Unlacing Lilly. Gail Ranstrom

      “So pensive, Miss?”

      Lillian whirled around to find a man in shirtsleeves standing beneath the willow. A groundskeeper or stable master. She turned away without speaking.

      A chuckle caused a chill to shiver up her spine. “Miss Lillian, is it not?”

      “Miss O’Rourke,” she corrected.

      The man came around the bench and gave her an impudent smile. She felt breathless and nervous. He’d been eavesdropping.

      “Well, Miss O’Rourke, you are to become a duchess. What good fortune.”

      She tilted her nose upward, feigning indifference.

      “You can speak to me. I promise I do not bite.”

      She glanced at him again and noted he had an expensive jacket slung over one arm. Not a gardener. But more unsettling than she’d thought. No, he did not look suitable at all. He looked like the sort of man who would ruin a woman….

      

      Unlacing Lilly

      Harlequin^®Historical

      Praise for Gail Ranstrom

      Lord Libertine

      “This dark tale…neatly juxtaposes the seamier side of the Regency period with the glittering superficiality of ‘polite society’…a good choice for the Halloween season.”

      —Library Journal

      The Courtesan’s Courtship

      “This book should not be missed.”

      —Rakehell

      The Rake’s Revenge

      “Ranstrom crafts an intriguing mystery, brimming with a fine cast of strong and likable characters and a few surprises.”

      —Romantic Times BOOKreviews

      The Missing Heir

      “Ranstrom draws us into this suspenseful tale right up to the very end.”

      —Romantic Times BOOKreviews

      Unlacing Lilly

      GAIL RANSTROM

      TORONTO • NEW YORK • LONDON

       AMSTERDAM • PARIS • SYDNEY • HAMBURG STOCKHOLM • ATHENS • TOKYO • MILAN • MADRID PRAGUE • WARSAW • BUDAPEST • AUCKLAND

      Available from Harlequin^®Historical and GAIL RANSTROM

      A Wild Justice #617

      Saving Sarah #660

      The Christmas Visit #727

      “A Christmas Secret”

      The Rake’s Revenge #731

      The Missing Heir #753

      The Courtesan’s Courtship #783

      Broken Vows, Mended Hearts #803

      “Paying the Piper”

      Indiscretions #824

      Lord Libertine #868

      Unlacing Lilly #912

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       NOVELS AVAILABLE NOW:

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      Encountering a respectable governess in scandalizing circumstances, Gareth Morant, Earl of Standon, demands her help. He educates the buttoned-up Miss Jessica Gifford in the courtesan’s arts.

       But he hasn’t bargained on such an ardent, clever pupil—or on his passionate response to her! The next sensual installment of Louise Allen’s Those Scandalous Ravenhurstsminiseries!

      #913 THE REBEL AND THE LADY—Kathryn Albright

      Returning to an unstable Texas, Jack Dumont is determined not to engage in the disputes brewing, wanting only to reunite with his brother. But beholding the entrancing beauty that is Victoria Ruiz, Jack realizes that to gain her love, he must fight hard for her land—and for her….

      Rebellion, freedom and romance—all in one passionate Texan tale!

      #914 TEMPLAR KNIGHT, FORBIDDEN BRIDE—Lynna Banning

      Beautiful, talented Leonor de Balenguer y Hassam is more interested in music than marriage, while Templar Knight Reynaud is seeking his true identity.

       As they travel together, both keeping secrets, attraction flares, but Reynaud knows he can’t offer Leonor what she deserves…. Travel on a thrilling journey through medieval France and Spain!

      For Andrew, Connor, Lendynn, Nicholas and Sarah—

       the best little buddies I could ever hope for.

      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

      Chapter Eighteen

      Chapter Nineteen

      Chapter Twenty

      Chapter Twenty-One

      Epilogue

      Chapter One

      London, July 27, 1821

      This was not the first time Devlin Farrell had intruded on the grounds of Rutherford House to watch the people within. Far from it. He knew the residents almost as well as he knew himself. Knew what they liked and didn’t like, who they saw, where they went and what they wanted. And he knew, too, when events would be held at Rutherford House that would allow him to watch them and, occasionally, mingle. Like tonight. There was not much, in fact, that he did not know about Lord Rutherford and his brood.

      Shrouded by the branches of a sheltering willow, he went unnoticed by strolling couples and the occasional straggler. He had little fear of being discovered. There were far too many guests to keep track of tonight. With the right enticement, he might even enter the ballroom and blend. No one would recognize him, and if they did, they certainly would not give him away lest they give themselves away. Devlin was not a man people would admit to knowing.

      Gay paper lanterns lit the paths and the sound of an orchestra floated from the ballroom on a summer breeze as soft as a caress to his cheek. Laughter filled the air, along with the clink of glasses, and he knew the wine would be as free-flowing as the Thames.

      Devlin shrugged out of his jacket and slung it over a branch to roll his shirtsleeves up. The night was uncommonly sultry and he was not in the least concerned about how a gentleman appeared in public. He was not a gentleman.

      “Oh, Lord Olney! You are beyond diverting.”

      Edward Manlay? Marquis of Olney and the Duke of Rutherford’s heir? Devlin turned toward the voice. Coming down the path toward the bench beneath the willow