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Chapter One

Five years later…

Lady Delia Alban stared out thefro her eyes at her brothers’ flare for the dra in one of the hest tower in their rather large castle

The giant structure was a relic of days when regular English raids had demanded that their home provide protection Ridiculous, really, because nearly half her lineage was English But her eldest brother, Stone, used the building to its fullest advantage He had turned it into the hub of a successful shipping business and a training ground to prepare his sailors for pirate attacks

And

noished to further spread that business by partnering with a southern Duke His Grace, Lord Manchester Delia found this arrangement completely unacceptable Ruue and she knew for a fact that his voucher from Almack’s had been revoked Unusual, but not unheard of for so a northerner, she had far less regard for polite society, but his reputation caused a ripple of unease to travel down her spine Rogues did not ood husbands

Inwardly, she sighed It ood husband In fact, she deserved to ue or worse But, it was known that he was devastatingly handso the ladies She simply couldn’t have it

“He’s here,” her brother’s voice flowed over her

“Fine,” she gritted out

Four of her brothers filed in and stood in a line She knew Stone wanted to impress this man, but it was absurd

Shifting the rest of her body to face the door, it slowly opened Manchester absolutely filled the doorway before he entered the room

He was tall and strong, handsoreen while his dark locks curled delightfully around his face, al the hard lines of his jaw and cheeks His lips were full and appeared to be the softest thing about him A woman would fall in love with a man like that If his reputation was any indication, he was most assuredly in love with himself

“The Duke of Manchester,” the butler called in his droning voice All of her brothers bowed, and so she followed suit with a deep courtesy Of course, she would never drea so bold as to not show respect but a tiny part of her wanted to rebel against Manchester and this

His eyes were sorasped Manchester by the hand and then embraced him like a brother A lump formed in her chest then Manchester had been friends with her late brother, Reginald

His eyes slashed into hers and her heart started ha away, and so in the depths of his eyes startled her deep inside It was a familiarity that called to her It nearly burned her, and she tore her gaze fro heart slow

“Your Grace, my sister, Lady Delia” A hint of irritation laced Stone’s voice Most likely he could sense her desire to rebel Delia dismissed it Stone loved her but he was easily displeased If one worried about his fits of te else

She dipped into a curtsy, keeping her eyes on the ground “Your Grace”