SO WHAT DO YOU SAY TO THE WAGER, MISS PRENTESS? A DIAMOND WORTH THOUSANDS AGAINST A NIGHT WITH ME?”
No London beauty has managed to tame the incorrigible Jasper Coale, though many have lost their reputations trying. In sedate Bath on a family errand, the viscount expects to find little in terms of entertainment—certainly no female company to tempt him.
Miss Susannah Prentess’s discreet card parties in Royal Crescent offer a welcome distraction. And the glint in Susannah’s hazel eyes tells Jasper he’s met his match at last. But is she game enough to accept the most outrageous wager of all?
The Notorious Coale Brothers
They are the talk of the Ton!
Twin brothers Dominic and Jasper Coale set society’s tongues wagging with their disreputable behavior.
Get to know the real men behind the
scandalous reputations in this deliciously wicked duet from Sarah Mallory!
Major Dominic Coale
Locked away in his castle in the woods,
with only his tormenting memories for company,
until governess Zelah Pentewan crosses the threshold.
BENEATH THE MAJOR’S SCARS
December 2012
Jasper Coale, Viscount Markham
Used to having his own way where women are concerned, Jasper would bet his fortune on being able to
seduce beautiful Susannah Prentess,
but she proves stubbornly resistant to his charms!
BEHIND THE RAKE’S WICKED WAGER
January 2013
Author Note
Behind the Rake’s Wicked Wager is the story of Jasper Coale, Viscount Markham, the elder of the notorious Coale brothers.
When I decided upon my identical twin heroes I wanted the men and their stories to be anything but identical. Dominic is a soldier. He sustained horrific injuries during the Peninsular War, but he is surviving to build a new life for himself in England. By comparison Jasper has had an easy time of it. He has grown up knowing his role in life: he was born and raised to be Viscount Markham. Jasper has it all—money, position, good looks and an abundance of charm. He has been courted as a most eligible bachelor all his life and has never fought for any woman’s attention—if she does not welcome his advances he is happy to shrug and move on. Until he meets Susannah Prentess, who appears to be contemptuous of his charm, his money and his title.
Susannah has her own reasons for keeping the attractive viscount at arm’s length. Her experiences have taught her to be wary of fashionable gentlemen like Lord Markham, and she has secrets that could ruin her standing in Bath society should they become known. At first she thinks Jasper is not so different from any other rich man—determined to get his own way at any cost—but when she finds herself in a difficult and potentially serious situation with him she finds the viscount capable of some very unrakish behavior!
I do hope you enjoy reading Susannah and Jasper’s story and I would be delighted to know what you think of it. You can contact me via my website, www.sarahmallory.com.
Sarah Mallory
Behind the Rake’s Wicked Wager
Available from Harlequin® Historical and SARAH MALLORY
More Than a Governess #233
The Wicked Baron #257
The Earl’s Runaway Bride #284
*Wicked Captain, Wayward Wife #293
To Catch a Husband... #307
*The Dangerous Lord Darrington #315
Snowbound with the Notorious Rake #321
†Beneath the Major’s Scars #345
†Behind the Rake’s Wicked Wager #348
Look for Sarah Mallory’s The Illegitimate Montague part of Castonbury Park Regency miniseries
*Linked by character
†The Notorious Coale Brothers
Did you know that these novels are also available as ebooks? Visit www.Harlequin.com.
For P and S, my own twin heroes.
Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Excerpt
Chapter One
‘Well, well, Lord Markham, have you ever seen such a bonny child?’
Jasper Coale, Viscount Markham, looked down at the baby lying in its crib and was at a loss for words. Thankfully, his sister-in-law came to his aid.
‘Fie now, Lady Andrews, when was a man ever interested in babies? I suspect the viscount is merely glad that his little godson is not screaming the house down, as he was doing during the ceremony.’ Zelah gazed down fondly at her baby son. ‘Fortunately the journey back from the church has rocked him off to sleep.’
The christening of Dominic and Zelah’s second child had been a major event and the little church at Lesserton was crowded for the ceremony. Afterwards, Dominic laid on a feast at the White Hart for the tenants and villagers to enjoy, while family and close friends were invited to Rooks Tower for an elegant and substantial repast. Zelah had the satisfaction of seeing her rooms overflowing with guests, despite the threat of snow which was always a concern during the early months of the year. She suspected no small part of the inducement to the local families to leave their firesides was the knowledge that no lesser person than Viscount Markham would be present.
Jasper had been unable to attend the christening of his niece Arabella some eighteen months earlier, but Zelah and Dominic had asked him to stand godfather for their new-born son, and only the direst winter weather would have kept him away.
The fires at Rooks Tower were banked up, the table almost groaned with the banquet it was required to support and the wine flowed freely. Jasper was sure the neighbourhood would be talking about the Coales’ hospitality for months to come. Most of the guests were gathered in the yellow salon, but Jasper had wandered across to join Zelah in the study where the baby was sleeping, watched over by his devoted nurse. Sir Arthur and Lady Andrews had followed him into the room, brimming with good humour thanks to the abundant quantities of wine and food.
‘I admit I have nothing but praise for my godson while he is sleeping,’ said Jasper, glancing down into the crib.
‘It makes me quite broody,’ declared Lady Andrews, causing her husband to guffaw loudly.
‘Now, now, my dear, our breeding days are well past, thank the Lord!’
‘I am well aware of that, sir.’ The lady turned her
bright gaze upon Jasper. ‘But what of you, Lord Markham? I am sure, seeing your brother’s felicity, you must envy him his happy state.’
Jasper’s smile froze. Glancing across the crib, he saw the sudden alarm in Zelah’s dark eyes. He must respond quickly, lest they notice how pale she had grown. But even as he sought for the words his sister-in-law recovered with a laughing rejoinder.
‘Having spent the past two weeks here with his niece and godson, Lord Markham is more likely to value his freedom!’ She tucked her hand in his arm. ‘If you will excuse us, Sir Arthur, Lady Andrews, I must carry the viscount away now to speak to my sister before she leaves us...’
‘I commend your quick thinking,’ he murmured as they crossed the hall.
‘I had to do something,’ she responded quietly. ‘I did not want you to snub them for their impertinence. They are good people, and mean well.’
‘Mean well—!’ He smothered an exclamation and after a moment continued, ‘I beg your pardon, but it seems these days the whole world is eager to marry me off. I cannot look at a woman without her family hearing wedding bells.’
She chuckled. ‘Surely it has always been thus. ’Tis merely that you are more aware of it now.’
‘Perhaps you are right. I thought by leaving London I should have some respite from the incessant gossip and conjecture.’
Zelah gave a soft laugh and squeezed his arm.
‘You are nigh on thirty years old, my lord. Society considers it time you settled down and produced an heir.’
‘Society can go hang. I will not marry without love, and you know you are the only woman—’
Zelah stopped. ‘Hush, Jasper, someone may hear you.’
‘What if they do?’ He smiled down at her. ‘Dominic knows you refused me, it matters not what anyone else thinks.’
Zelah shook her head at him, trying to joke him out of his uncharacteristic seriousness.
‘For shame, my lord, what of your reputation as the wicked flirt no woman can resist? It would be sadly dented if word got out that you had been rejected.’
He looked down at her, wondering how it was that of all the women he had met, the only one he had ever wanted to marry should prefer his twin.