The Lost Love of a Stunning Lady
A REGENCY ROMANCE NOVEL
BRIDGET BARTON
Copyright © 2019 by Bridget Barton
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Table of Contents
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The Lost Love of a Stunning Lady
Introduction
Mimi Hancock, the daughter of a common tradesman, fell in love with her neighbor Richard Warren at first sight. But when Mimi's beauty captures the eye of Hugh Templeton, Duke of Hertford, her mother’s repressed desire to move up the ladder of society is awakened. Mimi is ordered to abandon her dreams of a happy life with Richard and be amiable to the Duke at all costs. Will she sacrifice her own hopes to please her mother, possibly losing her one true love in the process?
Richard Warren is captivated by Mimi’s rare beauty but fate wants them apart. After tragic circumstances, she is forced to move to Paris. Feeling hopeless without her, Richard joins the army, but when he finally returns home, he is left with a shameful secret and a terrible case of mental trauma from the war. On top of that, he fears that he has lost Mimi for good, since she seems to be under the Duke’s spell. Does he have the strength and courage to fight for her even though her mother does not approve of him? Will he be able to win her heart again?
No matter where they go, Mimi and Richard cannot escape the gossip and deception that surrounds them. Can they both overcome everything that keeps them apart and reignite the fire of their lost love?
Chapter 1
Cromer, England
Summer 1810
Mimi Hancock walked along the water’s edge enjoying the sun and the light breeze. She felt light and cool in her new white muslin frock. It was the perfect dress for the seaside, and Mimi’s mother had got it made for just that. The straw bonnet atop her head with a purple ribbon and the soft silk shawl wrapped around her shoulders completed her ensemble. She felt like a stylish lady as she made her way along the beach looking for a place to sit and have her luncheon which she carried in a small hamper slung over her shoulder.
At seventeen years of age, she was possessed of a graceful figure and the clear white skin and pink lips so coveted by London women be they rich or poor. That and her smouldering dark eyes marked her as a glowing beauty among the many lovely young women in London. She stood out from the others with her long raven curls, her tall slenderness, and her mellifluous voice.
However, there was something else about Mimi Hancock. Something feather light and gossamer. Maybe it came from the depths of her large, mysterious black eyes. Whatever it was, it created a subtle yet unequivocal difference between Mimi and the other young ladies in her peer group. It intrigued everyone who came into contact with her.
“Mimi!”
She turned to find her friend Bella running down the beach towards her, waving.
“Oh good! You were still asleep when I left the cottage this morning.”
Bella, a bit short of breath, caught up to Mimi. “I woke just after you left and dressed as quickly as Giselle could put me together!” Bella laughed and pushed some escaped wisps of blonde hair back under her bonnet.
“I’m glad. It’s so lovely here, and I have luncheon in this hamper Camille has filled with all kinds of delicious foods and desserts!”
“Mmm. Wonderful. Because I slept in, I didn’t have any breakfast. I must say I’m feeling a bit peckish.”
The two young ladies, just a week apart in age, looked out over the white tipped wavelets as they manoeuvred their way across the sand and breathed deeply of the salt air. They searched for a spot to sit and open the little picnic basket. And their quest revealed a boy up ahead. A boy who looked to be about the same age as the girls.
He was kneeling in the sand, hands and arms moving to and fro across the surface of the beach. He resembled a puppet master moving the limbs and torso of a very important marionette. And he was immersed, fully, in his endeavour.
“Hello there,” Mimi called as she and Bella walked towards the boy. All the while she perused what he was so engrossed by. It was difficult to tell, but it looked like he was building a sculpture of sand.
The boy looked up, a shock of burnished red hair tumbling over his brown eyes, and a look of deep concentration furrowing his brow. He waved then went studiously back to his work, the aim of which was unwavering.
The girls reached the spot where the boy was enmeshed in his project. Once again, Mimi examined what he was doing. “What is it you’re building there? Your sculpture is wonderful. You must have been working at it all morning.”
The boy didn’t look up again. His attention was consumed with moulding the sand to his specifications. Using his hands, half of a large clam shell and a piece of driftwood, he worked intensely to bring his vision into focus.
“I have been working since sunrise. I am building my country estate. Or rather the mansion on my country estate. See how I have made the cliffs that go down to the surf?”
Feeling a bit ill at ease because her father possessed only one residence in London, Mimi’s smile faded. She made eye contact with Bella. Here might be someone from the peerage. It wouldn’t do to let him know she and her friend were middle class at best.
The house Mimi lived in was a lovely, four-storey townhouse on the western end of Jermyn Street. But it was the only house her father owned. Bella’s father was also a well-to-do tradesman possessing one house only.
“When I’m a man, I shall build a house such as this of stone and mortar. It will be my main residence, and my bride will go there to live with me. I will be part of the gentry. And I shall call my estate Warren Heath.”
Mimi smiled. “How lovely.” She found it a relief that the boy’s country home was currently constructed of fantasies and sand, not mortar and stone.
The boy stood and wiped his hands on his pantaloons. He bowed from the waist. “My name is Richard Warren. I’m here in Cromer with my mother and father and my older brother, George. We live in Cambridge, and are here, at the seaside, for the entire month.”
“I’m Mimi Hancock. From London. This is my friend, Bella Harris. We’ve been here a week already, and we’re staying until the third week of the month. Would you care to share our luncheon? It’s here in this basket. Camille, our cook, always packs more than just we two can eat.”
“Why yes. We can sit in the garden behind my house, My Lady.”
Mimi smiled. “Of course. We certainly can, My Lord.” She set the basket on the beach near the sand mansion and removed a small quilt from the top of the hamper. With Richard’s help, the girls billowed the blanket over the sand. The three of them hopped down on it before the breeze could blow it away, and they settled themselves for their luncheon.
Mimi dug into the basket to extract the offerings of a f
ull cold roast chicken, boiled eggs, pickled vegetables, cheese, rolls, a small bottle of tea, a small bottle of lemonade, seed cake, a jar of jam, and a few thick slices of pound cake.
“A feast fit for a king, I dare say.” Richard dove into a piece of chicken.
“That it is.” Mimi smiled. “I told you Camille always gives us too much food when we go out on our explorations.”
Richard nodded and looked at her with soft eyes. Mimi felt a peculiar jolt in the pit of her stomach. She thought Richard to be quite handsome, and she looked down quickly to hide the colour she felt must be creeping across her cheeks.
“Mimi? Mimi! Bella!”
The three young diners looked up to see another girl a little way down the beach in the same direction Mimi and Bella had come from.
“Oh. Lovely! It’s Giselle.” Mimi looked at Richard and smiled. “She works for my parents. She is visiting here with us.” Mimi waved and called. “Over here, Giselle. We’re having luncheon.”
“Here you are! Your mother has been looking for you, Mimi. She’s in a tizzy. She said I was to tell you and Bella to come back to the cottage straightaway.”
“Whatever for? I told her I was going out walking. I told her not to expect Bella and me until later on.”
“Yes, I know, but now there are to be guests for dinner.”
“A dinner party!” Mimi’s eyes glowed. She loved parties of any kind. A party at their rented cottage by the sea would be splendid.
“Oh, Richard, you must come.” Mimi tugged the boy’s sleeve then turned back to Giselle. “Giselle, this is Richard. Uh, Richard?”
“Warren.” The lad spoke and stood up, bowing from the waist as he had seen his father do on occasion.
“My word. Did you say Warren? Not of the Warrens from Cambridge by any chance?” Giselle sounded excited.
“Yes. The very same.”
“Well Richard, it’s your family that is coming to dinner this evening at the Hancocks.”
“How wonderful. We will have such a fun time. But now, help us to finish our little picnic, Giselle. Won’t you? Then we shall all return to the cottage.” Mimi patted the vacant area on the blanket next to herself.
“Non, Mademoiselle. Come now. We must get back.”
“Must we really go back, Giselle? So soon?” The girls practically whined.
Giselle raised her eyebrows. “Now, now, you know you must get back to dress for dinner. The guests will arrive at 5:00. Dinner will be an hour later. Come on, now. There’s already water heating for your bath. You too, Bella. Mimi, you don’t want to upset your maman, mon petit chou, do you?”
“No. You’re right, Giselle. I don’t want to upset Maman. She gets so nervous when she entertains, though. Sometimes I marvel that she’s not a recluse. What will this one think? What will that one say? It’s maddening at times.”
Richard bowed to the women once again. “Our cottage is over that way. I will see you all shortly.”
“Yes, indeed. We shall see you at dinner, then.”
“Good day, ladies.” The boy solemnly turned on his heel and made his way towards the other end of the beach.
The girls and Giselle watched him for a moment, and then headed in the opposite direction.
As the young people had been talking, the tide had been coming in. And as they walked away, without anyone’s knowledge, it had washed up and swept away Richard’s Warren Heath.
*******
After dinner that first night, the three young people were practically inseparable. The rest of the month was spent with Mimi and Bella sneaking out to meet Richard. It would never do if anyone knew the girls were spending time with a young man with no chaperone present. So they’d decided on various meeting spots where they could go and find one another.
They spent most of their time walking and picnicking on the beach, searching for rare shells and playing dress up games as pirates and sea wenches. There were evenings of refreshment which accompanied the card games the Hancocks and the Warrens enjoyed. And all too soon it was time to go back to the city, the secret and magical summertime activities put on hold until the next year.
“So, it’s back to London tomorrow, Bella.” The girls were sitting on the bed, brushing and braiding each other’s hair in preparation for sleep.
“This summer has been glorious, Mimi. I’m so glad we could spend it together. I do miss my parents, though. And, Francis Bond.”
“Francis Bond? Why ever do you miss him, Bella? I know you’ve shared a few dances with him at parties, but I thought Henry Burke would be the one you would be missing.”
Bella looked down. “Henry is very nice. But, well, Francis and I had a conversation at the end of July. Right before we came here to Cromer. A very important conversation, I must say.”
“An important conversation? About what, pray tell?”
“You must promise to keep it a secret.”
Mimi rolled her eyes. “Bella. Of course, I will keep it a secret. What was the talk about?”
“Francis wishes to marry me, Mimi. And I wish to become his wife.”
Mimi gasped, her hand flying up to cover her mouth.
“Why are you acting as if I’ve just told you I’ve committed a crime?”
“You’ve kept this secret from me all summer! Bella! Why I had absolutely no idea.”
“I’m sorry; I couldn’t betray Francis’ confidence. But now that you and I are going back to London, it would be only a matter of time before you heard something. I didn’t want you to find out from a third hand party.”
“You’re too young to be married, Bella. Your parents will never consent to it.”
“Well, right now yes, I am young. But when I turn eighteen, in six months, Francis and I will steal away.”
“You plan on marrying in a blacksmith shop in Gretna Green or some such other place in Scotland? Bella! Don’t you want more than a few hasty words said over an anvil? And how can you know you’re in love with Francis when you’re so young? Stay in London. Marry when you are twenty-one. You can’t possibly know you’re in love at our age.”
“That is untrue, Mimi. I know my true feelings. And I know yours, as well.”
“Is that so?” Mimi pulled on Bella’s braid.
“Yes, it is so. You are in love too, Mimi.”
“I? I am in love? I beg to differ, Bella.”
“You are in love with Richard Warren. Surely you are aware of that. It’s been plain to me. And if I’m not mistaken, he returns the sentiment.”
“I cannot be in love with him. Richard lives in Cambridge. And his family is no better off than my own. You’re aware that my mother wants me to move up in the world. The only way for a woman to advance in society is through marriage. You know that.”
“Yes, I do. My parents want and expect me to marry someone above the tradesmen’s middle class. But I simply refuse to be married off to further the interests of my father. I want love, Mimi. Real, true love. And I shall have it. I dare say I already do. With Francis Bond. Much as you do with Richard. We’ve had so much fun these last three weeks.”
“Yes, it was a glorious summer. So many happy moments. And tender, poignant ones as well. There were times when I felt as if I were a fully grown woman. Times when I felt that I wanted nothing more than to share every minute with Richard. Times when I wanted to share my life with him.” Mimi went to the window of the little bedchamber and gazed out at the moon rising over the sea. The soft white orb moved slowly across the cloudless, indigo sky. “I will never see Richard Warren again, Bella. The summer was but a girlish bit of foolishness soon to be forgotten.”
But, Mimi knew in her heart that she would always treasure this particular summer forever. The summer of her first love memories.
*******
London
Autumn 1811
“Miss Mimi, Madame. A new family is soon to be moving into the house two doors down the road.” Mrs Gauthier, the French housekeeper Marie Hancock had brought from Paris, walked into
the family sitting room. She gestured to Nancy, the household maid, to place the pudding, still warm, on the table. The Hancock ladies were breakfasting in the family sitting room.
“Really? They must be renting the Talbots’ house. The place has been empty since the old matriarch moved out to the country with her son. Much to the chagrin of the younger Mrs Talbot, I’ve no doubt!” Marie winked and laughed. “It must be over a year now.”
“No, Madame. No one is renting the house. I heard it at the market that the house was purchased. By a family. Not from this area.”
The Lost Love of a Stunning Lady: A Historical Regency Romance Book Page 1
