Read Online A Summer Seduction by Candace Camp - Free Book Online Page B

taken her over, had consumed and changed and shaken her.
    And that was precisely why it could not happen again. She would not allow her senses to control her. She must not be swept away on a tide of emotion and desire. Already she had gone too far. The only sensible course open to her was to leave London as quickly as she could and return to Chesley. If she remained here, it was all too likely that she would let herself be persuaded to see Alec again, and it would be very wrong of her to let him or his family become any more involved with her. As it was, if her past came out, the Staffords could easily shrug it off, as surprised as anyone else. But if she was seen with Alec, if he called on her or pushed his sister into inviting Damaris todinner, if the Staffords were seen to be “taking her up,” then they would be embarrassed by the eventual revelation of her birth.
    She would tell her maid to begin to pack for the return home. She would finish up her errands here in London, and she would write a pleasant note to Lady Genevieve, thanking her for the invitation to her party and mentioning that she must unexpectedly return to Chesley. There was little joy in the prospect of not seeing Rawdon again, but it was the only sensible thing to do. There could be no relationship between them other than that of a nobleman and his mistress, and that was something she had vowed never to allow. It would be better to cut it off quickly, before any deeper feelings could take root.
    Her decision made, she rang for Edith and set her to the task of packing. Damaris kept her appointment at the modiste’s for her final fitting for the clothes that were not yet finished and left her with instructions to ship them to Chesley when they were done. After that, she made stops at the glover’s and the milliner’s shops and finally ended her day at Bedford House, picking up a few notions such as ribbons and handkerchiefs and such. She had contemplated going by Gunter’s for an ice, but in the end, she hadn’t the heart for it, and it was long past teatime so she simply went home.
    The carriage let her down in front of her house, then drove on toward the mews. Damaris started toward the short walkway up to her house, but a man’s voice stopped her. “Mrs. Howard!”
    She turned and lifted her hand to shade her eyes. The setting sun was shining directly behind the man, so that it difficultto make out his features. As he drew closer, she saw that he was no one she knew, and she began to frown in puzzlement. He wore the rough jacket and trousers of a workingman, with a cap pulled low on his head. Footsteps sounded behind her, and Damaris started to turn, but at that moment two arms went around her from behind, wrapping a garment around her.
    Before she could move, he whipped the two sides of the garment, which she recognized now as a cloak, around her and behind her back, effectively pinning her arms to her sides. She opened her mouth to scream, but the other man, who had leapt forward, clamped his hand across her mouth, effectively cutting off any noise. Damaris struggled, panicked, but the first man wrapped his arm around her tightly, clamping her to his side, while the other man shoved a wad of cloth into her mouth, then yanked the hood of the cloak up over her head.
    Damaris squirmed and fought, trying to spit out the cloth, but the two men held her firmly between them as they whisked her up the sidewalk toward a waiting carriage. There was no one on the street in front of them, and she knew that even if there was a witness to the scene at a distance, it would look merely as if two men were helping a woman who had fainted or fallen ill. No one would assume that she was being abducted.
    It did not take long to reach the carriage. One of the men yanked the door open, and the other one picked her up and shoved her inside. Damaris landed on her knees and, unable to raise her hands to shield herself, she pitched forward headfirst against the opposite