How to Seduce a Bride

rooms tonight. Never fear,” he told Daisy.

“I don’t,” she said simply. “I’ve got my own blade up my sleeve. I didn’t think to flash it tonight, because it happened too fast. I’ve got a barker, too. I should have brought it with me, but I thought it was safe in London.”

“A barker?” Helena asked, frowning.

“A pistol,” the earl translated.

Helena gasped.

Daisy turned and rounded on her, her eyes flaming. “Yes, I carry a pistol, Mrs. Masters. I learned in a hard school. Lessons for living, they were, and they served me well because here I stand, don’t I? If it distresses you, then we’ll just have to part company.”

“I didn’t mean that,” Helena said, eyes wide.

“Aye, I know.” Daisy sighed. “Don’t pay attention to me, Helena. I’m tired and angry, but not at you. See how anger works? Likely it was a cull who got too excited and panicked who cut the viscount. He looked like murder on wheels when he came at the cove,” she told the earl. “But even if it wasn’t that, I’m ready. Who knows what enemies a person can make just by breathing? Tanner had dozens who wanted him dead, so I learned from him. He always went armed, hand and foot. And you, Helena?” she asked suddenly, “anyone mad at you?”

“My friends are all in the countryside,” Helena said nervously. “And I’ve no enemies. At least, so I think.”

“There it is,” Daisy said impatiently. “So. What time can we come back tomorrow?”

The earl and Daffyd stood looking at her, the earl with a slight smile, Daffyd with a wide grin.

“Heart of oak, no fainting or wailing, and no retreating,” Daffyd said with approval. “That’s the daisy, all right! You know what? I think all girls should go to Botany Bay instead of finishing school.”

The laughter that greeted this made Daisy feel better. But nevertheless, she looked into the shadows when she left the earl’s house a little while later.

Daisy was up early the next morning, even though she had not slept much, or well. That, she thought, was Leland Grant’s fault. She had gotten into bed and thought about his wound, wondered at his stoicism, and then, in the small hours, worried about his survival. He was such a cool, sardonic man, it was difficult to picture him helpless. And he was young and strong. But she’d seen death come to young and healthy people too many times. And so every time she’d closed her eyes, she’d thought of the possibility of seeing his knowing blue eyes closed forever. She’d only drifted off to sleep at last by promising herself she’d see him in the morning.

The man was an enigma; she was both attracted and distracted by him. But whatever he was, he’d offered his life for hers, and she didn’t forget a debt. At least, that’s what she told herself when she’d realized how upset she was by the attack on him, and how much he dominated her thoughts.

She dressed in shades of pink today, from her bonnet to her walking dress, colors carefully chosen to brighten a sickroom. She’d also bought a bag of sweets and a book the bookseller promised her was all the rage with the gentry these days.

She and Helena got to the earl’s house just in time to see Daffyd leaving it. He’d only had time to say good-bye to Geoff and tell Daisy that Leland was feeling better before he left London. That reassured Daisy. She knew that as much as he wanted to get home to his wife, he wouldn’t have gone if his half brother was in danger.

She picked up the hem of her skirt to go up the stairs when Helena stopped her with a light touch on the arm.

“A lady can’t visit a gentleman in his bedchamber unless they are related, however ill he may be,” Helena said apologetically.

“You hold with that, Geoff?” Daisy asked the earl, tapping a toe on the floor of his marble hall.

He bit back a smile. She looked ready to explode, her patience clearly held by a thread. He looked at her companion.

“I was hired to keep Mrs. Tanner company as well as to tell her how things were done in London,” Helena said helplessly. “I can’t approve what I know Society would not.”

Daisy looked mulish. “I know what’s proper but I can’t and won’t desert a friend in need. The viscount got cut trying to help me, didn’t he? Fine thanks if I let him rot away alone upstairs without so much as a thank you, because ‘a lady doesn’t go into a fellow’s bedchamber unless they’re related!’ I keep telling you-I’m not a lady! And if I were, I wouldn’t want to be that kind of one. Anyway, if he’s in bed with a knife wound in his chest, and I’m fit as a fiddle, I don’t see how he could compromise me! If he even wanted to, that is,” she added.

“Anyone would want to compromise you, Daisy,” the earl said gallantly. “Though I doubt even Lee’s up to it this morning. He’s not exactly rotting away upstairs, by the way. He’s well attended and is doing fine, but yesterday took a lot out of him and the doctor’s draught slowed him further. He’s no danger to anyone but himself, if he insists on doing too much.”

“What say you, Mrs. Masters?” he asked Helena. “Daisy clearly will have her way. I don’t want her climbing in the window. Why not agree and look the other way-metaphorically, that is. I won’t tell if you don’t.”

Helena frowned. “But the servants…”

“Don’t gossip, they’re loyal to me, to a man and woman,” the earl said. “I trust them implicitly.” He saw her hesitation, and took pity. The woman obviously had morals and didn’t want to take her salary if she couldn’t provide what she’d promised.

“If Geoff thinks it’s all right, then, certainly, so do I,” Daisy announced.

Helena saw the fond look on the earl’s face as he looked at Daisy. “Very well,” she said with resignation, “What can I say?”

They went up the stairs, into the long hallway, and finally paused outside an oaken door.

The earl eased the door open. “Lee?” he called, “are you ready for company?”

“I was from the moment I heard they were here,” Leland’s voice said. “I’m decently dressed and delighted to receive them. Show them in, if you please.”

Daisy followed the earl in, but had eyes only for the man in the huge bed. Leland was lying down, propped up on pillows, but otherwise she’d never have guessed he was in any way hurt. He wore a maroon dressing gown over a white shirt and gray breeches, and if it weren’t for the fact that he wore morocco slippers instead of boots, he needed only a neck cloth to look ready for a stroll down the street.

It was true he was pale, but that only made his eyes look bluer, as he looked at her. She caught her breath as she met that calm regard. “Welcome,” he said, “I’d bow, but my bandages are so tight, I might sever my body at the waist, and I think I’ve treated you to enough gore already. Thank you for coming; I’m glad the sight of my blood didn’t put you off me forever. How are you this morning? I love your gown, Mrs. Tanner; the color brightens my day.”

It hardly needed brightening, Daisy thought. The drapes had been pulled back from the windows and the room was flooded with morning light. It was a handsomely appointed room, with rich carpets and ornate furniture. Her nostrils twitched. There was no stale, medicinal smell of a sickroom here; instead the room bore a slight familiar and delicious scent of soap and warm sandalwood.

“I got you a book and some sweets,” she said, ignoring his compliment. “But it looks like you don’t need for anything.”

“Oh, but I do,” he said. “I needed company desperately. Not that Geoff isn’t delightful, but he’s woefully short on gossip.”

“Well, so am I,” Daisy said, as she took a chair the earl moved to the side of the bed. “All I can tell you is that it’s a beautiful day.”

“Then let’s make some gossip,” Leland said with a tilted grin.

“I’m only here because they promised me you couldn’t,” she said.

She heard Helena take in a breath, and the earl laugh. Daisy smiled as she realized how much easier it was to talk with the viscount when he was safely confined to his bed.

He laughed. “They can’t promise what they don’t control, Mrs. Tanner. But never fear! I’m on my best behavior. That’s not difficult this morning. Did you know I creak when I move, like Prinny in his corset? Very distracting. But you, Mrs. Tanner, tempt me most awfully. And speaking of distractions, Helena, I see you’re wearing the gown Mrs. Tanner told me about. I’m so pleased. You look splendid in it. Not that the lavender didn’t suit you, but you glow in