A scandalous journey...
Glassmakerâs daughter Thea Markham is devastated when her brother Daniel goes missing. Then a mysterious lord turns up asking questions about Daniel and offers to find him. Unsure she can trust the handsome peer, Thea dresses up as a boy and follows him!
Lord Vernon Beauchamp feels his life lacks direction. Meeting Thea gives him a renewed purpose. And when they are thrown together on their scandalous adventure, friendship soon gives way to desire...
Vernon stood at the washstand, shirtless, his back to her as he bent over the bowl.
The candlelight danced across unblemished skin and she watched, fascinated by the play of muscles across his shoulders and back, as he continued his ablutions. Her hands itched to touch, to stroke, to discover if his skin was as smooth as it looked. His breeches were stretched tight, outlining taut buttocksâthrust temptingly in her directionâand long, lean thighs. Her mouth dried as her skin heated. A thrilling sense of anticipation swirled in her belly, then slowed, arrowing in to the juncture of her thighs and provoking a strange restlessness.
An insistent need.
Thea resisted the urge to move, to turn onto her back, to push aside the covers, to extend her arms and invite him to hold her. How would it feel to throw aside morals and caution and pride and follow that craving? She lay motionless, still watching as Vernon hummed a tune she did not recognise under his breath, seemingly perfectly relaxed.
Desire.
She recognised it instinctively, although she had never before experienced it.
Author Note
Scandal and Miss Markham is the second of The Beauchamp Betrothals linked books, but it is a stand-alone story and itâs not essential to read Cinderella and the Duke first.
It is time for Lord Vernon Beauchampâhandsome, wealthy, darling of the ton and younger brother of Leo, Duke of Cheritonâto meet his match. But his life seems almost too perfect. A man like himâand he has featured in other books of mine, apart from Cinderella and the Dukeâwould surely just need to snap his fingers to win any woman he chose? But then I thought a bit more about his life and I realised he has always been Leoâs sidekick, always the second in command, and he is bored. He needs shaking out of his perfect life, and I knew just the woman to do it.
Enter Dorothea Markham, a glass manufacturerâs daughter with fascinating springy copper curls, a stubborn streak a mile wide and a penchant for acting first and repenting laterâor not, as the case may be. She doesnât need help from anyone when her brother fails to return homeâleast of all from a spoilt, wealthy aristocrat with a tendency to tease her...and to make her pulse leap alarmingly.
Enjoy the trip as Vernon and Thea embark on an adventure to find her missing brother and end up finding more than they bargained for.
JANICE PRESTON grew up in Wembley, North London, with a love of reading, writing stories and animals. In the past she has worked as a farmer, a police callhandler and a university administrator. She now lives in the West Midlands with her husband and two cats, and has a part-time job as a weight management counsellorâvainly trying to control her own weight despite her love of chocolate!
Books by Janice Preston
Mills & Boon Historical Romance
The Beauchamp Betrothals
Cinderella and the Duke
Scandal and Miss Markham
The Governess Tales
The Governessâs Secret Baby
Men About Town
Return of Scandalâs Son
Saved by Scandalâs Heir
Linked by Characterto Men About Town duet
Mary and the Marquis
From Wallflower to Countess
Visit the Author Profile page at millsandboon.co.uk.
To Mum.
I like to think you would be proud.
Chapter One
Theaâs head snapped up at the sound of wheels crunching across the gravel outside Stourwell Court.
Daniel!
Hope erupted through her...it had been five days since her brother had gone out one day and not returned. She leapt to her feet and hurried to the salon window. A glimpse of a curricle drawn by a pair of blacks set her heart racing, and she flung her embroidery aside, gathered her skirts and ran for the door. Across the hall and through the front door she sped.
Please. Let it be him.
Doubts nipped at her as she sprinted down the steps to the now stationary conveyance, but she ignored them. She could not bear to let that prayer of hope fizzle and die. She shut her mind against the evidence of her eyes as she reached the foot of the steps and hurried to the curricle.
âDanielââ
Her eyes met those of the driverâa strangerâand she skidded to a halt, gravel spinning from beneath her feet.