Unlacing Lady Thea
A JOURNEY INTO PLEASURE…The night before dissolute Lord Denham is about to embark on his Grand Tour he meets an unexpected complication. In boy’s clothes that barely conceal her delectable curves, his childhood friend Lady Althea Curtiss – desperate to escape an arranged marriage – arrives, demanding free passage!Rhys accepts his unlikely travelling companion with great reluctance – the scandal is sure to blow up in his face – until he finds there is far more intimate territory Lady Thea is curious to explore. Soon he realises that he is in danger of awakening not only Thea’s sensuality, but also his ownlong-buried heart…
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‘Turn around,’ Rhys murmured.
It should have been easier when she could not see him, but that slight betraying catch in his breathing gave her an unexpected feeling of power, and the last lingering fear that he was pretending desire in order to save her humiliation fled.
‘Ah…’ The bliss of loosened stay-laces, the sense of freedom as her corset joined the gown on the floor. Her petticoat followed it, leaving her in chemise, stockings and a blush. ‘I find I am shy,’ Thea confessed.
‘And I find I am somewhat overdressed,’ Rhys murmured in her ear.
She had thought he would kiss her, touch her, but only his breath stroked her skin. Thea turned. ‘Should I undress you?’
‘Don’t you want to?’ There was amusement in his eyes, but not mockery.
AUTHOR NOTE
Last year I spent a wonderful fortnight travelling along the Italian coast from Venice to Sicily on board a small boat. The whole trip was so interesting, and the scenery so beautiful, that I knew I had to put it into a novel.
UNLACING LADY THEA is the result, and it is set in that short space of peace before Napoleon escaped from Elba and it seemed that the whole of Europe was going to be consumed by war again.
I knew Thea immediately—practical, funny, loving and brave—but I had no idea who she was going to share this adventure with until Rhys Denham, rather the worse for wear after an evening out, appeared on the page and began discussing life with the kitchen cat.
It was enormous fun to revisit some of my favourite places in France and Italy in the course of this novel, and I hope you enjoy the journey as much as Thea and Rhys—although hopefully with fewer accidents along the way!
DEDICATION
The Hussies,
with thanks for all the support, advice and laughter.
LOUISE ALLEN has been immersing herself in history, real and fictional, for as long as she can remember. She finds landscapes and places evoke powerful images of the past—Venice, Burgundy and the Greek islands are favourite atmospheric destinations. Louise lives on the North Norfolk coast, where she shares the cottage they have renovated with her husband. She spends her spare time gardening, researching family history or travelling in the UK and abroad in search of inspiration. Please visit Louise’s website—www.louiseallenregency.co.uk—for the latest news, or find her on Twitter @LouiseRegency and on Facebook.
Previous novels by the same author:
THE DANGEROUS MR RYDER* THE OUTRAGEOUS LADY FELSHAM* THE SHOCKING LORD STANDON* THE DISGRACEFUL MR RAVENHURST* THE NOTORIOUS MR HURST* THE PIRATICAL MISS RAVENHURST* PRACTICAL WIDOW TO PASSIONATE MISTRESS** VICAR’S DAUGHTER TO VISCOUNT’S LADY** INNOCENT COURTESAN TO ADVENTURER’S BRIDE** RAVISHED BY THE RAKE† SEDUCED BY THE SCOUNDREL† MARRIED TO A STRANGER† FORBIDDEN JEWEL OF INDIA‡ TARNISHED AMONGST THE TON‡ FROM RUIN TO RICHES
*Those Scandalous Ravenhursts **The Transformation of the Shelley Sisters †Danger © Desire ‡Linked by character
and as a Mills © Boon>® special release: REGENCY RUMOURS
and in the Silk © Scandal mini-series: THE LORD AND THE WAYWARD LADY THE OFFICER AND THE PROPER LADY
and in Mills © Boon>® Historical Undone! eBooks: DISROBED AND DISHONOURED AUCTIONED VIRGIN TO SEDUCED BRIDE**
Did you know that some of these novels are also available as eBooks? Visit www.millsandboon.co.uk
Contents
Chapter One
London—June 3, 1814
The skeleton clock on the overmantel struck four. No point in going to bed. Besides, he was thoroughly foxed, although not drunk enough to keep him from lying awake, wondering what had possessed him to make this insane plan. And worse, to follow through with organisation so ruthlessly efficient that to cancel now would throw his entire staff, financial team, estate management and social life into disorder—and make it seem he did not know his own mind.
‘Which I do not,’ Rhys Denham informed the ragged-eared ginger tom that sat on the hearthrug eyeing him with the disdain that only a feline or a dowager duchess could muster. ‘Know my own mind, that is. Always do, just not this time.’
The appearance of the kitchen mouser on the principal floor, let alone in the study of the third Earl of Palgrave, was unheard of. The household must be stirring already, too distracted by their master’s imminent departure for the Continent to notice an open door at the head of the servants’ stair.
‘It seemed a good plan at the time,’ Rhys mused. The brandy at the bottom of the glass glowed in the candlelight, and he splashed in more and tossed the lot back. ‘I’m drunk. Haven’t been this drunk in years.’ Not since he had woken up one afternoon and realised that drink was never going to blot out the disaster of his wedding day, restore his faith in friendship or his delusions about romantic love.
