Page 2 of One Scandal Too Many (Havenwood Academy #1)

One year later . . .

C harlotte sat in the garden at Havenwood Academy and stared at the roses that had finally bloomed. She hadn’t been home once since she’d become a student at the academy. Her father had decided she would remain at the castle when the other girls went home on holiday. Some of the girls would return to their families in a few short weeks and wouldn’t return until the beginning of September, and after the fall and winter terms, they would leave and prepare for the season that supposedly would ensure they found a match. Charlotte wouldn’t be one of them.

She couldn’t be certain how long her father intended for her to remain at Havenwood, but stay she would. At least for the next year. When he had brought her to Havenwood, he ensured she would stay there for at least two years. Mostly because of the scandal and his belief that time would make the ton forget. A part of her hoped he would leave her at Havenwood forever. It had become her home, and the ladies there were more like family than her own had ever been.

Her roommate was her dearest friend and the sister she’d never dared wish for; however, Lady Jaclyn Thomas was the sister of the current Earl of Oakley. Her father, the previous earl, had died before Jaclyn had been sent to the Havenwood Academy. Her brother had believed it would be good for her. Especially after the scandal she’d created before her father’s death. Jaclyn still wouldn’t tell Charlotte the details that had led to her being sent to Havenwood. They had both agreed to never discuss the scandals that had resulted in their exiles at the school. Charlotte shuddered internally... that was an incident best forgotten. As if she ever truly could.

“It’s a lovely day, isn’t it?” Jaclyn said in a whimsical tone as she twirled a strand of her strawberry blonde hair. “What should we do to entertain ourselves?”

“Do you have something you wish to do?” Charlotte lifted a brow. She’d learned early on that Jaclyn didn’t ask a question she didn’t already have the answer to. Especially one that was as open-ended as that last one.

“Nothing specific,” she said, but her tone suggested otherwise. Jaclyn could be a bit of a hellion. It didn’t surprise Charlotte that she’d found herself in the middle of a scandal. It was one of the reasons she liked her so much.

“Perhaps we could go for a walk.” It was a sedate option for most young ladies. If those young ladies were not her and Jaclyn. Trouble ultimately always landed at their feet, and they gladly picked it up and ran with it. They enjoyed creating a stir and leaving chaos in their wake. They were not above playing pranks on the other students. Jaclyn had put a frog in a girl’s bed. Of course, it had been a girl that had been assigned to their room, and neither of them had found her likeable. It had been Jaclyn’s way of ensuring that the girl was moved to another room. It had been Charlotte’s idea, but Jaclyn had had the audacity to do it. That’s what made them such good friends. They were too much alike, though Charlotte could be the more logical of the two of them. Which was a good thing, since it often kept them out of messes they couldn’t extricate themselves from daily. The ones that snared them in a trap... they handled those too. Together.

“We could do that.” Jaclyn nodded. “We should take a trek through the woods. Perhaps we could collect some herbs for Mrs. Smith. She said she would teach us how to make some poultices.”

Mrs. Smith mostly taught them Latin, math, and history, but occasionally she branched out into other lessons. Everything that she taught was considered unnecessary for young ladies of their station, though, which was why Mrs. Havenwood never mentioned what the former governess taught at the school. Some of the more staid gentlemen in the young ladies’ families would frown upon those lessons. The proprietress believed nothing was off limits in a young lady’s education, though. Charlotte admired Mrs. Havenwood and her dedication to her students. Having grown up without a mother, she didn’t have many interactions with women. It was refreshing to have one in her life she could not only respect, but also strive to emulate.

After a few moments she glanced at Jaclyn and said, “There’s something you are not telling me.” Jaclyn opened her mouth to answer her, but Charlotte held up her hand to silence her denials. “I don’t care what it is. You will tell me when you’re ready. If you want to walk the paths in the forest, I’ll accompany you.” She liked going into the wooded area anyway. It was one of the first things she had done when she’d arrived at Havenwood.

“You’re not going to ask me so many questions I won’t ever be able to answer them all?” Jaclyn frowned. “How unlike you.”

Charlotte grinned. “I have my reasons.”

She would steer their direction in the woods down paths that held an interest to her. She’d heard the rumors while they were in the nearby town of Ashington. The Marquess of Easton was in residence, and it had all the local gentry all aflutter. Some of the maids had mentioned he was handsome, and Charlotte had a curious nature. She had to know more about the marquess. Not because she had any designs on the man, but because she didn’t like unknowns. The marquess was the biggest mystery around, and she had a deep desire to uncover all of his secrets.

Jaclyn narrowed her gaze. “I’m sure you do. Shall we, then?”

They stood and started down the path that led to the forest. They were not as deeply monitored as Charlotte’s father had presumed when he’d dropped her off at the academy a year earlier. Mrs. Havenwood had gone over the rules and expected them to be followed. The biggest and most important one was that they didn’t leave the grounds alone. As long as they had another student or teacher with them, they could explore the grounds and the woods freely. Going beyond the paths in the woods was forbidden. None of them had any reason to break those rules. They lived a good life at the academy and learned a lot. All of the students loved the staff and the castle.

The entrance to the first path in the woods neared, and they headed in that direction. “Are you going to go home when we have a summer break?” Jaclyn asked.

She shook her head. “That’s doubtful. My father hasn’t even written to me in months. My brother sent a letter recently, but even his correspondence is sporadic. There is no real place for me there. I expect when my term here is done, I’ll return home and my father will have an arranged marriage waiting for me. He wants to be done with me, and the quickest way to achieve that is to give me to another man to contend with.” It still soured her stomach to think about how much her father seemed to hate her.

Jaclyn looped her arm with Charlotte’s. “Your family is filled with fools.” She smiled as they leisurely strolled along. “Lucky for you, I’m here and you can always count on me. We will have a grand summer together.”

Her father had done her a great favor by sending her to Havenwood. He might not like her, but she’d thank him for that decision one day. They kept a steady pace as they talked, and Charlotte made sure that they went the direction she’d previously decided upon. When they reached the edge of the woods, she stopped suddenly. In the distance was a pond, and normally no one would be near that body of water. That was far from the truth today.

“Oh my,” Jaclyn said. Her mouth hung open as she stared openly in the direction of the pond. Then she said in a whisper so quiet Charlotte almost hadn’t heard her, “He is here...” Who? The marquess? Had Jaclyn been introduced to him? Charlotte glanced back at the pond and stared at the sight before her.

Three men were there. Horses had been tied to a nearby tree. They had probably gone for a ride and had decided to take a respite at the pond. But these three had taken it a step further. They were in the process of removing their clothing. One had already removed his shirt, but the others were still in the process of unraveling their cravats.

All three men, from what Charlotte could see at the distance they were from them, were quite handsome. One had blond hair that shimmered underneath the sun, another had hair so dark it mirrored a dark sky minus the stars, and the other one had rich brown hair as dark as the chocolate she drank in the morning. The latter was also shirtless and soon wouldn’t have any boots or pants either. Chiseled muscle graced every inch of his chest, and she itched to roam her hands over every enticing surface of him. God help her, but she’d gotten far more than she’d bargained for when she had decided to take this walk with Jaclyn.

“We should leave,” Jaclyn said in a hurried whisper. “Ladies shouldn’t watch men strip off their clothing—for any reason. I’m not entirely certain they should if marriage vows have already been uttered.” Even as she said the words, her gaze seemed focused on one of the men. The one with dark hair, if Charlotte was not mistaken...

Charlotte stared at Jaclyn with incredulity. “Lest you forget who you’re speaking with,” she began. “I was there when you watched the stable hand break in the new horse Mrs. Havenwood acquired. You were quite enthralled when he removed his shirt. Miss Spencer had to escort us back to the castle.” That had been the beginning of their exploits together, and in the first week of her attendance at Havenwood.

“That was different,” Jaclyn insisted. “It wasn’t...” She motioned toward the men at the pond. “Them.”

“Oh, that clarifies it,” Charlotte said, then snorted. As in, it didn’t explain anything at all. Though in some ways she supposed it did. While she had found the groom’s naked torso interesting, she hadn’t been this fascinated by the sight.

Jaclyn placed her hand on Charlotte’s wrist and started to pull her away from the pond. “We need to leave. Now.” Jaclyn almost sounded panicked.

Charlotte couldn’t move. She was transfixed as she observed them. Her curiosity had always been her undoing, and in this instance she would find herself completely ruined if they were caught. Still she couldn’t move. “No,” she said firmly. “We are not leaving yet.” She wouldn’t take one step until she saw everything. If that made her wrong, she never wanted to be right again. Charlotte licked her lips and kept her attention focused on the three men. This was decadence that no woman should ever walk away from. No wonder she’d become embroiled in a scandal... apparently Charlotte had a wicked nature she could not ignore. Not that her actual scandal had been wicked in any way. Charlotte had done one tiny favor for her brother, and that made her immoral. Well, why not embrace the concept and discover where it led?

*

Declan Hayes, the Marquess of Easton, kicked off his boots and let them drop near his shirt and cravat. The warm air was unbearable for late May. The pond would be freezing, but it would cool his heated skin. It wouldn’t be the first time he had taken a dip in this particular pond. Sometimes he’d dived in to cool his ardor when he couldn’t have a particular woman. That hadn’t been an issue he had to handle in quite a while, though. Most women threw themselves at him, and he had to keep them at a distance or he’d find himself leg shackled before he could blink.

He had his choice of lovers and he made sure to be discerning in whom he decided to take to his bed. Still, it had been a while since he had partaken in the sins of the flesh. He had grown bored with being a rake and had given up many of his vices, which was why he’d come home for the first time in a very long time. As a rule he avoided Easton Abbey and the responsibilities of running it. Estate managers were hired for that very reason, and he had an excellent one in his service.

“We might regret this,” the Duke of Amberwood said as he pulled his cravat free. “That water is bound to be bloody cold.”

The Earl of Foxmoore grinned as he slid his shirt over his head. “What you’re saying is you are afraid of a little cold water. I never took you for a coward, Amberwood.” He ran his fingers through his blond hair, leaving it a ruffled mess. “Quit worrying about it. I doubt we will regret a swim. It’ll feel great once we become accustomed to the frigid temperature.”

Declan grinned. The earl and the duke were his two closest chums from school. There wasn’t much they hadn’t done together. They had even traveled to several different countries in their youth. That had been a grand adventure, and they had done plenty they should have regretted. “We have been in far more dire circumstances before. This will be nothing,” he reminded them both.

Amberwood glared at the earl. “I’m not afraid of anything.”

“Of course you’re not,” Foxmoore agreed, but his tone implied otherwise. “You’re a brave lad, yes you are.” He mocked the duke and then laughed.

The duke glared at him and then leapt toward Foxmoore and they tumbled into the water. Neither had fully removed their clothes. Amberwood had barely removed his boots before he had jumped and then tumbled them both into the pond. Foxmoore surfaced first and spit out water. When the duke’s head popped out, he bounded forward and tackled the earl until they were both wrestling for control. Declan grinned and finished removing his pants, then dived in. Sometimes, even at their age, it was bloody glorious to act like boys still in the schoolroom. A good brawl could be invigorating. At least he wouldn’t have a pile of wet clothes at the end of it.

They frolicked in the pond for a while until their skin wrinkled and they were properly cooled off. Declan slowly slid out of the water and strolled nude along the bank of the pond. His friends still swam and argued a bit in the pool, but soon they pulled themselves out of the water too.

“Aren’t you the exhibitionist,” Foxmoore drawled. “Good thing we’re in the middle of nowhere.”

Declan shrugged. “It’s my land. I don’t bloody care if anyone sees me in the buff.” Still he should get dressed. Just because it was his property didn’t mean no one would come upon them, and he didn’t want to be caught without a stitch on.

He leaned down to retrieve his shirt, then something caught his attention at the edge of the woods. Declan stilled and casually glanced in that direction as he pulled his shirt over his head. He spotted two people at the edge hiding behind a tree. If he was correct, they were not just any two people, but two women. Maybe girls. Good grief, had they given innocents a show they shouldn’t have been privy to?

One had blonde hair the color of honey, and the other had reddish blonde locks that reminded him of soft pink roses mixed with gold. He couldn’t see their faces, but they were most definitely ladies. They had dresses that were clearly quality, so not of the servant class. Hadn’t he heard that a school had opened up in the castle nearby? It had been an unentailed part of his estate he’d agreed to sell several years ago. It had been too costly to repair, and the Viscount of Havenwood had hoped to restore it for his son’s widow. Declan had never imagined that it would be turned into a school, though. He might come to regret the decision to sell the property.

“What is it?” Foxmoore asked.

“We have voyeurs,” he said quietly. He didn’t want the girls to know he’d noticed them. “Keep your tone down.”

Foxmoore grinned. “Should we give them something to look at?”

Declan glanced at him and rolled his eyes. “I think we’ve already accomplished that feat.” His friend had a recklessness in him that could never be fully curbed. “I do believe we’ve corrupted them thoroughly.”

“Good,” he said and grinned. “I’d hate to have failed to do my duty.” He casually glanced toward the woods. “Do we know who they were?”

“Were?” Declan lifted a brow.

“They’re gone now,” he said. “I think we may have frightened them away.”

“What are we discussing?” Amberwood said. The duke shook his head and water sprayed everywhere from his black hair. He carried his boots in his hands, but he’d donned his shirt. His cravat was stuffed into his boots. “Shouldn’t we return to the abbey?”

Declan nodded. They’d done enough damage for the day. He’d have to pay a call on the school and discuss the students with the proprietress. They shouldn’t come so close to his land. Especially if they didn’t want to witness things no innocents should ever observe. He cursed under his breath and finished dressing. The last thing he needed to contend with was innocents, and if he didn’t tread carefully, one of them could lead to the very thing he’d avoided at all costs—marriage. God help the young lady who trapped him into an unwanted union. She would regret it far more than he ever would.