“My cousin?” Drew muttered. “Which cousin?”
Lord Edgeworth moved out of the shadow of the doorway and into the glowing light of the study. “That’d be me.”
Charlotte looked from her father to the duke. “I don’t understand.”
“I’ll second that sentiment,” Drew said, putting his arm around her and drawing her close.
The duke smiled. “I can see you’ve changed, grandson. Last time I saw you, you would have jumped to do my bidding. I’m pleased to see you’ve finally become the man I suspected you could be.”
“Thank you,” Drew said, squeezing Charlotte’s waist.
“And you, Miss Milne, I saw you several times at the theatre, and now up close I can see even clearer that you’re strong enough to be part of this family and to stand up to Hardwick’s boorish father.”
Charlotte gaped at the duke for a moment before her head cleared enough to actually speak. “You mean you want me to marry Drew?”
The duke came to her and took one of her hands. “My dear, I want nothing more. Had I been here and not abroad when my son made such a mess of your lives, I would have put a stop to the fool’s meddling. As it was, you were both gone, and all the damage done, by the time I returned. It took me awhile to locate you both. I couldn’t have done it without Edgeworth’s help.”
Charlotte smiled at Lord Edgeworth. “I misjudged you.”
“Don’t fret, Charlotte. May I call you Charlotte, since we’ll soon be related?”
She quickly nodded, pleased that it didn’t seem to bother Drew’s cousin or grandfather in the least that they would soon be related to a butler’s daughter.
“I’ve been misjudged before, and I suspect I’ll be misjudged again.”
Drew stepped towards his cousin. “Have you been spying on Charlotte and me this entire year and sending reports back to Grandfather?”
“See what I mean?” Lord Edgeworth asked nudging Charlotte. “I’m being misjudged again. Spying is such a nasty word, Drew. I’ve been looking out for you and the woman I knew would end up being your wife once you got your head out of the bottle.”
Drew snorted. “She almost married another man. Some superb looking out you did.”
Lord Edgeworth shrugged. “I can’t be everywhere at once. Some things did slip by me.”
Charlotte stared from Lord Edgeworth to her father to the duke. “You three worried me sick.” She faced her father, with her hands on her hips. “Could you have thought of something less dramatic to bring me to heel besides telling me you were dying?”
“We did try to think of something else…” Her father trailed off looking sheepish.
“But nothing came to mind,” the duke inserted and pressed a piece of paper into Drew’s hand.
“What’s this?” Drew opened the paper, a slow smile spreading across his face. “Grandfather, you’re brilliant, but who will marry us?”
Charlotte took the paper Drew handed her, her heart bursting with happiness at the special marriage license the duke had somehow procured. It was really going to happen. Soon she would be Drew’s wife.
“Henry!” the duke bellowed.
Charlotte jumped at the unusual outburst from the usually reserved man. A loud clomping grew near, and Vicar Whitton came rushing into the room, bible in hand, hair disheveled and shirttail hanging out. The duke waved an impatient hand. “Hurry, man. They’re both here, and I’m ready for bed. Marry them at once.”
“Now?” Charlotte gasped, her hands going to her disheveled hair then down to tidy the rumpled material of her gown. “We can’t. I mean to say…” Charlotte looked at Drew. “I look a fright.”
Drew took her hands and turned his back to the gathered group of men. “You’re the most beautiful creature I’ve ever beheld, but if it pleases you to wait, then I’ll wait until you have picked the perfect dress, the perfect flowers, the perfect night. Though—” his mouth came to her ear— “if we’re married tonight, I can break my promise not to touch you. I’ll break it slowly. Over, and over, and over again. All night long. Wherever you desire my hands.”
Heat flooded every part of Charlotte’s body. She turned to gaze at her father. “We’ll marry tonight, if it pleases you?”
He came to her and kissed her cheek. “If it’s what you want and it will make you happy, nothing will please me more.”
“It is, and it will, and I love you.” She kissed her father’s soft cheek then turned to Drew. “I’m ready.” She smiled brightly, her heart beating a rapid tattoo.
“Can you give me a few minutes?” Drew asked.
He had to be joking. “A minute?”
He nodded. “I need to see Father first.”
“But Drew,” she cried. Fear of repeating the past settled around her like an unwelcome blanket on a hot summer night. “He’ll never approve.”
“I’ll be back in a moment,” Drew called as he ran out the door.
Charlotte didn’t bother with pleasantries for any of the men in the room. They huddled on the other side near the sideboard of liquor, probably too afraid to approach her. She paced the room, worry gnawing at her. Had it been a minute? She paced some more, sat in the chair, then promptly abandoned the effort to sit and paced again. Just when she thought she would scream, Drew came through the door, his father in tow, dressed in a mismatched shirt and trousers, his cravat half tied.
Drew dragged his father over to Charlotte, and she strived not to glower at the man who had caused her so much misery. Releasing his father, Drew brought her into the protective circle of his arms. “I went to tell Father to go to hell and take my allowance with him, but it seems there was no need. He’s had an assisted change of heart.”
Charlotte’s gaze flew to the duke, and he winked at her.
Drew tapped her side. “Father wants to tell you something.”
For the sake of their future children, Charlotte forced a smile to her lips. “Yes, my lord?”
Lord Norland cleared his throat, his cheeks blotched crimson. “Welcome to the family, Charlotte.”
One hour later, married, fed and after several glasses of wine, Charlotte lay in Drew’s arms enjoying all the wicked ways he touched her and the promise of a lifetime full of love.
About the Authors
AVA STONE is the author of several Regency Noir Romances. Her best-selling Scandalous Series is filled with witty humor and centers around the friends and family of the Machiavellian-like Lady Staveley, exploring deep themes but with a light touch. A single mother, Ava lives outside Raleigh NC, but she travels extensively, always looking for inspiration for new stories and characters in the various locales she visits. You can find her at www.avastoneauthor.com
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In the midst of writing erotic romance under her pen name, AILEEN FISH began reading reprints of classic traditional Regency romances on her ereader. It was love at first cotillion! The etiquette, the language and society were so delightful, she knew her writing must travel there. You can keep up with her latest release at http://AileenFish.com or http://AriThatcher.com for the steamier side of love.
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JULIE JOHNSTONE is a published author of contemporary short stories and writer of unconventional Regency romances where the rule is—there are no rules. Julie spends her days juggling her love of writing with her love of her two precious children, her overworked lawyer husband and her wandering cat. You can find Julie at [email protected], www.juliejohnstone.blogspot.com, or on Twitter @ juliejohnstone
A Summons From the Duke
Regency Christmas Summons Collection 2
© 2011 Jerrica Knight-Catania, Lilia Birney, Samantha Grace
In JERRICA KNIGHT-CATANIA’s Loving Mister Lockwell, Lady Isabel Whitton has no use for people other than her twin sister -- she much prefers the company of her books. So when she discovers that all her cousins from near and far have been summoned to her home, Danby Castle, for Christmas, she isn't pleased. To make matters even worse, the deplorable Mister Lockwell ha
s come uninvited. * Damien Lockwell, 3rd son of the Earl of Totterdown, has invited himself to Yorkshire for Christmas. Spending the holiday with the Whittons seems far preferable to watching his father drink himself into a stupor. And Lady Isabel proves to be just the kind of entertainment he was looking for -- she's smart as a whip and quite the most unique creature he's ever met -- not to mention she despises him, which is the most thrilling part of all for a man like Damien.
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In LILIA BIRNEY’s A Second Chance For Christmas, Philip Whitton has been summoned back home by his grandfather after a wastrel existence in Italy, studying music and trying to forget his first love. Emily Barlow, nee Ware, is picking up the pieces of her shattered existence following her husband's death. Thrown together by chance on the road back home to Danby, Emily and Philip rekindle the flames of their old passion. Will the fire burn itself out like it did before, or are they ready to follow their hearts and live out the truth of their love?
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In SAMANTHA GRACE’s Twice Upon a Time - since her father’s untimely death, Felicity Halliday has relied on the medical knowledge learned at his side to treat London’s most disreputable in order to support her family. Life has been hard, but everything changes the night she is snatched from an alley behind a theatre and tossed into a nobleman’s carriage. * It has been less than a fortnight since Julian Beckford returned to London after a sojourn in India, and he’s already up to his top-boots in one of his cousin’s mad schemes. When his foolish cousin decides to engage an actress to play his wife over the holidays at Danby Castle, Julian becomes an unwilling party to the lady’s abduction. Along their journey to Yorkshire, Julian makes a stunning discovery about his cousin's pretend wife....and finds it’s possible to love Twice Upon a Time.
A Summons From the Castle
Regency Christmas Summons Collection 3
© 2011 Catherine Gayle, Suzie Grant, Christi Caldwell
In CATHERINE GAYLE’s An Unintended Journey, Abby Goddard’s life is going along just swimmingly, apart from the disappearance of her life’s love—Wesley Cavendish, a man well above her station. Just before Christmas, Grandmama dies after revealing the identity of Abby’s grandfather. The Duke of Danby, no less. Now the entire family will travel to Yorkshire to confront Danby, hoping to gain a dowry for Abby. But then Wesley reemerges, sparking a hope Abby thought long destroyed. * Shall the prodigal son’s sole inheritance be an unsightly gash? Wesley Cavendish aspires to the political realm, despite his father’s near-murderous opposition…not to mention his opposition to Abby Goddard. But since Father died, will the new Earl of Fordingham rescind Father’s disgraceful allegations? Fordingham thwarts Wesley at every turn, threatening marriage to a prominent Tory family—which precludes Abby—to put an end to Wesley’s Whig involvement…unless Wesley can find a loophole.
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In SUZIE GRANT’s A Caribbean Jewel for Christmas, blackmailed by a British Naval Commander, Captain Randall Whitton, a smuggler with a penchant for gold is rescued by Jewel Derington, a feisty plantation owner and the very woman who betrayed him in the jungles of Barbados. Escaping danger has never been so thrilling. Together they are drawn into a political game of winner takes all from which only his grandfather, the Duke of Danby, can rescue them.
* Fascinated by the glitter of his Caribbean Jewel, Randall's lust for gold soon fades. His quest to tame this fiery treasure catapults them both into an adventure where the stakes are higher and the prize greater than either of them have ever dared dream.
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In CHRISTI CALDWELL’s Winning a Lady’s Heart, for Lady Alexandra being the source of a cold, calculated wager is bad enough....but when it is waged by Nathaniel Michael Winters, 5th Earl of Pembroke, the man she's in love with, it results in a broken heart, the scandal of the season, and a summons from her grandfather--the Duke of Danby. To escape Society's gossip, she hurries to her meeting with the duke , determined to put memories of the earl far behind. Except the duke has other plans for Alexandra....plans which include the 5th Earl of Pembroke!
A Summons From His Grace
Regency Christmas Summons Collection 4
© 2011 Jane Charles, Olivia Kelly, Phyllis Campbell
In JANE CHARLES’s Compromised for Christmas, Miss Elizabeth Whitton craved excitement and adventure. Unwilling to endure one boring Season after another, she convinces her uncle in the Home Office to let her work for him. * John Phillip Trent has been spying for the Home Office in the stables of Tuileries as Jean Pierre Bouvier for more than two years, his only English contact – Lisette Renard a servant girl inside the palace. * When a summons from the Duke of Danby slips through the proper channels, both Elizabeth and John’s covers are compromised. To escape the palace and France with their lives, they’ll have to depend on each other and the miracle of Christmas.
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In OLIVIA KELLY’s It Could Only Be You, Harry Connelly has crossed an ocean and pushed his half-healed, battle weary body to its limits to confront the man who stole the life he should have had; his grandfather, the Duke of Danby. Wounded, Harry collapses in a small village’s church, and is nursed back to health by the vicar's beautiful daughter, Lily Beaumont. A man haunted by the demons of war, he should know better than to become involved with such an innocent but he cannot stay away from her. Harry's forced to make a decision. He can wield his decades old anger and bitterness against his grandfather, to compel him to acknowledge the damage he caused, and demand that the duke make monetary amends. Or he can turn his back on the past, and create a future with the woman he is beginning to think he cannot live without.
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In PHYLLIS CAMPBELL’s Becoming a Lady, Dorothy Paxton is not pleased when a handsome Englishman walks into her inn and announces he's taking her back to England to reunite with the grandfather who turned his back on her years ago. Her escort, Calvin Seton, bribes her by paying her brother's doctor's bills, and soon she's on the ship sailing for London. Little by little, Calvin's charm softens her heart. While her lady's companion teaches her to become a lady, Dorothy is secretly wishing Mr. Seton would do some teaching of his own...in his bedroom. Yet she must control her desires or she's no better than her mother who succumbed to a nobleman, only to have him leave her. Dorothy will not repeat history. Or will she?
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