Kent Deverell sat at the desk in his study and stared at the silver fountain pen he rotated in his hands. Before him lay a half finished sketch for the mechanical thresher, but improving upon the invention failed to hold his attention. These past two weeks he’d lost the ability to concentrate.Except on Juliet.Dropping the pen, he picked up a wilted stalk of tansy, the yellow flowers gone brown and brittle. He smiled, remembering how she’d playfully tucked the stem into his buttonhole on an outing to Hampstead Heath. He’d always considered tansy a weed, but she made him see beauty in the most mundane of plants.The moment he’d planned for so long now approached with inexorable speed. At this very instant, unaware of his intent to seduce her, Juliet Carleton was on her way here. His loins burned with the anticipation of possessing her body.Instead of seeing her wed to a man of noble title, Emmett Carleton would endure whispers and gossip. He’d be hard pressed to find an aristocrat desperate enough to marry a fallen woman, even the heiress to a fortune.And how would Juliet survive being shunned?For the hundredth time, he conjured up her sparkling eyes and artless smile, the fine boned face that reflected her vibrant interest in life.
