#MisWeekTease goes back... and into the future

Welcome to this week's #MidWeekTease.

I'm finishing off a Regency (that's the going back bit) which will be published in the new year. (That's the future bit) and as I'm so involved with it, I decided to give you a sneak peak. The original working title was The Biddable Wife, but as Lydia turned out to be not at all biddable, I've used the working title of Lord Birnham to the Rescue.

I've no blurb, so all I can say, is Lydia never wanted to marry, and nor did Harry, until a, he saw Lydia and b, Jeremy, his heir was pathetic. Now he has to get Lydia to agree.

This is where Harry realises Lydia is not the shy retiring wallflower she purports to be...

(unedited word vomit)

‘My lord?’ a hesitant voice said. ‘Are you well? You seem troubled.’ Good god he’d forgotten the woman sat before him. Never mind him, she was obviously in pain; he’d noticed the wince and the way she had trouble formulating her thoughts. Heavens, she’d sounded almost animated for a split second, she must not be herself.

Nevertheless fine blonde hair twisted into a complicated knot, with delicate wispy tendrils loose around her creamy cheeks, blue eyes and an hourglass figure made his body and his mind sit up and notice. He had a weakness for those attributes in a female. That half formulated plan of earlier began to niggle him again.

Jeremy must be saved from his own impetuousness. After all hadn’t he finished his diatribe by saying sullenly that whatever happened he would have his own way?

‘Will you give me the pleasure of your company on the terrace for a short while?’ Harry asked his companion, urbanely.

She looked up at him from under impossibly long honey-gold lashes. ‘Why?’

One word full of suspicion. He couldn’t blame her, he’d never ever indicated by so much as a wink or a nod that he had even a flicker of interest in her. Now it seemed Miss Lydia Field had more to her than those limpid pools of blue otherwise known as her eyes, the hair of spun silk and a figure to hold and caress indicated. Good god, now he sounded like one of those awful books he’d heard women loved to read and accused Jeremy of behaving like a character from. Why had nobody brought the lady’s delicious attributes to his attention before?

 Probably no one looked closely enough to see them. Including me.

‘The cooler air might help your pain. Plus, It had been remiss of me to neglect you,’ he said smoothly, every inch a gentleman of the ton. ‘I feel behove.’

‘Why? You have never shown the need before,’ she said bluntly, and put her hand over her mouth. ‘Oh, my lord, I do apologise at my rudeness.’

Harry laughed. ‘No don’t go and spoil it. I like this side of you.’

Did she really say ‘I was afraid of that?’

Lydia shook her head. ‘My mama would be aghast at my lack of respect. Perhaps I best return to her side before I totally blot my copybook. If you would excuse me, my lord.’ She curtseyed and began to turn.

Harry stopped her by dint of taking hold of one wrist. ‘To my certain knowledge, you, my dear have never shown you had an ounce of spirit before,’ he replied amiably. ‘It intrigues me. Perhaps we should further our acquaintance. Here, where so many other people are milling around will attract attention. The terrace is within view and will cause less interest than anywhere else.’

‘If you think that, you are deranged,’ Lydia said bluntly. Evidently she had forgotten her need to efface herself. Harry hoped she would continue to do so.

Catch the other #MidWeekTease posts ~~here~~