Jasper's Angel

JASPER'S ANGEL

By

Maggie Jagger

© copyright October 2009, Maggie Jagger

Cover art by Alex DeShanks, © copyright October 2009

ISBN 1-60394-381-9

New Concepts Publishing

Lake Park, GA 31636

www.newconceptspublishing.com

This is a work of fiction. All characters, events, and places are of the author's imagination and not to be confused with fact. Any resemblance to living persons or events is merely coincidence.

Chapter One

Eleanor refused to chaperone the most annoying matchmakers in England. Giving them an opportunity to be wicked was the only way to stop them plotting to find her a husband, any husband at all. They had no conscience where she was concerned.

Her sister's voice filtered through the perfumed air from the shade of the wisteria bower. "All five of them?"

"You can't count Jasper," said Mr. Benedict. "He's as exclusive as the duke. Your sister won't appeal to either of them. We must pin our hopes on her attracting the rest of the Halyton Horde."

"If one of them falls in love with her and compromises her, she'd have to marry him." Juliet sounded thrilled at the idea. "They are all extremely handsome. Eleanor cannot complain!"

"Complain about marrying a Halyton? Should hope not, my love. Brothers of a duke, you know." Mr. Benedict lowered his voice to ask in worried tones, "Do you find them awfully good looking?"

"Not as handsome as you, Lancie."

Eleanor almost laughed out loud. How could he worry about his appearance? He was the most boyishly handsome man she had ever met. His flowing blond hair framed a face of breathtaking beauty. If he'd never opened his mouth to speak, she might have loved him as ardently as Juliet.

During a noisy interlude filled with masculine moans and feminine sighs, Eleanor edged out of the rose arbor determined to escape the Halyton brothers, known far and wide as the Horde.

"Your sister is not as lovely as you," rasped Mr. Benedict.

Eleanor hoped they forgot all propriety and gave in to their desires. She hoped they got caught anticipating their matrimonial delights.

"Oh, Juliet! Oh! Oh!" Mr. Benedict's eloquence diminished. "Agh."

What were they doing? She couldn't resist a quick glance, just to see if more witnesses were required.

"Oh, Lancie." Juliet stroked her fiancé's chest. Even through all his clothes, it had an effect on him.

Eleanor had never touched a man's chest.

"I adore you, my love. I want us to be married, so badly. So very, very, very badly." Mr. Benedict lost all coherence.

"Me too, Lancie." Juliet held her fiancé's face between her hands to make him look at her. She said in a penetrating whisper, "Don't breathe a word to Eleanor about the Halyton Horde coming to visit."

How could they! Eleanor escaped from the garden. She had heard stories about the Halytons' refusal to take no for an answer. Mr. Benedict's mother was a determined gossip and had confided that her sister, the dowager duchess, had been forced to marry the late duke--their son was born six months after the wedding.

Half an hour later, Eleanor's mount fidgeted under her in the stable yard. The track up to the moor was bathed in sunlight and she was determined to go home. Foiling the trap laid for her was more important than being brave, or being thought rude by the Benedict family.

Bad luck brought Mr. Benedict running up the path from the garden to stop her.

"Miss Tennant, where are you going?" He gasped for air. "Company is coming. You can't go for a ride now."

"I am going home. I left Juliet a note," said Eleanor. She stared down at him from her vantage point on Grizelle's back. "You only want me here to meet your Halyton cousins."

"How can you make a fuss about being introduced to them?" He gave an airy wave of dismissal. "You'll find they won't stand on ceremony. There is no need to be shy." His pride showed in his self-satisfied expression.

"Mr. Benedict, let us have plain speaking between us. You want one of the Halyton Horde to compromise me. I overheard you say so to Juliet."

"Don't call 'em that, the duke doesn't like it," he warned. "You misunderstood! A Halyton only compromises the woman he loves and intends to marry. If it were otherwise, if they just went around compromising ladies, the duke would have their heads." He gave a pitying smile at her ignorance.

"Thank you for explaining it to me. It's so reassuring." Her sarcasm was lost on him. "Are any of them likely to find brown hair and gray eyes particularly alluring?"

He appraised her face and figure with a knowing air. Though her long skirt covered even her shoes, and her tailored riding jacket and shirt were perfectly respectable, she suddenly felt half naked, as if he could see through her clothes.