in the foggy hour before dawn. The first part of her impulsive escape had been accomplished but she was far from free just yet.

She needed to get to London, where she hoped to take refuge with her mother’s longtime friend, Lady Gilchrist, until she could determine a proper course of action.

From what she knew of Jasper’s habits, the man would likely be abed until midday, which gave her a head start of several hours, but it wasn’t nearly enough. On a fast horse, he could catch up to her easily.

She had to continue her journey as quickly as possible.

Unfortunately, not a single traveler had arrived at the inn in the last hour. Everyone she’d encountered so far had been local farmers on their way to market or villagers stopping in for breakfast before starting their day. And none of them had been willing to take her to the next village, let alone all the way to London.

What if she failed to find anyone willing to help her? She could be stuck here all day. If Jasper found her...

As soon as the desperate thoughts started to crowd her mind, she shut them down.

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