The Seductress' Marriage Ploy

BONUS - The Earl's Defiant Wife: Prologue ( Cole's Story)

Abandoned at the doorstep of her new home right after marriage, Emily Fletcher crafted the perfect plan, to irritate and provoke the husband who discarded her.

She moved into his ancestral estate and threw the wildest party the Ton had ever seen, making sure all of London is talking about it.

Between her provocative pranks and daring exploits, Cole has no choice but to return.

Now the stern Earl of Tonfield is back to stop his scandalous wife before she causes more damage, but Emily doesn't want to be stopped.

She wants to be loved.
She wants to be acknowledged, as his wife, his countess, and a woman worthy of his heart.

PROLOGUE
Leicestershire, England.
March 1814.

COLE FLETCHER sneaked out of the house and into his father's stable. At age twelve, he was already as tall as a young man. A trait that runs in the family.

Some days ago, his father had brought in a new horse and the instructions had been it shouldn't be mounted. But being the stubborn lad that he was, he disregarded his father's warning and sneaked in.

There had been no horse in their stables he hadn't mounted before. Honestly, he didn't know why his father like to fret about frivolous things.

He was as capable as any stable master his father had, if not better, the boy thought as he pulled the stable door open and stepped inside. The cool morning air following him inside.

He knew where the stallion had been kept, in the last stall, separate from the other horses. Cole was excited. The thought of stealing his father's new horse out to the open field made his blood tingle.

The boy grinned mischievously. Of course, he would be scolded properly, but in the end, it would be worth it.

He walked as discreetly as possible, his ears tuned to any sound that could show that someone was coming or perhaps, the stable master had stirred from his deep slumber.

Walking the narrow path that was flanked by several stalls which held various type of horses. Dry hays here and there.

He got to the stall, and pulled the small wooden door that couldn't be anymore taller than his waist open, and walked inside.

On sensing him, the black Arabian horse raised
his head, and the boy splashed him a boyish grin and then offered sugar to the horse.

When the horse went about the business of chewing the sugar, the boy rubbed his head and whispered sweet nothing's into his ear.

He rubbed one more time before he led the horse out of its stall, as quietly as possible. It wouldn't do to get caught even before he had mounted the horse.

When he was sure he was far from sight, the paddock and the stable house behind him the boy mounted the horse and rode off galloping on the green stretch of the wide plateau.

Twelve years old Cole willed the animal beneath him in a way that could only be admired. He had excellent skill and was an excellent rider, but sometimes skill wasn't all that mattered, sometimes one needed experience.

~~~

THERE WAS A REASON the fourth earl of Tonfield ordered that nobody mount the new horse which had been brought in recently.

It was wild, and it was yet to be tamed. It might seem level-headed, but it was just waiting for an opportunity to misbehave, and to hear his only son had just stolen away with the horse made his heart skip.

The poor boy might be thrown off the horse, or worst it could kill him.

With a fearful heart, the earl of Tonfield raced out of the house and mounted his horse, which had already been readied and saddled for him.