Free A Duke in Shining Armor by Macy Barnes

 
    London , England 1814
    Chapter 1
    Emily Moncrief stared at the cloudy mirror in her corner attic bedroom above the gentleman’s club her aunt and uncle owned and operated in Centre London.  She had dark smudges under her eyes, her skin was peeling from her rough work worn hands, and her dress was thread bare.  She sighed and blew a wayward ringlet of hair that had fallen from her pins out of her face.
    If anyone would have told her four years ago at the age of fourteen that she was to be a slave to her aunt and uncle, she would have laughed in their faces.  The Moncrief family was well accepted among the ton, or so she thought.  Her mind floated back to that fateful day in February when her life had been completely turned upside down.
    It started off as any other day normally did, breaking her fast with her mother before heading upstairs to do her daily school work with her governess.  “Mama, do I have to do school work today? The snow is so lovely; perhaps we could venture out and enjoy the crisp day?”
    Emily put on her prettiest smile for her mother.  Marjorie Moncrief’s eyes crinkled in the corner as she smiled lovingly at her only child and stroked Emily’s long brunette hair.  “Now, Emily, you know your father does not permit you to miss your studies. They are very important to your future after all.”
    Emily sighed. “Yes, of course you are right.”
                  She looked around the dining hall that she and her mother sat in and took in all the lovely things surrounding them. Her father had developed his own shipping company over the years and it had recently taken off.  She heard talk from her father about going to war with the American’s but when she asked him about it, he would tell her not to worry.
                  Their home sat on vast property off of Blue Anchor Road , which was close enough to the London docks for her father to oversee his shipments, but far enough out from the city for a quieter environment.   Fine ornaments adorned the wall and deep burgundy and gold velvet window draping’s hung from the window.  The floors were so shiny Emily could look down and see her reflection in them.
                  Her father, Matthew Moncrief, reminded his only child on a daily basis that it would be up to her and her future husband to manage their vast property.  A proper education and lady like manners unfortunately would be required to attract the proper suitors of one even with such a rich dowry he had given his daughter, because Emily had not taken after her mother’s striking pale blonde looks. At 5”7 Emily was unusually tall for a female, had plain brown hair and dark brown eyes.  The only thing Emily felt confident about herself was that her body had taken a very feminine shape in the last year and had actually prompted the stable boy to steal kisses from her.
                  Emily placed her napkin on the table and started to rise, when she was startled by a loud commotion from the front foyer which was followed by the family butler, Stately wailing in agony.  Everything happened so fast, it was almost surreal, as if Emily was watching as a third party and not actually in the chaos herself.  A crowd of about twenty men stormed into the dining hall, cutting down everyone in their path. She watched in horror as their beloved footman of ten years was pierced in the chest by a man brandishing the largest sword she had ever saw in her life.  Her mouth fell open to scream but no sound came from her.
      Marjorie turned to her frightened daughter and with panic in her eyes said “Emily run now, hide as fast as you can, do not come out no matter what!”  Emily fled from the room and ran to a back stair case that led up to her father’s study.  Her father was rushing down the stairs just as she approached.
    “Emily! What on earth? I heard screaming!” Her father grabbed her by her shoulders and shook her in his urgency