The Rake and the Spinster

By Lynn Kerstan

Abandoned in childhood by feckless parents, Lady Magdalen Drewe has devoted her life to her younger sisters. A fashionable houseparty at Falconthorpe, seat of an eccentric duke and duchess, offers a perfect opportunity for Yvette to select a husband and Allegra to mend her troubled marriage. As always, Maggie plays chaperone, and when her eagle eye spots the notorious Earl of Keverne circling Allegra with prey clearly on his mind, she resolves to send him packing.
But Keverne has another target in mind. To Maggie's astonishment, he swoops in her direction, undeterred by her sharp tongue or firm orders to take himself elsewhere. Instead, he takes her elsewhere, to his house by the ocean, sleekly covering his tracks and hers. No one will miss her for a fortnight, he says, during which he will try to fulfill her every dream. So of course, she shoots him. And after that, things get really complicated.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lynn Kerstan
• Release date: Feb 1, 2012
• ISBN: 9781465861894

Lynn Kerstan

Lynn Kerstan, former college professor, folksinger, professional bridge player, and nun, is the award-winning author of nine Regency romances, seven historical romances, and several novellas. A dedicated traveler and lover of history, she writes romantic adventures set in early 19th-Century England, where intrepid women and elegant, dangerous men are to be found, For many years a teacher of English literature and writing at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. and the University of San Diego, Kerstan now conducts popular-fiction workshops for writers groups and conferences. When off-duty, she lives an exemplary life in Coronado, California, where she plots her stories while riding her boogie board, walking on the beach, and watching Navy SEALs jog by.

Book preview

Kerstan holds you spellbound... and has you begging for more.

Romantic Times

****

"A new star in the tradition of Mary Balogh, Lynn Kerstan moves onto my personal shortlist of must-read authors... snappy, fast-paced, entertaining, [and] wonderfully witty. The Romance Reader

****

"Wonderful and delightful! Ms. Kerstan is truly a talented author... sure to please any audience! Lynn Kerstan reigns supreme!

The Literary Times

The Rake and the Spinster

by

Lynn Kerstan

A Traditional Regency Romance

The Rake and the Spinster

Copyright 2012 by Lynn Kerstan

Published by Lymond Press

The Drewe Sisters series, #2, a novella

[Another version of this story was published in the ‘90s as part of the anthology Lessons in Love.]

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Dedication

To Thea Gurns and John Blocker

Great friends and wonderful neighbors.

Table Of Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

About The Author

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Chapter One

He had the devil’s own smile.

Maggie stabbed the embroidery needle into her linen sampler, counterpoint to the sonata rippling from the grand piano across the music room.

Detestable man. Pretending to admire Allegra’s artistry while his gaze stroked her scantily covered bosom. His hands would do the same, she suspected, if Allegra permitted the liberty. They were long-fingered, graceful hands, conveying as much with a subtle gesture as most men would do with a kiss. So far they only turned the pages of the music, but it was obvious they wanted to do more.

Maggie longed to string him through the piano wires.

The lace of her cap slid forward and with exasperation she pushed it back. Each morning she wrestled to confine her unruly hair into a tight chignon, but her cap invariably wandered on top of her head like a dollop of oil on boiling water.

Although she despised headgear of any sort, proper chaperones and spinsters always covered their hair. Caps were the emblem of her failed dreams, and for that very reason she sported them defiantly, with the pride and feigned indifference that set her apart from everyone she knew. Her sisters could not imagine how she yearned to cast them off and let her long hair fly in the wind.

When her gaze returned to the Earl of Keverne, she caught him looking directly at her, his blue eyes glinting in a way she didn’t dare analyze. Nine circles of hell spun in those mocking eyes, along with every temptation that lured souls to perdition.

No woman was safe in his company. He even flirted with Vestavia, twenty years his senior. And when the duchess introduced the notorious Simon Peter Augustus Weir two days ago, Maggie had been sure he peered through her own gray kerseymere gown and modest undergarments as if they were transparent.

Now he was ogling her sister the same way.

Allegra basked in the attention, but she’d always been easy prey for handsome men. Bedazzled by a scarlet-and-gold uniform, she had married a virtual stranger and spent the next seven years regretting it. Physical attraction, Maggie reflected sourly, was no basis for marriage. When passion died, jackals like the Earl of Keverne invariably moved in to pick over the remains.

As if her thoughts had summoned him, Colonel Sir Nicholas Trent appeared at the door of the music room, more resplendent than ever in his dashing regimentals. His tentative smile contracted to a scowl at the sight of his wife shoulder to shoulder with a rake.

Maggie hid a smile of her own. Now the detestable earl would get his comeuppance, and about time he did. But to her vast disappointment, Nicholas only stood in the doorway until well after the music ended, invisible to the couple on the piano bench as they bantered lightly. Then Keverne drawled one of his offensive innuendos and the colonel moved forward like a cavalry charge.

Allegra, he said in a commanding tone. She spun around.

For a music room, Maggie thought with annoyance, the acoustics were deplorable. Nicholas and Allegra spoke so softly to each other that she was unable to make out a single word. Meanwhile, Keverne looked exceedingly bored.

She saw him lift his head and quickly lowered her own. It was one thing to eavesdrop, and quite another to be caught at it. She huddled over her embroidery for what seemed a very long time, ears perked to catch the first sounds of inevitable conflict.

With her eyes strictly focused on her sampler, Maggie was unaware her nemesis had closed in until she felt something touch her foot. Glancing down, she saw polished Hessian boots toe-to-toe with her slippers, and of its own accord her gaze moved slowly up doeskin-clad thighs and slender hips, past a pewter-colored waistcoat framed by a twilight-blue jacket, paused briefly at the sapphire pin in his cravat, and finally settled on his face.

Lucifer’s face, nearly angelic if one looked only unto those guileless blue eyes. But his legendary wickedness shone in that hedonistic smile.

Pointedly, she lowered her head and resumed sewing. Even Keverne, who thought himself irresistible, would recognize the cut direct.

He gave no sign of doing so, and her next stitch wound up a long distance from where it belonged. Why didn’t he go away?

He did, but only long enough to draw up a Sheraton chair across from her. What are you creating? he asked in a suggestive voice. May I see it?

With deliberation, she dug the needle into what was supposed to be a lily but looked more like a fish standing on its tail. What I’m doing is none of your concern, Keverne. The same is true of anything my sister is about.

And what do you suppose that is? he said lightly. I would give the world to know.

It’s perfectly obvious Allegra is thinking about her husband whenever she plays. Or didn’t you notice her wedding ring? Maggie loosened her clenched teeth. Not that you ever looked at her hands.

Allegra possesses hands? He sighed. But of course she must, for how else could she play the pianoforte? I shall make a point to observe them when next we meet.

She barely curbed a smile. The man was incorrigible. Have you nothing better to do than annoy me?

Not at the moment. There was a brief pause. You have beautiful hair, Lady Magdalen.

She drove the needle into her thumb and let out a squeal. See what you made me do, she snapped, ignoring the handkerchief he offered. Idle compliments will not win you my regard, Keverne, and I do not care to hear them.

"What would you like to hear?" he inquired cordially as she sucked on her thumb with embarrassment.

She fixed him with her sternest glare. The sound of your departure.

Laughing, he came to his feet. I always pleasure a woman, he said provokingly. If you will not coze with me, I must rejoin the lovely musician, who seems to be alone in spite of her tedious spouse.

Maggie glanced at Allegra, who looked very unhappy, and at her husband, now staring out the window as if nothing in the room engaged his interest. That was not the case, she quickly realized, for when the earl sauntered toward the piano, Nicholas swung around with fists clenched and murder in his eyes.

Her embroidery hoop slid to the floor as Maggie rushed to intercept him. The music room was no place for a brawl, and Keverne’s broad shoulders promised more strength than his indolent posture suggested. Planting herself in Nicholas’s path, she took hold of his taut right hand. What a surprise, she said in a bright voice. "How nice to see you again.

Allegra appeared at her shoulder. You remember Maggie, she said nervously, as if he might not recognize his sister-in-law.

The colonel mumbled something unintelligible, and Maggie nodded. You are wishing me to the devil so you can greet your wife. But we’ll have many opportunities to become reacquainted during the houseparty, Nicholas. I look forward to it. She spun around, pasting a brittle smile on her face. Lord Keverne, did you not express a desire to see the orangery? Her Grace has assembled a fascinating array of exotic fruits.

Has she now? His lips curved. I am uncommonly partial to exotic fruits. With a mocking bow to Nicholas, and an oddly sweet smile directed at Allegra, he held out his arm. Do you suppose, Lady Magdalen, that an ordinary workaday apple caused Eve’s fall from grace?

I rather expect, she said acerbically as he led her into a marble-flagged passageway, that the responsibility lies with the snake.

He grinned. Snakes only tempt, you know, and they can scarcely help themselves for it is their nature to do so. The choice ultimately resides with the woman.

A most confounding choice, you must admit. Serpents also lie, and have been known to disguise themselves as gentlemen. She paused before wide glass-paneled doors. Here is the orangery, Lord Keverne. You’ll be anxious to coil among the plants, so I wish you good day.

Shaking with laughter, he pinned her hand in the crook of his arm. You cannot mean to abandon me in this jungle. Was I not promised a tour?

Nothing of the kind, she protested ineffectually as he towed her inside.

Morning light slanted through the glass ceiling and a loamy scent of moist soil mingled with the heady fragrance of fruits and flowers. Keverne immediate assumed the role of guide, commenting easily on promising young pineapples and colorful gourds as he drew her along the narrow path.

You may release my arm, she informed him frostily. I shan’t run away.

As you wish. He stepped back to regard her curiously. We’ve only just met, and already you dislike me, Lady Magdalen. How have I offended you?

She blinked. What a bird-witted question! You are an offense to any decent woman.

I doubt your sisters would agree, he said thoughtfully. Yvette finds me amusing, and as for Allegra… well, that remains to be seen. What a wonder it is that you are related. I’ve never met three women so very unlike.

Not for the reason you probably think, she countered at once. "We each have dark blue

Reviews for The Rake and the Spinster

[SabinaVirk · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It was good but it was a drag in the beginning. The way the female character kept attacking the male lead. She was such a prude, I considered closing the book but I still waited out. He was finally able to thaw her heart , it was short but sweet .