No Decent Gentleman Read online

  God shield me, Sabrina thought. Even the man's tone of voice suggested intimacy. She hadn't noticed it earlier.

  Sabrina wanted to say something wonderfully witty, but her mind went blank. Thinking of something witty to say would take her an hour, and wonderfully witty would waste several days.

  Instead of speaking, Sabrina smiled shyly and offered him her hand. "Your arrival tonight was a miracle," she said when he accepted it. "I don't know what I would have done without your assistance."

  "I commend your loyalty to your father," Adam replied.

  "Sabrina!"

  Both Adam and Sabrina turned toward the voice and saw Edgar Briggs walking across the foyer. As if by mutual consent, they released each other's hands.

  The baron nodded once at the marquess and then rounded on Sabrina, beginning his lecture with "Your behavior tonight was unpardonable."

  "Oh, Edgar," she said in a weary voice. "Please, let's not go into it now and certainly not in front of the marquess."

  "I cannot hold my tongue until the morning," he said, and then turned to the marquess. "If you will excuse us, my lord, I wish to speak privately—"

  "I have no intention of being rude to my guests," Sabrina interrupted him. "Whatever you want to say will wait until tomorrow." She grasped Adam's forearm and escorted him toward the stairs, saying, "The drawing room is this way, my lord."

  Though the whole chamber had been draped in dreary black, ease and comfort had replaced formality in the drawing room. Sofas and chairs had been positioned closer to the warmth of the fire, and a variety of tables had been scattered about for convenience and utility. In the far corner of the chamber stood a pianoforte and a harp, both instruments also draped in black.

  At their entrance, the Duke of Kingston rose from the sofa and crossed the chamber to greet Sabrina properly. "Henry and I were great friends," he said, taking her hands in his. "I grieve for your father's passing."

  "Thank you, Your Grace."

  "Let's not stand on formality, my dear child," the duke said, escorting her to the sofa near the hearth. "Please call me Uncle Charles."

  "Oh, but I couldn't," she protested.

  "Yes, you can," he disagreed in a gentle voice. "Courtney has already agreed to do so.

  Sabrina smiled. "Very well, Uncle Charles."

  "That's better."

  "I don't know what we would have done if Adam and you hadn't arrived when you did," Sabrina told him.

  "Adam, is it?"

  Sabrina blushed and flicked a glance at the marquess, who stood beside the hearth. "Adam has given me permission to use his given name."

  "Sabrina, I really must speak with you," Lord Briggs said.

  "Your lecture can wait until morning," Sabrina replied, irritation lacing her voice.

  "Lecture?" the duke echoed.

  "Apparently, Edgar feels the need to lecture me about my treatment of the vicar," Sabrina explained.

  "Vicar Dingle has more hair than wit," Aunt Tess said. "I never liked him."

  "Neither did I," Courtney agreed.

  Sabrina said nothing. Though Adam St. Aubyn remained silent, she was acutely aware of him. His dark, commanding presence attracted her, and she had a difficult time keeping herself from staring at him.

  "As I told you earlier, I received a message from your father to come to Abingdon as soon as possible. He said it was an important matter," the duke was saying. "And then Tess's message arrived."

  "I wonder what the problem was," Sabrina interjected, speaking her thoughts aloud. She looked at the duke, saying, "Vicar Dingle told me the Savage estates are now forfeit to the Crown."

  "The land will be auctioned," Edgar informed her. "You need not fear losing Abingdon Manor, for I plan to purchase the estate for you."

  "The Savage lands will not be auctioned," Adam disagreed, speaking up for the first time since entering the drawing room.

  "Adam is wealthy, and I enjoy friendships in the most exclusive circles," the duke explained, looking at the baron. "A few words spoken into a royal ear and a healthy bribe will give my nephew the right to oversee the Savage assets until we can straighten out this whole sorry affair. I can almost guarantee that your father's death will be ruled accidental."

  Sabrina felt the fear rush out of her. For the moment she need not worry about how to care for her sister and her aunt. Nor would she need to feel obligated to Edgar in any way.

  And then the Duke of Kingston surprised her by saying, "As you may know, I am the executor of your father's will."

  "I didn't know that," Sabrina said, surprised. "How long had you known my father?"

  "We shared chambers at school," the duke answered. He smiled, adding, "Our accommodations became rather cramped when Adolphus and his dog moved in with us."

  "Adolphus?" Courtney exclaimed. "King George's son?"

  "The son of a king is always given the title of prince," Aunt Tess corrected her younger niece.

  Sabrina smiled at her aunt's ridiculous statement. "How did you manage to keep up your friendship?" she asked the duke.

  "I'll answer all of your questions tomorrow," the duke said, patting her hand. "Recently, your father sent me a codicil to the will."

  "A codicil?" the baron echoed. "Concerning what?"

  "Are you a member of the Savage family to be privy to the late earl's business affairs?" Adam asked, a challenging tone in his voice.

  Recognizing the angry glint in Edgar's hazel eyes, Sabrina prevented an argument by saying, "Uncle Charles, I hope that you and Adam will consent to be our guests at Abingdon Manor."

  "We would love to accept your invitation," the duke answered. "Tonight, however, we must return to the inn. We left my sister at High Wycombe for the night. She will arrive in Abingdon tomorrow morning."

  "Adam's mother?" Sabrina asked.

  "No, Adam's mother is another sister of mine," the duke told her. "This one is Lady Belladonna DeFaye."

  "Well, I'll be," Aunt Tess exclaimed. "I haven't seen Belladonna in years." She looked at her niece, adding, "Belladonna and I were great friends during our first season out. We lost touch with each other after we met our husbands. I suppose marriage has a way of separating friends."

  "Lady DeFaye will also be a welcome addition to our household," Sabrina said, rising from her chair. "For now, come to the dining room and refresh yourselves with a light supper."

  Adam stepped forward before Sabrina could offer to escort the duke. "Allow me to walk with you downstairs," he said, taking her hand.

  His words and his touch surprised Sabrina, but she didn't draw back. Instead, she dropped her gaze to their hands. His touch was firm yet gentle, and he stood so close that his clean, spicy bay scent assailed her senses.

  Sabrina suddenly wondered what it would feel like to kiss this handsome man. Lifting her gaze, she blushed with embarrassment. His piercing blue eyes seemed to say that he was aware of his effect on her.

  Recovering her composure, Sabrina acquiesced with a silent nod. The Duke of Kingston escorted Aunt Tess, leaving Edgar to walk with Courtney.

  Entering the dining room on the first floor, Sabrina was pleased to see the table set with their finest Wedgwood china. Covered dishes had been placed on the table, and their Worcester tea and coffee service sat on the sideboard.

  "Uncle Charles, please do us the honor of sitting at the head of the table," Sabrina said.

  The duke obliged her. Aunt Tess, Courtney, and Edgar sat on his left side while Sabrina and Adam sat on his right side.

  Forbes lifted the covers off the platters to reveal deviled eggs, potted mushrooms on toast, and pork balls in tomato sauce. They served themselves in the family style.

  "Simply delicious," the duke said after tasting the potted mushrooms. "My compliments to the cook."

  "The cook is sitting on your right," Courtney told him.

  The duke turned to Sabrina, asking, "You prepared the mushrooms?"

  She nodded. "I prepared everything."

  "Sabrina coo
ks herself into a frenzy when she's upset," Courtney said. A mischievous gleam entered her eyes when she added, "There have been times when I purposely drew her into an argument."

  "You are exaggerating," Sabrina said with a smile.

  "Do you remember becoming aggravated with me a few months ago because I'd borrowed your blue shawl without asking your permission first?" Courtney asked her.

  "Yes."

  "I never wore it," her sister admitted. "I took it from your chamber and folded it across my bed so that you would believe I'd worn it. As I recall, supper was heavenly that night."

  Everyone laughed.

  "Why didn't you simply ask me to prepare supper for you?"

  "What makes your cooking special is the secret ingredient of anger," Courtney informed her. The seventeen-year-old dropped her gaze to the potted mushrooms and added forlornly, "Or sadness."

  A glum silence descended over the table. Sabrina felt a lump of raw emotion forming in her throat. Fearing she would embarrass herself by weeping at the table, she shifted her gaze to the duke and said, "Uncle Charles, tell me about your friendship with my father."

  "Prince Adolphus, your father, and I became close friends while at Eton," the duke began. "Prince Adolphus disliked having his own chamber so he moved his belongings into ours. The prince once brought his dog to school with him after holiday and was ordered to send the dog home. Dogs were strictly forbidden in the dormitory." Here the duke chuckled at the memory.

  "What is so funny?" Sabrina asked.

  "Adolphus brought his dog home, but returned with his pet bear," the duke told her, making them smile. "So the school administrators gave him permission to keep his dog instead of the bear. I swear, that dog weighed more than the Regent and absolutely adored your father. Tiny—that was the dog's name—insisted on sleeping with your father every night."

  "I never heard that story," Sabrina said with a smile.

  "Papa never mentioned that he and the prince were friends," Courtney added.

  "Tell us another," Sabrina said.

  "I'll mink about it tonight and come up with a story suitable for young maidens' ears," the duke told her.

  "Sabrina, I must leave," the baron said, rising from his chair. "Will you walk with me to the foyer?"

  "Excuse me," Sabrina said to the duke. "I'll return in a moment."

  They walked in silence until they reached the foyer. It was then that Edgar Briggs grasped her forearm and warned, "Do not place your faith in the duke. You never met the man until today, and I fear he does not have your best interests at heart."

  "And you do?" Sabrina asked.

  "Do you doubt it?" he asked.

  "The proof lies in a man's actions not in his words," Sabrina answered. "Tonight you sided with the vicar."

  The baron tightened his lips in anger, but said nothing. When he moved to plant a kiss on her cheek, Sabrina stepped back and said, "I buried my father just a few hours ago. Please leave now."

  "Grief rules your actions and words," Edgar said, walking out the door. "I'll see you tomorrow."

  Sabrina watched him leave and then turned to retrace her steps to the dining room. She stopped short when she spied the marquess standing in the shadow of the stairs, watching her.

  "How long have you been there?" Sabrina asked. "Were you eavesdropping on me?" In the next instant she realized how rude she sounded and amended herself. "I'm sorry. Today has been terribly difficult, and Edgar has been no help."

  "Are you and the baron betrothed?" Adam asked.

  "Edgar and I have been friends forever," Sabrina told him.

  "But there is something more than friendship between you," the marquess said.

  "Edgar did offer for me," she said. "I am thankful my father refused his suit."

  "Your father's disapproval did not disappoint you?" Adam asked.

  Sabrina shook her head. "I would have felt as though I'd married a brother or a cousin, but I hadn't the heart to refuse Edgar's offer. My father saved me the trouble by refusing for me. I suppose that makes me a coward."

  The marquess's blue eyes gleamed with amusement. "And what if your father had approved the match?"

  "I knew there was no chance of that," Sabrina admitted. "In spite of the fact that my sister and I are adopted, my father planned to give us a season in London so that all of the realm's most important men could fall in love with us. That way we'd have our choice of whom we wished to many."

  "Important men?" Adam echoed, giving her a boyish, thoroughly devastating grin. "You mean, a prince?"

  Sabrina nodded. "Or a duke."

  "How about a marquess?" Adam suggested, the intimate tone of his voice caressing her senses.

  Precluding further conversation, the Duke of Kingston walked into the foyer with Aunt Tess and Courtney. "My nephew and I must also leave," he said, taking her hands in his, "but we will return with my sister tomorrow."

  "There is a question I must ask you," Sabrina said, lowering her voice.

  The duke gave her an expectant smile.

  "My father adopted Courtney and me," she said. "Do you know where we came from?"

  "Child, let us save this conversation for tomorrow," the duke replied.

  Sabrina nodded. She'd waited eighteen years to learn the truth surrounding her birth. Waiting a few more hours certainly wouldn't kill her.

  Aunt Tess and Courtney went directly upstairs after the duke and the marquess had taken their leave, but Sabrina knew sleep would elude her for some time that night. She stepped outside the front door and gazed up at the stars in the moonless sky. They appeared as lonely as she felt. She'd always longed to know who her natural parents were, but now there was something in her life more important than that knowledge.

  "Papa, I will prove you innocent of suicide and see you buried in hallowed ground," Sabrina whispered. "Even if I must dance with the devil to do it."

  Chapter 2

  "Your frown could frighten the sin out of Satan."

  Adam shifted his gaze from the passing scenery outside the coach's window to his aunt. "I beg your pardon?" he said, realizing he'd been caught daydreaming.

  Lady Belladonna DeFaye smiled at him. A shade above forty, his aunt had broken many hearts in her day and was still a charming temptress to most older gentlemen who crossed her path. Auburn-haired, brown-eyed, and dimpled, Belladonna DeFaye retained the essence of youth.

  Adam wondered briefly if his own mother still retained the essence of youth. He hadn't seen her in fifteen years, but she and Belladonna carried the St. Aubyn blood in their veins. In his mind Adam could only picture his mother as he'd last seen her; no amount of passing years could put wrinkles on her face or thicken her waist. She would always be the beautiful young woman who'd sent him away.

  "Have you heard from your mother lately?" the duke asked, as if he'd read Adam's thoughts.

  "Yes, both she and my brother are well."

  "I cannot understand why your mother chose to remain in Istanbul when she could have returned to England," Belladonna said. "After all, your father is dead."

  Adam sighed. He had explained his family's situation to her at least a hundred times, but his aunt refused to understand.

  "At my brother's court in Istanbul, my mother is Sultana Valide, the most powerful woman in the empire," Adam told his aunt in a patient tone of voice, as if this was the first time he'd related the story.

  "But she sent you, a prince in your own land, to live—"

  "My mother sent me to England secretly," Adam interrupted, knowing full well what his aunt's next words would be. "My countrymen believe I died, otherwise my brother would have been forced to lock me up as the custom in my land demands. In olden days, he would have been required to execute me when my father died. There can be only one sultan. Eliminating all potential political rivals has kept the empire from crumbling beneath civil war."

  Lady DeFaye shivered delicately and then smiled. "I understand now," she said.

  Until the next time, Adam thought.


  "I will never understand why your mother chose to stay with your father after the promise of her release had been secured," Belladonna remarked.

  "Perhaps she loved her husband," the duke interjected. "Contrary to your own experience, some women actually love their husbands."

  "Oh, really, Charles," Belladonna drawled, clearly unamused. "I valued Francis until the day he died." Her smile was feline when she added, "Fortunately, his death was sooner rather than later. What I can't understand is how a woman could love her abductor."

  "My father did not abduct my mother," Adam corrected his aunt.

  "His minions did abduct her from the ship bound for France," Belladonna reminded him.

  Adam shrugged. "Apparently, love can be found in the most unlikely places. Being abducted and given as a gift to the sultan was my mother's fate, as was falling in love with him."

  At that, Adam turned his head to stare out the window. Where would he find his own love? he wondered. Was she waiting for him at Abingdon Manor?

  "You are frowning again," Belladonna said. "How will you secure a wife if you walk through life frowning?"

  "Most women are attracted more by a man's finances than by his smile," Adam replied. "Besides, I was thinking, not frowning."

  "About what?"

  "A business matter."

  "Have I told you how delightful Henry Savage's daughters are, especially Sabrina?" the duke asked, turning to his sister.

  "Several times," Belladonna drawled.

  Adam gazed out the coach window and contemplated Sabrina Savage. She was a tare and marvelous creature. In his mind's eye, he conjured up her sweet expression, her delicate features emboldened by emerald eyes and hair the color of molten fire.

  The lady's temperament was as fiery as the color of her hair. Adam recalled the way she had defied the vicar and dismissed the baron. He admired her loyalty to her father and felt like applauding her plucky spirit. As long as she never directed it at him, they would get along harmoniously.

  How fortunate for the late Earl of Abingdon to possess a daughter who demonstrated her love and loyalty even to the brink of his grave. Adam only wished that someday he would possess a wife and children who would honor and love him so much that they would defy the world for him.