Read Online Led Astray by a Rake by Sara Bennett - Free Book Online Page B

well think him charming, but there’s another side to him. There have been incidents in the past,behavior that the Lacey family have tried very hard to have hushed up. Some of the things I’ve heard…”
    “What have you heard, Father?” she asked curiously.
    “No, Olivia, I won’t soil your ears with such tales. My job is to protect you, and that I will do to the best of my ability. Let me just say that he’s not a man to be trusted with an innocent young girl.”
    Now was the moment for Olivia to promise her unwavering obedience; but she didn’t. She couldn’t. “I will be twenty-one in a few months’ time, Father. I am not an innocent young girl. I am a grown woman and I know my own mind.”
    They were staring at her as if she had suddenly grown two heads, and both of them with horns.
    “Olivia!” hissed her mother, wide-eyed with shock.
    Her father looked even graver than usual. “You may think yourself all-knowing when it comes to the world outside Bassingthorpe, Olivia, but I assure you, you are far from it. Lacey is not the man for you. He would make you dreadfully unhappy. He would take you from us. Your mother wouldn’t be able to bear losing another child.”
    “Sarah died, Father. She was ill and she died. I have no intention of such a thing happening to me, but I can’t know it won’t. I can only promise to do my best to live a long life, and I certainly have no plans to get lost.”
    “Olivia!” her mother gasped, white-faced. “This isn’t a subject for levity.”
    “Mama, I promise you I am being very serious. Besides, Sarah herself always told me that I should insist on the best and only the best, and scorn to take second best. I am only trying to follow her—”
    “Stop it.” Her father had had enough. “I don’t want a Lacey…I don’t want him in this house again,” he said, hardly raising his voice, and yet his tone stopped Olivia midsentence. “Is that clear?”
    “Father…”
    “Is that clear, Olivia?”
    It was useless to argue. They would not listen and they would not see. They had made up their minds that Nic was the villain and the only way to save her was to hand her over to the hero, in this case Theodore Garsed.
    “Yes,” Olivia said dully, “it is very clear, Father.”
    Her father was pleased with her, now that she’d given up the fight to be independent. He drew her into a warm embrace and kissed the top of her head. “You have been ill, my dear. That has made you a little testy, perhaps. When you are better you will realize I am right. We know what is best for you, and you must follow our advice, not Sarah’s. Theodore Garsed is a good man. Your mother is very keen on him.”
    Then she should marry him, Olivia thought mutinously. She was glad when they decided she’dhad enough excitement for one day, and left her to rest on the chaise longue.
    Alone and beaten into submission.
    Or so they thought.
    But Olivia had no intention of giving up. She’d sworn to the other members of the Husband Hunters Club that Nic Lacey was her chosen husband, and nothing had changed. In fact, after today, when he’d told her he wanted to save her from Theodore Garsed, she was more certain than ever that Nic was the man, the only man, for her.
    And she was more determined than ever to have him.
     
    The church bell was ringing as Theodore took the path by the village pond and into the woods that bordered Nic Lacey’s land. Ahead of him, Nic was riding slowly, evidently deep in thought. Theodore was not sure yet what he was going to say to the other man, but he knew he must say something.
    He was still reeling from the realization that His Lordship was a rival for Olivia’s affections. The way Lacey had ogled her! How had this happened, and right under Theodore’s nose? Well, he had to put a stop to it. Lacey’s reputation was of the worst, and if Theodore was officially engaged to her, he’d have ordered Lacey from the house. As it was he’d been insulted and routed,