Wicked by Cheryl Holt

tarry in a boring place like Summerfield. With his having quit the army, he would move to London where he and Lucas would wallow in adventures she couldn’t begin to imagine.
    It seemed fitting that they take her along. She was determined to marry James, so she needed opportunities to flirt. A friendship with Miss Ralston was an innocent ploy to spend more time at the manor with him.
    Plus, Veronica wouldn’t let Miss Ralston have James all to herself. She might get ideas. She might look at handsome, virile James, then at elderly, decrepit Stanley, and decide she’d rather have the younger man. But he wasn’t available to Miss Ralston or any other female.
    Miss Ralston had to understand that she could only have what Veronica was willing to give her. And it certainly wasn’t James Talbot.
    * * * *
    “Will she agree?”
    “Yes.”
    “Has she told you she will?”
    “No, but I expect to have her affirmative answer in the morning.”
    Stanley glared at James, visually warning him to be silent. Stanley was in no mood to have another inane discussion about Miss Ralston. The bargain was struck. Why hash it out all over again?
    James had resided at Summerfield most of his life, and as a boy, Edwina had spoiled him, so he occasionally assumed his position to be higher than it was. He occasionally assumed he had the right to question Stanley, but no one was allowed to do that.
    Stanley was king of his domain, but in light of his current predicament, he’d had to confide in James, and he loathed that fact. He didn’t like James to know his business, didn’t like to be beholden to James on any level, but he’d finally been confronted by a situation he couldn’t manage on his own.
    “She might surprise you,” James said.
    “No woman ever has.”
    “She has a stronger constitution than you envisioned and an ingrained sense of right and wrong. She might refuse just on general principles.”
    “She won’t.”
    James scoffed. “One blasted time, I’d like you to be mistaken. It would humor me immensely to see you thwarted.”
    “I won’t be. I specifically chose her because she’s all alone. If she doesn’t behave as I’m demanding, she has nowhere to go, and I’ve always found a female’s need for fiscal security to compel her into any circumstance that will provide it. How do you think whores end up flat on their backs?”
    “You’re such an ass,” James snorted. “She doesn’t want to marry you.”
    “Who would?”
    “She’s having second thoughts. She might renege. It could happen.”
    “It won’t. I took her to church with me, and Oscar was in fine form.”
    “Yes, I spoke with her afterward. She was extremely distressed.”
    “Marvelous,” Stanley mused. “She realizes why I require an heir. She’ll view it as her duty to protect the people at Summerfield. She won’t disappoint me.”
    The house was filled with guests. He and James were huddled together in the main parlor, observing the crowd.
    Miss Ralston was across the room, chatting with Veronica, and Stanley made a mental note to talk to her about the girl. Veronica spread trouble wherever she went. Unfortunately, there were few young ladies in the neighborhood who were close in age to Miss Ralston, so it was natural that a bond might bubble up. Stanley was determined it wouldn’t.
    “I wish,” James said, “you’d picked someone who wasn’t quite so nice.”
    “What an idiotic comment.”
    “I just hate to have her hurt. It would be easier to bear if she was less likeable.”
    “How am I hurting her?” Stanley gestured around the ornate parlor. “If a child catches in her womb, she’ll spend the rest of her life—in luxury, I might add—in this grand mansion. Her son will be lord and master after I’m gone. That’s hardly a detriment.”
    “But until you pass away, she’ll be wed to you. I wouldn’t exactly cite it as a benefit.”
    “There are worse things than marrying a rich, landed gentleman such as