Pleasures of a Tempted Lady by Jennifer Haymore Page A

aunts once, on a visit to Ireland before they’d gone to Antigua. They had seemed to be kind enough people, if a little distant. But wouldn’t anyone feel distant from a son who’d been gone for a decade, a daughter-in-law they’d never met, and five young and very English granddaughters? “Even if they did turn me away,” she continued, “I’d manage.”
    Again, Serena shook her head. “This is where our idea comes into effect.”
    “Phoebe’s husband, Sebastian, has a house in Prescot, in Lancashire,” Lord Stratford said. “We’ve used it as a safe house before.”
    Jessica, who’d been sitting quietly to this point, snorted. “Not very effectively!”
    “True,” Lord Stratford said. “But in the past, the various people who found it were able to easily discover our connection to the house. This time, it won’t be so easy.”
    “The first time, it was Phoebe,” Serena said. “She ran away with Sebastian and they lived there for a few days—until we found them. Jonathan knew it was Sebastian’s only property, so he assumed correctly that it would be the logical place for them to go.”
    “And then it was me and Beatrice.” Jessica blew out a breath. Beatrice was Lady Fenwicke—the sweet lady who’d escaped from her abusive husband. She was currently their houseguest and had been for some time.
    “That time it was a bit more insidious,” Serena explained. “Lord Fenwicke had employed a spy in our household, and he learned the girls’ whereabouts from her.”
    “I think it will be safe for you,” Lord Stratford said again.
    “No one knows of your existence except the man who’s after you,” Serena added. “You could go to one of Jonathan’s or Max’s other properties, but surely anyone would search those before looking in Lancashire. It just feels like the safest option for you, Meg.”
    Meg nodded, relieved. They really did understand the danger to Jake. They wouldn’t demand that she stay in London and parade herself about Town.
    Serena leaned forward and squeezed her hand. “I need to remain here,” she said quietly. “It would raise too many questions if I were to go with you.”
    “I’ll go,” Jessica said.
    Serena shook her head. “No, Jess, you must stay as well, along with Beatrice. Too many people will notice if you leave London now.”
    Jessica rolled her eyes heavenward and sighed heavily but didn’t argue.
    “I can go alone,” Meg said quickly. “Jake and I will be fine.”
    “A full complement of my most trusted servants will accompany you to Prescot. You’ll have a coachman, a footman, a maid, and a cook at your disposal,” Lord Stratford said. “And we’ll supply you with an unmarked traveling carriage with lanterns so you can travel through the night without having to repeat the awkward experience you had on your way to London.”
    “Thank goodness Barbara and Mildred are harmless,” Serena said.
    Jake looked up at that. “Barbara looks like an orange,” he said, before going right back to his puzzle.
    Meg nodded gratefully, feeling a flush rise in her cheeks at the remembered embarrassment of those women believing she was Serena.
    Serena brought Meg’s knuckles to her lips and pressed a hard kiss on them. “I know it’s been difficult for you here. I wish you could stay here with me—with us. I wish”—she blinked, her gray eyes, so much like Meg’s own, glistening—“I wish we could be as close as we once were.”
    Meg turned her gaze to her lap. That was her fault. She was too quiet, too reserved. She’d withdrawn too much from them.
    “But we have time,” Serena added, her voice quiet. “When this is all over. When you come back to us and this affair is all straightened out and”—she glanced down at Jake—“you’re safe.”
    Jessica nodded vigorously. “This will be over soon, and we’ll all be together again. I feel it,” she proclaimed.
    Meg wasn’t so confident. Her family still didn’t know Caversham’s