The Heiress Hunt Read online

  When that happened, she would become a duchess and go on her own grand adventure across the pond. What more could a girl in her position possibly ask for?

  Still, she and Harrison had never discussed other women or men in a romantic sense. The topic had been avoided, though she’d always assumed he chased bosoms and bustles, as had every other young man of her acquaintance back then.

  He left and slept with half of Paris. Why should you feel the least bit awkward in discussing your future husband?

  “He’s a bit of a bore,” Kit said, sotto voce, when Maddie didn’t speak up.

  “He is nothing of the sort.” Maddie lifted her chin as she readied to serve the ball. “His Grace is kind and intelligent, a good conversationalist. We share many of the same interests.”

  “He’s a hunting and fishing sort of chap,” Kit said to Harrison. “Probably has hounds that chase foxes.”

  He did, actually. Lockwood had explained the practice to her one afternoon. She served the ball, starting the point.

  “Sounds awful,” Harrison remarked and hit a return to the left side of the court.

  Maddie’s skin prickled with irritation and anger. No one had the right to disparage Lockwood, least of all Harrison, a former friend who’d dropped her like a roll straight from the oven when he left town.

  Before she could stop herself, she sent the ball whizzing toward his head.

  He dove for cover and hit the ground, his chest flat on the grass, as the ball sailed over. “Good God, Maddie. What on earth was that for?”

  An apology burned on her tongue but she swallowed it. “You have no right to criticize me.”

  “I am not criticizing you.” Harrison rose and put his palms out. “I was criticizing the duke.”

  “Whom you’ve never even met.”

  “That never stopped us from criticizing your mother’s guests during her garden parties.”

  Though she tried to stop it, her lips twitched as she fought off a smile. That had been one of their favorite games, to hide in the bushes just off the lawn and watch the guests, then invent names and backstories for each of them. “Remember the time she caught us and made us come out so she could introduce us?”

  He grinned while he brushed dirt and grass off his white suit. “You were the color of a tomato.”

  “As were you, Harrison Archer.”

  He laughed, and Maddie suddenly realized how much she’d missed the sound. How much she’d missed him. She started to tell him as much, but quickly closed her mouth.

  He didn’t miss you. He never even wrote. Stop thinking you matter to him.

  The only reason he’d reached out to her now was for a favor. Perhaps it was time to get to the point of the morning’s reunion. “Your note mentioned you needed something.”

  “Yes, I need your help.” Harrison ambled to the net. “I realize it is an imposition, but I am desperate.”

  “Then I promise to keep an open mind.”

  “Good. I need you to help me find a wife.”

  Her jaw fell open. Out of everything he could have asked, she hadn’t expected that.

  Questions whirled in her mind like a spinning ball, yet she fought to keep her voice even as she drew closer. “A wife?”

  “Yes—and fast.”

  “Wait a minute.” Kit joined them at the net and frowned at Harrison. “Why on earth would you need to marry?”

  “Mother says she’ll cut me off otherwise.”

  “Dash it,” Kit muttered.

  “Precisely.” Harrison’s expression sobered as he turned to her. “Will you help me? You’re friends with everyone in town.”

  “I can give you a few names to call upon.” Heiresses were like hansom cabs in New York City; there was one on nearly every corner.

  He shook his head. “That will take too long. I need this to happen quickly. I want to return to Paris before the end of the summer.”

  “End of the summer?” She blinked, stunned at this news. The man she remembered had been impetuous, prone to acting rashly, but this was shocking, even for him. Had he thought this through? “Finding a wife is not something you should do off-the-cuff, Harrison, and courtships take time.”

  “Let me worry about that. Besides, it’s not like I have a choice.”

  “Regardless, this is a busy time for me. I have an important tennis tournament at the end of June.”

  “Yes, the Nationals. Congratulations on that, by the way.”

  “Thank you. So you can see I haven’t time to squire you around town and introduce you to my friends. I’m leaving to practice in Newport soon.” It was cooler there, with fewer distractions than the city.

  “That’s perfect,” Harrison said. “What about a house party over a long weekend? You could invite some friends.”

  “Good idea,” Kit put in. “Beach, sun and champagne. You’ll find a wife in no time.”

  “Exactly. What do you think, Maddie?”

  She wiped a bead of sweat off her forehead. Strange to imagine Harrison getting married, but they weren’t kids any longer. After all, she was nearly engaged. And the Archers were one of the oldest and wealthiest families in New York. Word of Harrison’s return and interest in finding a bride would cause a minor sensation.

  “Please, Mads,” Harrison said. “You’re the only one I trust to help me find a wife who won’t make me miserable. You know me better than anyone else.”

  “That may have been true three years ago, perhaps, but not now.”

  “You’re wrong. I am the exact same person who beat you at croquet all those years.”

  A surprised laugh tumbled out of her throat. “You lying liar! I beat you at croquet.”

  His blue eyes twinkled with familiar mischief, a look she recognized from years of their escapades. “I don’t want to do this without you. Please, Maddie.”

  Warmth blossomed in her chest and her resentment toward him softened. This is Harrison, your childhood friend. You’ve always helped each other.

  Like that time she fell and skinned her knee, and he carried her all the way home on his back . . .

  Or when his father had been so drunk and angry that she hid Harrison in her room for an entire day . . .

  And how he willingly went along with all of her schemes and games, never complaining once . . .

  How could she possibly refuse him one weekend in Newport with her friends?

  “All right. I’ll speak with my mother and start forming a guest list.”

  Leaning over the net, Harrison pressed a quick kiss to her cheek. “You’re the best. Thank you.”

  It was nothing he hadn’t done a hundred times before, but Maddie’s stomach flipped for some inexplicable reason. She ignored the reaction and pointed to the house. “If we are finished, then I’ll go get cleaned up.”

  Harrison tucked the racket under his arm, appearing extremely pleased with himself. “We shall leave you to it, then. Until Newport, Maddie.”

  Chapter Two

  Eleven Summers Ago

  Eight weeks of freedom.

  Soon. Very soon.

  The carriage ride from the train station was excruciating, yet Harrison didn’t dare speak. He tried to hold still and not give his mother any reason to shout at him—or worse, confine him to his room. A summer away from his family depended on his good behavior.

  The early June Rhode Island air wafted through the carriage windows as they rode, carrying the familiar smells of salt and sand. Flowers and sea grass. The ache behind his eyes began to recede, anticipation building like a crescendo in his veins. This was what he lived for, what kept him sane the rest of the year, these few weeks he spent outside of tutors and classes. Where there were no responsibilities and he could slip away, unnoticed, to see the other children. Swimming, sailing, riding . . . Newport was paradise compared to the grim confines of New York City.

  As they turned along Bellevue Avenue, they passed the Websters’ new cottage. Mother sniffed and fanned herself. “That family is obscene. Look at th
em flaunting themselves.”

  Harrison disagreed. The structure, completed just this year, looked like a castle, with its stone columns and massive iron gate. It had been named Chateau de Falaise, or Cliff Castle, because it overlooked the Cliff Walk. He couldn’t wait to see the inside. There were probably all kinds of hiding places and secret rooms. Maddie would show them to him.

  He tapped his fingers on his knee, wishing he could jump out of the conveyance right there. The Websters were their neighbors in the city, and their only daughter, Maddie, was his good friend. He hadn’t seen her since she’d shown up at his house late one night in April, throwing pebbles at his window until he came out and talked to her.

  There were lots of children hanging about in the Newport summers, but Maddie was his favorite. He didn’t know why, exactly, except that she liked all the same things he did. Plus, she never backed down from a challenge and competed as fiercely as anyone else. Even though she was younger than the group of boys Harrison had befriended, they were all fairly terrified of her.

  Harrison wasn’t afraid of her, though. He thought she was the bravest, smartest and surest child he’d ever met. She listened to him, even when he complained about his family, and invited him to dinners with her parents, which sounded as if it would be awful but never was.

  With Maddie around, the loneliness retreated. He felt accepted and understood. Normal. Happy.

  One more turn and the carriage arrived at the Archer cottage. Harrison waited as patiently as possible while his mother descended, then he started to exit. Thomas pushed him back onto the seat. “Wait your turn, maggot,” his older brother snapped, and stepped down.

  The rudeness didn’t bother Harrison, not today. He was about to escape anyone with the surname of Archer for eight weeks. They would see one another at the occasional dinner, when their mother wasn’t busy with her social engagements. Otherwise, he and Maddie would explore and run and swim until they were exhausted.

  His feet crunched on the gravel as he walked toward the house. No one looked at him or offered a comment. His family went inside while the staff busied themselves with the bags, and Harrison glanced over his shoulder. He could be at Maddie’s new house in less than ten minutes, if he ran.

  He was sprinting before his brain arrived at the decision.

  His summer traveling suit chafed as he sprinted, but he didn’t stop. If Maddie was already down at the water, he would look ridiculous wearing a light wool suit. But it was too late.

  The massive gates were open, the drive lined with carriages. Was Mrs. Webster entertaining? Hoping to go unnoticed, he slipped around the side of the house and around the back to peek. The view took his breath away. Blue as far as the eye could see, whitecaps flashing as the waves rolled toward shore. Sky that reached for miles, with clouds like cotton in the air. He stood and took it in, frozen.

  “There you are!”

  Blinking, he found her. Maddie. She was grinning from beneath a straw bonnet, the yellow ribbon tied under her chin. Freckles dotted her nose, proof that she’d already spent a fair amount of time outside. The restlessness in him quieted as he watched her approach, like a curtain coming down at the end of a play. Her presence meant he could finally relax. Finally breathe.

  As if they’d seen each other yesterday, she grabbed his arm. “Come on. Mama is hosting a garden party and there is a cake with white icing that I have been dying to try.”

  He allowed her to tug him across the lawn toward a row of hedges. “She let you attend a garden party?”

  “Of course not. I am supposed to be inside with the dancing instructor. So we must steal the cake.”

  They stopped behind the hedges and Maddie pointed. “Look at it. Tell me you don’t want a piece.”

  Harrison peered through the branches and leaves and looked toward the dessert table. A three-tiered cake with strawberries on top lorded over the other desserts, its white icing gleaming in the sunlight. Two footmen hovered nearby, while tables of guests chatted under the enormous tent. Big silk hats layered with chiffon and ostrich feathers dotted the landscape.

  The cake looked delicious and he was starving. He liked this idea. “I’ll wait until the footmen are called away,” he declared. “Then I will rush out there and take it.”

  “I have a better plan. I will create a diversion during which you’ll steal the cake.”

  “You can’t be seen out there. Your mother will be furious.”

  “She won’t even notice. She’s sitting on the opposite end of the lawn with her closest friends. They haven’t stopped talking for five minutes.”

  “We still have to get the cake into the house, though.”

  “I have it all planned out. You are going to bring the cake behind those hedges.” She pointed to bushes near the dessert table. “Then we’ll put your coat in front as we carry it inside.”

  “Where we’ll be discovered before we can eat it.”

  “Wrong. I have the perfect hiding place. No one will find us.”

  He trusted her. Maddie thought everything through down to the tiniest detail. “What is your diversion?”

  “I will walk to the left of the two footmen at the table and then pretend to trip and fall—”

  “And get hurt?” He imagined her with scraped palms and raw knees. “No. Untie your bonnet strings and then ‘lose’ your bonnet in the wind on the near side of the dessert table. The wind is blowing away from us, so it should carry your bonnet right past them and into the grass. They won’t be able to resist helping.”

  “And when their backs are turned, you’ll grab the cake.”

  “Yes. I’ll come from the front, so the guests can’t see what I am doing.”

  Two minutes later their plan was under way. Harrison waited until the footmen were chasing the bonnet before he hurried toward the dessert table. The cake was lighter than it looked and he carried it carefully, keeping his back to the crowd, until he was behind the hedges.

  Placing the plate on the ground, he took off his coat. Maddie appeared, her breath labored from the chase. “Hurry. Give me your coat.”

  She used the garment to shield the cake, sort of like a Spanish matador with a bull, as they awkwardly walked to a side door. They made it inside without incident, but he knew this was only the beginning. A legion of staff was required to maintain a house this size, and there were always people about in the daytime. “Where now?” he asked.

  “At the end of the back hall is a staircase to the lower level. Follow me.”

  The inside of the chateau was equally as grand as the outside. It was like a cathedral, with stone arches and buttresses, balconies and tapestries. But Harrison was too focused on not dropping the cake to get a decent look around. At thirteen, his limbs felt awkward and he found himself tripping all the time.

  She will kill me if I lose this cake.

  He gripped the plate tighter and concentrated on keeping it steady while she held open a door. “Down the stairs. Hurry.”

  “Miss Madeline,” a deep voice called in the distance. Likely the dance instructor searching for his pupil.

  “Go, go, go,” Maddie urged in a whisper.

  He ducked through the doorway and went down the stairs. Maddie was right behind him, closing the door softly, then following. “Turn right,” she said.

  When they reached the lower level, she led him to a large blue and orange tiled room where an indoor pool shimmered. An oasis in the summer heat. “Whoa.”

  “Daddy loves to swim.” She edged around the side toward a door in the back.

  “Where are we going?”

  “To the changing room.” She showed him into a tiny space with hooks along the tile and a wooden bench along one side.

  He set the cake down and shook out his tired arms. He’d need to build up his strength if she had any more confectionary heists planned.

  Then he frowned. “I hadn’t thought to steal forks.”

  She produced two forks from the pockets of her dress. “I took them just bef
ore I lost my hat.”

  He grinned—his first genuine smile since seeing her in April. “You always think of everything.”

  “We’d better start eating it before it melts.”

  They both sat and took a bite. It was lemony and delicious, so moist it melted on his tongue. “This is good.”

  “It’s better than good. Thank you for helping me steal it.” She nudged his shoulder with hers. “I’m so glad you’re finally here.”

  Me too, he thought, and reached for more cake.

  Chapter Three

  Chateau de Falaise, Newport

  Eleven Summers Later

  The heiresses descended in the morning.

  Harrison and Kit watched from an upstairs window as carriage after carriage lined up at the chateau. The five-day house party began today, an event that would provide him with unfettered access to Maddie, the one woman he actually planned to marry. The trip was a waste of everyone else’s time, but he couldn’t worry about that. He would do whatever it took to win her, no matter what. All he needed was time.

  Below, the Webster staff toted bags and tended to guests. Maddie was surely down there somewhere, overseeing it all, welcoming everyone and putting them at ease. It was what she did best and one of the reasons society loved her.

  “Look at them.” Kit motioned to the activity below. “Maddie said she merely had to whisper your name and heiresses were fighting for a spot at the house party.”

  Harrison said nothing. There was only one heiress he wanted. No one else mattered.

  No one else had ever mattered. He’d followed Maddie around every summer since the age of twelve, then more often during college, when he made frequent trips to the city. From early-morning tennis matches and late-night walks, to rides in the park and swimming in the ocean, they had been together constantly.