Free Patrica Rice by Regency Delights

woman who couldn't leave him standing at the altar or starving in the streets, the woman who would take in an obnoxious child she didn't even know, that woman couldn't deny a babe in arms. He counted on that as much as he counted on his own ability to make Melanie the happiest woman alive once she accepted him with all his faults and flaws.
    Nervously, he carried the infant into a strangely silent house. The child's wet nurse straggled shyly along behind him, staring up at the grandeur of her new surroundings. With a strangely pattering pulse, Damien took the steps two at a time. Watson appeared in the lower hall before he reached the top.
    "Lady Reister has gone, my lord," he intoned cautiously from below, eyeing the young nursemaid askance.
    Damien's heart sank. He recognized that tone of voice as well as he recognized the man's disapproval. Whatever Watson had learned this morning, the sight of the child and nursemaid had confirmed it. Slowly, he turned around and walked back down the stairs.
    "Where did she go, Watson?"
    "With Sir Francis and Lady Morgan, my lord. They left orders for the house to be closed up and the servants turned out. I believe Sir Francis mentioned selling."
    Ah. He had something the old fraud wanted after all. Watson wouldn't want to leave his comfortable position.  He'd no doubt padded the payroll with half his relatives. He might disapprove, but the servant would do whatever necessary to keep this house open. Damien smiled cynically.
    "Thank you, Watson. In my wife's behalf, I countermand those orders. You will keep the place open and staffed. I greatly fear my wife has been abducted by well-intentioned fools. She will have need of you when we return. Send for her maid. I want her to travel with Miss Snipes here. I'll send around for the coach directly. Send one of the footmen for my horse."
    Damien snapped out the orders curtly, quickly, as he made a mental list of all he would need to do. He'd had the world in his hands just hours ago. He wouldn't let it escape again without a fight. He didn't know what Jane had said to Melanie to make her flee like this, but he could very well imagine. She wasn't going to get away with it.
    He hated to drag a child and a nursemaid across country roads in pursuit of a dream, but he couldn't leave them behind. Melanie had to see the truth with her own eyes, not wait until he carried her off and brought her back here. He wanted her to come willingly, with eyes wide open. He patted the pocket with the newly acquired special license in it. He wanted her full agreement this time.
    He rode ahead of the carriage, leaving its lumbering gait well behind as he raced his horse past fields and meadows on the course toward home. Home. The house he'd inhabited as a child had never been a home. He'd vowed never to raise a child of his as he had been raised, but that had been when he'd never had any intention of having children. Now that he had one, the vow became even more important. A child needed two parents, Melanie had said. He could amend that somewhat. Children needed parents who loved them, who gave them the attention they needed. He didn't want to fail at that, but he might. Melanie wouldn't. And Melanie could keep him from failing too.
    Damien didn't even have to repeat that refrain as the miles rolled beneath him. Melanie filled him. She had seeped into his soul and stayed there. He could feel her in every fiber of his being. He didn't know how it had come to pass, and he wouldn't question it. Melanie could save him. He had to save Melanie first.
    That's how Damien looked at it as he rode up to the front door of the country manor he'd known since childhood. He'd used to ride up here to court Jane in his heedless youth. He thanked God he'd failed at that as he'd failed at so many other things over the years. He refused to believe he could fail at his current mission. He couldn't let all that life and loveliness that was his Melanie languish behind those cold doors and