The Rake's Midnight Lady: A Regency Short Story

By Kate Harper

When Abbey Margate finds herself alone at midnight with Lord Hanwood, the most notorious rake in England, she knows she's in trouble. Abbey quickly discovers that, while she might despise Hanwood's wicked ways, she's far from immune to his charms. But having been enchanted by the intriguing Miss Margate, Hanwood is determined to pursue her despite Society's determination to keep them apart.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Kate Harper
• Release date: Jul 8, 2011
• ISBN: 9781465903464

Kate Harper

I love to write and it feels like I've been doing it forever, making up stories in my head. Reading has always been my first love and I realized at an early age that a good story stays with you for a long time. Not so much the words but the sense of time and place. With so many worlds chasing through my head, I write a lot of genres; romance, suspense, young adult and urban fantasy. I live in Australia with my partner, my children and a house full of animals.

Book preview

The Rake’s Midnight Lady

Kate Harper

Smashwords Edition

Copyright Kate Harper 2011

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http://www.Kate-Harper.com

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Chapter One

Miss Abigail Margate crouched behind a winged chair, heart pounding so hard she felt as if whoever had just entered the room must surely hear it. She took several deep breaths to calm herself, grateful to have had the presence of mind to have scrambled for cover the moment she had heard the door handle turning.

Peeking around the edge of the chair, Abbey caught a glimpse of well-polished hessians. As her gaze traveled upwards, her heart began to hammer all the harder; she had been hoping that the interruption would be no more than a servant, coming to check the fire in the hearth or to light several more tapers. Instead the familiar face of Lord Hanwood, Earl of Huntingdon met her appalled gaze. He was the last person she had been expecting to see tonight! Abbey bit her lip, fingers tightening on her reticule. Inside were the letters she had risked so much to retrieve, letters that her improvident cousin Cecile had written to his Lordship’s ward Edward. As mortifying as it would be to be discovered, it would be far worse to have her good work undone if Hanwood discovered her and guessed at the reason behind her presence in his library! Edward, possessed of a considerable fortune, which he would attain on his twenty-first birthday in a little less than two months, had the rare good fortune to have not one, but three men entrusted with his welfare. And Hanwood, curse him, intended to use Cecile’s – admittedly colorful – missive to convince his fellow guardians to postpone his inheritance for twelve months as Edward had expressed his desire to marry her cousin.

Abbey was extremely fond of Cecile, who had shown her nothing but kindness since her arrival from Derbyshire several months ago. The poor girl was so cast down by the prospect of not marrying the man she loved that she seemed in danger of going into a decline which was why Abbey had decided to take matters into her own hands. Lord Hanwood was far too used to having things go his way. It was high time somebody did something to take the wind out of his sails.

She shot another surreptitious look around the edge of the chair. The only time she had seen Hanwood was at the balls and routs that made up such a large part of the London Season. Lord Hanwood, the Earl of Huntingdon was certainly popular enough to rate an entrée into any salon. With his income, position and address he could do no wrong, although what brief glimpses she’d had of him since coming to London seemed to suggest that he was as arrogant as he was handsome. Abbey had watched him from the sidelines, watched the way his mouth was inclined to curl distain whenever some hopeful young lady attempted to catch his eye – and the great good fortune of becoming his wife. She had not wanted to look at him for she was quite certain he was exactly the kind of man that she most disliked but there was something about him that continually drew her gaze. In fact, he seemed to exert the most extraordinary fascination on her and she