Today’s Modern Woman should never allow a gentleman to take advantage of her, toy with her affections or to view her as a mere plaything to be discarded after a pleasurable interlude.  If a gentleman makes the mistake of doing so, she should retaliate by treating him in a similar dismissive fashion.  A deed once avenged can then be buried in the past.

From A Ladies’ Guide to the Pursuit of Personal Happiness and Intimate Fulfillment by Charles Brightmore

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“What is that you’re reading so intently, Victoria?”

With a guilty start, Lady Victoria Wexhall slammed shut the slim leather bound Ladies’ Guide resting in her lap and looked across the carriage at Aunt Delia, who, for the past hour had been napping, but was now peering at Victoria through pansy-blue eyes alight with curiosity.

Heat rose in Victoria’s cheeks and she prayed she did not look as red-faced as she felt.  She slid the book onto the gray velvet squabs then quickly covered the volume with a flick of her forest green spencer.  Aunt Delia would no doubt be horrified if she discovered Victoria reading the book whose explicit and provocative contents had recently whipped up a tornado of scandal in London.  There was no doubt at all Aunt Delia would be horrified if she knew what Victoria, thanks to her reading of the book, planned to do once they arrived in Cornwall. 

“’Tis just one of the books I purchased at Wittnower’s Book Emporium before we departed London.”  Before her aunt could question her further, Victoria hastily asked, “Are you feeling refreshed after your nap?”

“Yes.”  Aunt Delia grimaced and stretched her neck from side to side. “Although I’m relieved we’ll finally arrive in Cornwall today and no longer be confined to this coach.” 

“I agree.”  Their trip from London to Cornwall had been long and arduous, a journey she normally never would have undertaken.  If someone had suggested to her that she would willingly leave the comfort, glamour and social whirl of London Society, especially as the Little Season was about to commence, to trek to the uncivilized wilds of Cornwall she would have laughed herself into a seizure.  But then, she hadn’t realized she would be handed this perfect opportunity to avenge a past wrong on a man who so richly deserved it.  Armed with her well-read copy of the Ladies’ Guide and a clear plan, she was prepared.  Still, the timing of the trip was not to her liking.  “I still cannot credit it that Father insisted we make this journey now.  Surely waiting a few weeks would not have mattered.”

“You will learn, my dear, that even the most jovial of men are, at heart, utterly vexatious creatures.”

“And vexing this timing is,” Victoria said, the irritation that had bubbled under her skin ever since she’d been unable to convince Father delay her trip to Cornwall erupting once again.  For reasons she could not decipher she’d been unable to budge her normally indulgent father.  When it became obvious he would not bend, she’d finally consented to his timetable.  She didn’t wish to unduly upset or disappoint her father who rarely asked anything of her.  And neither was she willing to forfeit this opportunity to finally put the past to rest as this would surely be her last chance.  If all went according to her carefully constructed life’s plan, by this time next year she would be a married woman, her future secured.  Perhaps she’d even be a mother.

“When I think of all the soirees I’m missing...I simply do not understand what Father was thinking.” 

Aunt Delia’s brows rose.  “Do you not?  Why, I’m surprised, what with you being such a bright gel.  Clearly, your father wishes for you to marry.”

Victoria blinked. “Naturally.  And I intend to do so.  But that cannot be his reason for sending me to Cornwall.  Especially now.  In the last month alone both Earl Branripple and Earl Dravensby have initiated conversations with Father regarding marriage.  With the Little Season about to commence, affording me with numerous opportunities to further my acquaintances with the earls, and meet even more marriageable gentlemen, he’d have been much better served had I remained in Town.”

“Not if the gentleman he wished you to meet was in Cornwall, my dear.”  Her aunt pursed her lips.  “I wonder which of the Oliver men your father is leaning toward--the widowed earl, or his heir Colin, Viscount Sutton?  Or perhaps even the younger son, Lord Nathan?”

Victoria forced her features to remain impassive at the mention of his name.  “Surely none of them.  I’ve only briefly met Lord Sutton--once, three years ago, and as for the earl, surely Father wouldn’t encourage me to marry someone so old as Lord Rutledge.”

“I believe old Earl Rutledge is a year younger than me,” Aunt Delia said in a dust dry tone.  Before Victoria could apologize for her faux pas, her aunt continued, “But you forgot Lord Nathan.”

If only I had...if only I could...but I shall.  After this visit he will be exorcised from my mind.  “I didn’t forget him, I just didn’t think it necessary to comment as neither Father nor I would ever consider such a lowly match.  Especially when two earls have expressed interest.”

“I don’t recall you mentioning a tendre for either Branripple or Dravensby, my dear.”

Victoria shrugged.  “Both are highly sought-after, fine gentlemen from well-respected families.  Either would make an excellent match.”

“It is well known they both seek to wed an heiress.”

“As do many peers with lofty titles and depleted fortunes.  I’ve always known I would be sought for my fortune.  Just as I’ve always known I would have to marry well to secure my future.  I certainly cannot count on Edward being generous once Father is gone.”  Victoria suppressed a sigh at the mention of her older brother.  As much as it pained her, there was no denying Edward--currently on the Continent doing heaven knows what--was an irresponsible, unreliable gambling, drinking, womanizer who would most likely cast her out after Father passed away.  Naturally Father would provide financially for her, but she wanted a family.  Children.  And a firm place in Society.

“You’ve no preference between Branripple or Dravensby?”

“Not particularly.  They are of similar age and temperament.  I’d planned to spend more time with them in London during the Little Season to help me decide.”

“So you’re certain that you will marry one of them?”

“Yes.”  Why didn’t her heart soar with joy at the prospect?  Marriage to either man would provide her with a life of luxury at the pinnacle of Society.  Clearly her mind was preoccupied with the task she’d set for herself in Cornwall.  Surely her enthusiasm for her suitors would manifest itself once she’d completed her objective.

Aunt Delia sighed.  “I’m so sorry, my dear.”

“Sorry?  Whatever for?”

“That you haven’t fallen in love.”

“Love?”  Victoria laughed.  But even as she did so, an inner twinge pinched her.  She used to harbor such silly fantasies, as most girls did.  But then she’d matured and wisely put such foolishness aside.  “You know as well as I that love is a poor basis for a marriage.  Especially when family names, titles, fortunes, and estates are involved.  Mother and Father’s marriage was not based on love.”  An image of her mother’s face rose in Victoria’s mind’s eye, the image she carried in her heart, of her mother smiling and beautiful, before the illness had stolen her vitality and then her life.

“Perhaps not, but their affection for each other eventually blossomed into love,” Aunt Delia said.  “Not every couple is so fortunate.  I was not so fortunate.”

Victoria gently squeezed her aunt’s hand in a show of sympathy.  Her widowed aunt’s decade long marriage hadn’t been a happy one.

“As I understand it,” Aunt Delia continued, “the reason your father insisted you come to Cornwall was to expand your horizons.  See more of the country other than your usual haunts of London, Kent, and Bath.  Open your mind, and heart, to new experiences, new people.”

“I suppose.  But surely Father cannot be expecting a match in Cornwall.  He would have told me so.”

“Would he?  I think not, my dear.  As you will learn, men are often annoyingly secretive creatures.”

She couldn’t argue that, especially where her father was concerned.  “Why wouldn’t he tell me?”  Yet even as the question passed her lips, Victoria realized the answer.  “He wouldn’t tell me because he knows I would never consent to living so far from Town.  So far from...” she waved her hand to encompass all the green nothingness, “civilization.  How could I not live in the city during the Season?  And for summer, certainly nowhere more than several hours from London--just far enough away for proper rusticating, yet close enough to enjoy the social swirl of Town, the shops, and keep abreast of the latest fashions and on dits.”

She sat up straighter.  Could Aunt Delia be correct?  If so, Father was to be sorely disappointed for no matter how charming the earl and viscount might prove to be, Victoria would never consent to entering into a marriage that would bind her, by law, to a man who could, and most likely would, relegate her to the desolate wilds of Cornwall.  A shudder ran through her at the mere thought.

“I recall that we met Viscount Sutton in London several years ago,” Aunt Delia said.  “Handsome young man.”

“Yes.”  Exceptionally handsome.  Yet it had been Lord Sutton’s younger brother who had so thoroughly unsettled her.  “But it wouldn’t matter if he were the most comely man on the planet.  I am not interested.”

“We met his younger brother on that occasion as well,” Aunt Delia said, her brow creasing.  “Lord Nathan.  Bit of the devil in that one, you could tell at a glance.”

The image she’d tried so hard to banish from her memory instantly materialized in Victoria’s mind.  A tall, broad-shouldered young man with thick, wavy sun-streaked brown hair, intriguing, flirtatious hazel eyes, and a wicked smile that had inexplicably, yet undeniably fascinated her the instant they’d met in London three years ago at the Wexhall townhouse.  Even now her heart seemed to skip a beat--no doubt a result of the severe irritation the mere thought of Lord Nathan brought.

With the image of him now firmly in her mind, the haunting memories of that night three years ago assailed her.  She’d recently celebrated her eighteenth birthday and had been flush with feminine confidence from her fabulously successful first Season, confidence that had soared even higher at the unmistakable interest that had flared in the eyes of her father’s sinfully attractive guest.  Her imagination had immediately cast Lord Nathan as a swashbuckling, rakish pirate who absconded with her and brought her back to his ship to kiss her and...well, she wasn’t quite sure what else, but certainly whatever it was that brought a fierce blush to her maid Winifred’s cheeks whenever she mentioned Paul, the handsome new footman.

Victoria’s instantaneous attraction to Lord Nathan had been heady, and breathtaking, unlike anything she’d previously experienced, although it had frankly confused her for she’d certainly seen handsome gentlemen before--handsomer gentlemen.  His own brother, Lord Sutton, who’d stood not ten feet away from her, was by far the handsomer of the two, and appeared much more gentlemanly and proper.

Yet while she was at a loss to explain her reaction to Lord Nathan, there was no denying it.  There’d been something about him...perhaps that his hair was a bit too long, his cravat just a bit mussed, the hints of mischief lurking in his gaze and the corners of his lovely mouth that had captured her fancy.  Made her want to touch his hair, smooth his cravat, and ask what he found so amusing.

But mostly it was the way he’d looked at her that had set her heart fluttering and arrowed heated tingles of pleasure to her toes.  He’d gazed upon her with a combination of warm amusement and an unabashed flirtation that skimmed the borders of propriety.  She should have been appalled, but instead was entranced.  He was unlike anything or anyone she’d before experienced, and when he suggested that she give him a tour of the portrait gallery, she’d instantly consented, rationalizing that it wasn’t really improper.  Her aunt and Lord Sutton would be in the next room.  The adjoining door would be ajar...

Once alone with him, however, Victoria’s normal aplomb deserted her.  To her horror, her efforts to impress Lord Nathan with her maturity, new gown, and conversation went completely awry.  She found herself chatting in a breathless, nonstop manner she couldn’t control.  Everything she’d ever learned about deportment seemed to flee her head and she babbled like a river overflowing its banks, unable to stop the nervous torrent of words bubbling from her.  Her mind told her mouth to cease, to raise her chin and gift him with nothing more than a long, cool stare, but for reasons she couldn’t understand, her lips had continued to move and the words to spill out.  Until he’d silenced her with a kiss.

Heat coursed through her at the memory of that kiss...that incredible, heart stopping, breath stealing, wits robbing, knee-weakening kiss that had ended far, far too soon.  She’d opened her eyes and found him looking at her with a crooked smile.  That did the trick, he’d murmured in a husky rasp.  When she’d remained mute, he’d cocked a brow and said, “Nothing more to say?”  To which she’d managed to whisper one word: Again.

Something dark and delicious had flared in his eyes and he’d obliged her with a different sort of kiss.  A slow, deep, lush melding of mouths and breath, a stunningly intimate mating of tongues that had awakened every nerve ending in her body.  She’d clung to him, filled with a desperation and longing she didn’t understand, other than to know that she wanted more, wanted him to never stop.  But stop he did, and with a groan he’d untangled her arms from around his neck and set her firmly away from him.

They’d stared at each other for several long seconds. Victoria had tried to interpret his intense expression, but it was impossible as she was so very dazed.  Then his lips had tilted in a devilish smile and he’d reached out.  With a flick of his long, strong fingers, he adjusted her bodice which she hadn’t even noticed was shockingly askew, then brushed the pad of his thumb over her still tingling lips.  He looked as if he were about to say something when his brother had called from the adjoining room.  Lord Nathan had raised her hand to his mouth and pressed his lips against her fingers.  A most unexpected, pleasurable, interlude, my lady, he’d whispered, then, after a rakish wink, had swiftly left the room. 

Afraid to face her aunt before she’d gathered her wits, Victoria had raced to her bedchamber.  Standing in front of her cheval glass, she’d been stunned by her own reflection.  Her perfect coif was wildly mussed, her gown wrinkled, her skin flushed, her lips red and puffy.  But even without those outward manifestations of her passionate exchange with Lord Nathan, the look of wonder and discovery shining in her eyes would have given her away in a thrice.

Her common sense demanded that she be appalled at her shocking behavior, at the liberties she’d allowed him, but her heart was having none of it.  How could she be expected to think clearly when, for the first time in her life all she wanted to do was feel?  She hadn’t allowed any of the numerous gentlemen who’d sought her favor during the Season to kiss her.  She’d dreamed of her first kiss--indeed had carefully planned the entire scenario as she did with everything in her life--it was to take place in the formal gardens, after the gentleman had asked for, and been granted her permission.  But in a thrice all her plans evaporated into a wisp of steam.  Never in her wildest imaginings had she conjured up anything like the incredible, magical moments she’d shared with Lord Nathan.  She couldn’t wait to see him again, and after what they’d shared, she knew he would contact her.

She’d never been more wrong in her life.  She’d never seen nor heard from him again.    

Now, looking out the carriage window at the endless verdant hills dotted with thatched roof cottages marking but yet another small village, Victoria closed her eyes and inwardly cringed at how foolish she’d been, at the idiotic expectant hope that had ruled her for weeks afterwards, where she searched for him at every soiree, waited impatiently for the daily delivery of letters, jumped every time the brass door knocker sounded announcing a caller.  The truth she’d been too blind to see didn’t finally hit her until one morning at breakfast, six weeks after Lord Nathan had stolen that kiss, when she’d casually brought up his name to her father.  In a single sentence Father had squashed all her hopes.  Lord Nathan had returned to Cornwall the morning after visiting the townhouse and had no intention of returning to London.

She still vividly recalled the fever of humiliation that had scorched her.  What a fool she’d been!  Here she’d hinged all these romantic, heroic ideals on a man who was nothing more than a cad!  A man who had kissed her senseless with no intention of ever even speaking to her again.  A man who had stolen her first kiss, a kiss that to this day she’d never been able to erase from her mind, whereas he no doubt would even recall the exchange.  It was the first time in Victoria’s life she had ever been so summarily dismissed, treated so shabbily, and she had not liked it one bit.  Rude, insufferable man. He may have been born a gentleman, but clearly his education and moral fiber were severely lacking for he possessed no manners at all.

Well, by the time she left Cornwall, he would remember her.  She’d been young and dazzled, and he’d clearly been experienced enough to know he was taking advantage of her naivety.  He’d toyed with her in a way she surely would have forgiven and accepted the blame for if only she’d been able to forget him.  The idea of revenge had never occurred to her until this unwanted trip at her father’s request had come up, coupled with her recent acquisition of The Ladies’ Guide.  But thanks to both, she would now see to it that Lord Nathan was forgotten.  The Ladies’ Guide advised avenging such cads, then burying them in the past where they belonged, and she had every intention of doing so.  She would flirt with him and kiss him as ruthlessly as he’d done to her, then abruptly depart, leaving him with memories that haunted the long, dark hours between nightfall and dawn.  She’d blithely return to London and marry one of her earls, the entire Lord Nathan episode finally behind her.  Yes, it was an excellent plan.

Pulling her attention away from the scenery, Victoria said, “According to Father, Lord Nathan is a doctor.”  Humph.  Just further proof that he wasn’t a true gentleman for no true gentleman would pursue a trade.

Aunt Delia’s eyes lit up with interest.  “A doctor?  Yes, I imagine he would make a fine physician.”

“Why is that?”

“’Twas obvious he’d have an excellent bedside manner.  I do recall Lord Sutton telling me that his brother enjoyed scientific matters.”

Victoria barely suppressed the grimace that tugged at her lips.  Most likely he enjoyed pinning the wings of insects to boards and such. 

The coach slowed to a crawl, and the coachman’s deep, booming rang out, “Ye can see the side view of Creston Manor, beyond those tall trees on the right, my ladies.  Just need to follow this road around to the front.  We’ll be arriving within the quarter hour.”

The conveyance then resumed a brisker pace, and Victoria and her aunt craned their necks to look out the window.  As they moved past the trees, an impressive manor house came into view.  The brick façade, faded to a delicate creamy rose, appeared to glow in the soft gilding of golden, late afternoon sunshine.  Nestled amongst soaring trees and emerald lawns, Creston Manor looked at once inviting and imposing.  From her advantageous side view, Victoria could see the formal gardens and stables in the rear, and a sparkling blue pond in the front that reflected the both the surrounding trees and the house, the building’s austere design softened by the rippling water.

A movement near the stables caught Victoria’s attention, and she leaned forward.  Two men stood near the open stable doors.  One of the men, a gentleman with dark hair, was dressed in riding attire.  He seemed to be speaking to the other man, who was clearly a servant as he was shirtless, and held what appeared to be a hammer.

Victoria’s gaze fastened on the man’s bare back, which even from a distance she could see was broad and gleamed with a sheen of sweat.  Warmth crept up her cheeks and she although she tried to force herself to look away, her suddenly stubborn gaze refused to move.  But certainly only because she was scandalized.  Of course.  The servants at her family’s country estate would never go about their chores half naked.  She couldn’t help but wonder what the man looked like from the front, given that the rear view was so very...captivating.

Aunt Delia raised her quizzing glass.  “I do believe the dark-haired gentleman is Lord Sutton.”

Victoria forced her gaze back to the other man, then nodded.  “Yes, I believe you are correct.”

“And the other man,” Aunt Delia said, leaning so close to the window her nose was nearly pressed against the glass, “good heavens, none of my servants look like that at all.  ‘Tis enough to make one want to do nothing more than think of excuses to summon the dear shirtless boy.”

Victoria’s lips twitched at the outrageous comment.  “That’s one of the things I love most about you, Aunt Delia.  You speak your mind--even when your thoughts are--”

“Naughty?  My dear, that is precisely when it is the most fun to express your thoughts.”

“I’m sure he dons a shirt before entering the house,” Victoria said, still trying to pry her gaze away and keep the wistful note from her voice.

“Pity.  But I suppose he would.” Their carriage rounded a corner and the man was no longer visible.  After they’d leaned back in their seats, Aunt Delia said, “I imagine he’s left a trail of broken hearts in his wake.”

“I imagine so,” Victoria murmured, instantly sympathizing with those women as she knew precisely how they felt.  But thanks to the Ladies’ Guide and her well-thought out plan, she was going to see to it that her heart--and pride--no longer lay in the dirt.