Seduced At Sunset by Julianne MacLean Read Free Book Online

the water.
“I read the book because the title captured my attention. I am a boxer myself,
you see. Well... a retired boxer.”
    “Not professional, though,” she said, for he was a
gentleman, the nephew of an earl. It was not uncommon for young noblemen to
dabble in the sport, but it was quite another matter to earn one’s living in
the ring.
    “I was,” he said, surprising her with his reply. “And I
made a small fortune at it, too.”
    “I don’t doubt it, based on what I witnessed yesterday. Is
that why you went to America in the beginning? To fight over there?”
    He adjusted the oars in the oarlocks then dipped them into
the water again. “No, I boxed here in England. I only went to America after I
decided to quit the sport.”
    Charlotte sat speechless while she did the math. He had
told her yesterday that he had been gone for twelve years, which would have put
him in the ring in 1875, or so.
    She had indeed done a significant amount of research for
her novel and had read about many of England’s professional boxers. One in
particular had gained notoriety as a champion until he suddenly went missing
from the news. There was some speculation that he had been murdered, but a body
was never discovered, so the case was closed.
    “Forgive me for asking this question, Mr. Torrington,” she
said, “but are you... were you... The Iron Fist?”
    The Iron Fist was one of the most celebrated, and feared
sportsmen in the country who managed to keep his true identity a secret. Any
man brave enough to step into the ring with him subjected himself to
incomprehensible violence. They didn’t call him The Iron Fist for nothing, and
eventually the boxing establishment had trouble finding sparring partners for
him, for no one dared go head to head with him. He had never been defeated.
    Mr. Torrington’s eyes narrowed, as if he were impressed by
her clever deduction. She supposed not many women would have knowledge of such
things.
    “It appears we have something in common, Lady Charlotte,”
he said. “We both have stage names, so to speak. Though your profession is far
more civilized than mine ever was.”
    Charlotte blinked at him. “I am astonished.”
    “So am I,” he replied. “What are the odds I would end up
in a row boat with Victor Edwards, who had clearly based much of his main
character on me .”
    “That is not true,” she quickly
said in her defence. “Jesse was a composite of a number of different boxers,
and the circumstances of his life were born out of my imagination. You must
admit, your situations are not the same at all. Jesse gets a happy ending,
while you simply disappeared. Good gracious. You were in America all this time?
Why was your disappearance such a mystery? Was there anyone who knew what
happened to you?”
    “My family and a few close friends knew the truth,” he
explained.
    Charlotte remembered how his housekeeper had been so
knowledgeable about head wounds on the day Charlotte was robbed. “Mrs. March
must have tended to your injuries more than once,” she said. “Now I understand
why she was so secretive about her skills.”
    “Yes, and if you don’t object, Lady Charlotte, I would
appreciate it if you could refrain from mentioning my presence here to anyone.
I wish to keep my privacy.”
    She looked out over the still waters. “I will keep your
secret if you will keep mine,” she replied. “For the very same reason. I do not
wish to be famous. I only want to live a normal, quiet life, and write
stories.”
    “About boxers?”
    She smiled at him. “No. The next book is about an orphan
boy who is taken in by gypsies, and later discovers his real father is not
dead, as he was led to believe. He is a high court judge and his mother was one
of the judge’s housemaids, who was murdered after giving birth.”
    “By whom?”
    “By the judge’s wife.”
    “My word,” he said. “Have you no mercy, Lady Charlotte?
Your poor, unfortunate characters. Does this one have a