Leave a Widow Wanting More by Charlie Lane
PREVIEW: Teach a Rogue New Tricks
A villainous rogue. A bluestocking in search of adventure. A partnership destined to end in exile or love.
Ada Cavendish has spent the last five years in the country taking care of her siblings. She can mend a ripped stocking, tend a scrapped knee, and deliver a scathing lecture after any misbehavior.
But she’s ready for a change. What better time than her first London Season? She’ll run a little wild and have a little fun before returning to her quiet domestic existence.
Cassius Albee is a future Earl of Brookmere. But he’s also a villain, exiled to France after the attempted abduction of his sister-in-law. Now he’s returned determined to reform his roguish ways.
He’s developed a plan for self-improvement. But he’s missing the one thing everyone knows a rake must have in order to reform—a good woman.
And when the smart and bold Miss Cavendish delivers a perfect lecture on the depravity of eavesdropping, he knows he’s found the one.
Ada agrees to teach Cass the basics of good behavior if he’ll help her break a few rules. But can a rake really learn new tricks, or will their perfect plan end in utter ruin?
The second novel in Charlie Lane’s new Cavendish Family series will keep you laughing and swooning all the way to a happily ever after.
* * *Babies were cute if you squinted. And they weren’t screaming. Otherwise they resembled a decidedly odoriferous and loud pile of wrinkled laundry. And yet a babe—not more than a month old—held the attention of everyone in the garden. Every adult orbited around it like the Earth around the sun.
Except for Ada. Her aunt and uncle, her stepmother and sister—they could have the child’s coos and gurgles. Ada wanted to know more about the man.
He stood in the second floor window, looking down, hands clutched behind his back. She couldn’t see details other than dark hair and a form that filled the window frame.
Who was he?
“Ada, come see the baby.” Nora waved her over to the center of the universe. “Do come. He’s a doll!”
Ada rose. The short distance between her perch under the willow tree and the baby might well afford a better view of the unnamed man. Alas, the distance proved too short and the angle too bad.
Nora pinched her arm.
“Ow!” Ada rubbed the stinging spot.
“Don’t scowl at the baby, sister!”
“I wasn’t scowling.”
Nora tapped Ada’s shoulder. “You were.”
“Not at the baby at any rate.”
“Fine. But do look.” Her voice held decided notes of adoration, nay, obsession.
Ada looked. She pulled her lower lip between her teeth to keep the exclamation of adoration at bay. She ignored the puddle her heart made at her feet. The baby locked eyes on her. It knew. It knew she was putty in its tiny, chubby, perfect hand. She should have kept her distance. The time for babies would come. Now, at this season of her life, she wanted adventure.
And to know the name of the man in the window.
Nora’s nose scrunched up. “Oh dear.”
Uncle Nathan took a step backward and clasped his hands together behind his back as if to say not it!
The pungent aroma of a full nappy assaulted Ada’s nose. She stifled a laugh. The little bundle had lovely timing. Saving that smell for her, he was. Ada took the baby from Nora without thought. “I’ll take him to nurse.”
Aunt Lola swept in and relieved Ada of her giggling, odoriferous bundle. “No, no. Stay here. Annie!”
A nurse maid appeared as if from thin air. “Right here, my lady.”
Lola stood and handed over the child. “That’s the third time in an hour.” Her brow scrunched together. “Should we worry?”
The nurse carried the babe over the grass, Lola close on her heels and leaning heavily on her cane.
Thank goodness it wasn’t her changing the child. It almost had been. She needed to work harder to curtail that impulse to always be the first to offer help, to solve someone else’s problem. It left little time for her own plans.
Besides, she’d changed more nappies than an unmarried woman of her age and standing usually had by this point in her life. Her younger sister was out of them not more than five years ago, and her twin cousins not more than four. She had desire to take the obligation up again so soon.
Nora sighed, watching the baby go, then she snapped toward Ada. “Why do you keep looking up at the house?”
Ada jumped. “Am I?”
“Mm hm. You’re going to hurt your neck craning it back like that every few seconds.”
“There’s a man up there. In the window.”
Nora looked up. “I don’t see him.”
Ada’s face whipped to the edifice. He’d gone. “He was there but a moment ago. I wonder who he is. You used to live with Aunt Lola, surely you know all her acquaintances. Which one would visit but refuse to join the rest of the company?”
Nora cut a frantic glance at their father. “Shh! I’d prefer him never to find out where I’ve spent most of my time in the last year thank you very much.”
“He likely would not care. His lovely Nora can do no wrong.”
“I’ve not scowled and growled at him every trip home for the last several years as you have. He adores me because I’m adorable.” Nora smiled.
Ada glared.
Nora patted her shoulder. “You’re adorable, too. When you’re not scowling. Like you are now. How late did Pansy keep you up last night?”
Ada groaned. “Last night’s nightmare was about Father again. This time he fell overboard a ship railing.”
“He’s been home several months now, and the nightmares have not stopped.” She shook her head. “She should seek out Papa or Sarah now, though. Not you.”
“Pansy likes Sarah, and is glad to have Papa home, but she doesn’t know them well yet. She needs me still. But”—Ada yawned—“She likes to chat after her nightmares, and I’ve no idea how long I lay beside her all sincere nods and polite answers to her questions.”
“Well, she must warm up before our debut. No nightmares the night before the ball. You must look your best.”
“It’s exciting, isn’t it?” At six and twenty, Ada was a bit long in the tooth for a debutante, but it couldn’t be helped. “I’m glad father has decided Aunt Lola is a reputable chaperone, but I suppose Sarah has something to do with that.”
Nora’s head bobbed up and down. “Likely. Sarah’s a wonder. Can get Papa to bend to her will with the crook of a finger. I hope to entrance a man like that one day.”
“I hope to”—Ada frowned, rolled her eyes heavenward, searching—“I hope to have a bit of fun, to enjoy my season.”
“And stop playing governess to your siblings.” Nora arched a brow and crossed her arms over her chest.
“Sorry. But true. I do love you all.”
“And we love you. And you are due a bit of fun. I say you should take it, Lucas be damned.”
“Why in heavens name would you mention Lucas?”
“Your suitor is a stick in the mud, and if you ask me—”
“I’m not asking you.”
“It would be best if he stays in the country and lets you live life a bit. Maybe you’ll meet another man you like better. One less … sticky. And muddy.”
“Lucas is a fine man. Responsible. Proper.” And she had to marry him. No denying that.
Nora made a snoring noise. “Perhaps you should relate all of Lucas’s good points to help put Pansy to sleep after nightmares.”
“You are being unkind.”
“And you should expect more from a suitor than respectability. You’ve had enough responsibility. You should be bold. Scandalous.”
Ada rolled her eyes, but she could not resist a smile.
“Ah ha. I see that smile, Sister. You’re going to take my advice. Good. I look forward to seeing the outcome.” Nora looked up as she began to stroll away. “Oh, look. I see him now. Is that your mystery fellow?” She tiled her head. “No. I don’t believe I’ve met him before. But he looks awfully familiar. Hm.” She turned with a jerk and grabbed Ada’s upper arms. “Find out!” Her eyes sparkled. “Go upstairs and find out who he is.”
Ada tugged away. “Why would I?”
“Because it might be fun. It will definitely be a bold adventure.”
Ada looked at the man in the window. She wanted to know who he was, needed to know, almost.
“Listen, Ada. I’ve heard you say over and over again how you wished girls could adventure about the globe as men like our father do, and they can’t, but you can adventure up the stairs, surely.”
Ada sucked in truth with a heavy breath. “You’re right. You’re right, Nora. Thank you.” She marched toward the house.
“Good luck! I hope he’s handsome. And a bachelor!”
Ada groaned. She didn’t care about all that. She cared about this—she marched, currently, into the unknown to solve a mystery. For the first—well, perhaps second—time in her life she was having an adventure of her own making instead of one crafted by a child or read about in books by her father. She entered the house with head held high and took the stairs with bold, confident steps. But as she reached the landing, she hesitated. Which door? She closed her eyes and imagined him in the outline of the window from her place in the garden. If she remembered correctly, he should be in the room behind the second door on the left. She crept toward it, her heart pounding.
The door already stood ajar. She pressed herself to the wall beside it and peeked her head around. He still stood at the window. He was tall, his dark hair slightly curled and longer than she’d seen other men in London wear it so far. His broad shoulders spoke of an active life, as did his trim waist and muscled … oh my. She should be spying on a strange man’s backside. If she’d caught Nora doing such a thing, she’d give her a right set down. But … but she’d come up here for an adventure, and this was certainly that. An enjoyable one, too.
A male sigh rent the air. The delectable backside began to turn away from her. Pity.
“Who the hell are you?”
Ada raised her eyes to the man’s face. It was finely boned and lightly tanned with chiseled lips and ice-blue eyes. They were imperious. And annoyed. And a bit curious. And … “Why are you scared?”
Those eyes widened, then a steel curtain slammed down over the emotions that had pooled in their depths. “Scared?”
“Oh, yes. I see it all the time.” She waved her hand at his face. “The false bravado. The insolence—all hiding fear of”—she tilted her head to one side—being caught.”
He blushed. Then he straightened a cuff and arched a brow at her. “Are you afraid of being caught, Miss Cavendish?”
“Me? I’m not doing anything wrong.” Except speaking with a strange man. Alone. Yet it didn’t feel wrong. It felt thrilling, exactly the adventure she’d desired.
“And I am doing something wrong?”
“I hardly know. But you are skulking. You cannot deny that.”
“And skulking is wrong?” A half smile pulled at his lips.
She repressed the urge to return it. “Not in and of itself. But in my experience, it is certainly indicative of wrong-doing. It is a symptom, if you will.”
“Your experience? Hm. Which is?”
She pulled herself up tall. “You are a stranger.”
That half smile again. “A skulking stranger.”
“I should not speak to you.” She could at least let him know she knew the way of the world and the good and scandalous behaviors therein. “And I certainly will not share intimate details of my life with you.” She did have her limits, it seemed. Good to know.
“Intimate?”
The way he said the single word alarmed her, as if it were the most delectable cup of hot chocolate. Her spine tingled. Perhaps this had been a bad idea. She turned to leave, to run. Adventures were well and good, but even better was knowing when to abandon them.
“Leaving so soon? For the best,” he mumbled.
Ada stopped. She steadied her nerves with a calming breath and smoothed her skirts. She’d come here to answer one question, and she’d complete that goal before turning tail. And something in his words calmed her, too. She knew that grumbly tone, slightly sad, slightly recalcitrant. The twins used it often when apologizing to her for some misdemeanor or another. He sounded a like a little boy, sorry for his mistakes, but slightly put out at having to admit to it.
She faced him once more. “Who are you?
The half smile that had played about his lips during their entire exchange died. “No one you should know or be conversing with.” He shooed her toward the door. “You were leaving, I believe.”
“I think I’ll decide who to talk to and when to leave for myself.”
“But you seem to be having a difficult go of it, marching back and forth, spinning about this way than that. Coming or going, love? Which is it?”
Ada bristled. She stomped toward him. “You should not use endearments to address unknown women. And you should not speak unless you have kind things to say. Mocking a lady, or anyone for that matter, is simply not … it’s not nice!”
He blinked at her, opened his mouth to speak, then closed it again. He bowed low. “My apologies. I beg your forgiveness.”
Ada sniffed. “Given. Now. See how easy that was?”
“Indeed.” He looked back toward the window then at her again. He pushed his hand through his hair. He seemed at a loss, for words, for actions, for everything actually.
She could guide him in the right direction. “Now. I believe you were going to introduce yourself?”
His blank, lost face slowly scrunched into a scowl then evened out once more. He stood tall, chin thrust high. “As you wish, Miss Cavendish. I am”—he bowed low and rose to face her slowly—“a villain.” His eyes glinted hard and cold, and as tall as he was, pulled up to his full height, he seemed powerful, big, and ominous.
She swallowed. He was, perhaps, more adventure than she’d bargained for. But she could not back down. She stood steady and prepared to fight the beast.
* * *Will Ada fight the villainous beast and win or will she lose her heart? Preorder Teach a Rogue New Tricksto find out!