The Rake's Bargain. Lucy Ashford

      

       ‘I want justice for my brother,’ Beau replied.

      ‘No, you don’t,’ Deb answered him coolly. ‘It’s your pride making you do this. It’s my belief that you just cannot bear anyone getting the better of you.’

      Beau’s eyes were narrow slits. ‘My motives, Miss O’Hara, aren’t yours to question.’

      ‘But your strategy is, since I’m to play a major part in it! How can I seriously pretend to be Paulette?’

      Her composure appeared to be cracking at last. She got to her feet and walked to and fro.

      He too rose and came slowly towards her, and she was utterly shaken by the lithe movement of his lean body, by the sense of his power and strength. She’d never met anyone like him, and she knew she was in deep, deep trouble.

      ‘You will be Paulette,’ he said. ‘We shall make you Paulette in every way.’

       AUTHOR NOTE

      In Regency times troupes of actors roamed the English countryside from spring to autumn, presenting a variety of entertainments to the usually appreciative crowds who gathered to see them. Deb O’Hara, heroine of THE RAKE’S BARGAIN, leads one of these travelling troupes, and it’s her dream to find a permanent theatre for them some day, in London. But first she has to face a rather formidable opponent—Damian Beaumaris, known as Beau, who isn’t impressed in the slightest by her theatrical skills!

      As ever, I’ve found writing about the Regency era an absolute delight, and I really hope you enjoy Deb and Beau’s story.

      LUCY ASHFORD, an English Studies lecturer, has always loved literature and history, and from childhood one of her favourite occupations has been to immerse herself in historical romances. She studied English with history at Nottingham University, and the Regency is her favourite period.

      Lucy lives with her husband in an old stone cottage in the Peak District, near to beautiful Chatsworth House and Haddon Hall, both of which give her a taste of the magic of life in a bygone age. Her garden enjoys spectacular views over the Derbyshire hills, where she loves to roam and let her imagination go to work on her latest story.

      You can contact Lucy via her website:

      www.lucyashford.com

      The Rake’s

      Bargain

      Lucy Ashford

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

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      Contents

       Cover

       Introduction

AUTHOR NOTE

       About the Author

       Title Page

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

       Extract

       Copyright

       Chapter One

      June 1803

      Miss Deborah O’Hara pressed herself close to the ivy-covered mansion and tried not to flinch as the rain trickled off the brim of her cap and dripped steadily—coldly—down