Annabelle: A Regency Romance (The Four Sisters' Series Book 2)

by Audrey Harrison

  “You believed her poison?” Stuart asked. He smiled at Frances’s surprised look. “Oh, I overheard the words she spouted on more than one occasion but could not do much about it without it bringing more of her wrath on your shoulders. Mother wrote over the years, time and again she wished you could escape from Joan’s clutches. I think it was a subtle hint for me to do something.”

  Frances smiled. “There is hope for us all if Mrs. Adams can be subtle!” She paused at Stuart’s bark of laughter before continuing. “I’ve thought a lot about what Joan’s influence did to me. Do you know she never once considered that I might marry? She just told me no one would have such a mouse as a wife, but I would always have her friendship.”

  “And she was honestly saying that as if it were a positive wasn’t she?” Stuart asked in disbelief.

  “Oh, yes, she became worse when she was convinced Robert was going to make her his Duchess,” Frances admitted. “But it’s not all her fault; I let her words go unchallenged. At first I didn’t believe them, but then over time, I didn’t get married, and her words gained more weight. I have been out of the schoolroom these past seven years, so I’m considered firmly on the shelf by the likes of Joan.”

  “And yet all the time, I had wanted to marry you,” Stuart said ruefully.

  “Mrs. Adams said something that struck with me,” Frances said. The only indication she heard Stuart’s words was the slight flushing of her cheeks. “I’m not going into detail, but what she said made me pause. Do you know, I think I could bear Joan’s criticisms and comments because I knew you were always in the background?”

  “I don’t understand,” Stuart responded.

  “You were my comfort; you were the person who gave me more than friendship: it was more a feeling of happiness and security in the knowledge that I was appreciated. You always seemed to have a smile and a kind word for me,” Frances said in explanation. “I only distanced myself from you after the closeness that developed through the hunting incident because Joan had noticed and was constantly making derogatory remarks.”

  “Bloody Joan,” Stuart snapped.

  “Stuart Adams!” Frances said shocked.

  “Sorry,” Stuart responded, but he could not help the grin spreading across his face at Frances’s reaction or the fact that she had used his given name.

  “I can’t give her all the blame; I shouldn’t have been weak, so I have to take responsibility for that,” Frances said in defence of her friend. “But I think I changed more when you left on this last job.”

  “Why?”

  “I had turned one and twenty; I suppose I was ready to settle down, but it seemed Joan’s words were correct: I couldn’t attract a man; I couldn’t attract the man that had been a constant in my life,” Frances said, meeting Stuart’s gaze. “After you left, I believed everything Joan said to me; I had no fight left to disbelieve her.”

  “I didn’t know,” Stuart said quietly.

  “I don’t even know if it was conscious thought; I just knew I felt lost.”

  “But I had been away before,” Stuart said.

  “I know, but never for as long; and I had been younger, so I suppose it didn’t affect me the same,” Frances said, trying to explain. “I’ve said I’m not sure how much was conscious thought. It is only these last few days I have gone through everything time and again to try and understand my extreme behaviour!”

  “Extreme behaviour?” Stuart asked with amusement.

  “Yes, I’ve never lost my temper before because of someone whistling,” Frances admitted with a smile.

  “Frances, why did you turn down my proposal?” Stuart asked gently. “From what you’ve said, I would have expected it to have been exactly what you wanted.”

  “When you are told enough times that you aren’t worthy, you believe it,” Frances replied.

  “But you stood up to Joan! I think that’s my mother’s favourite story,” Stuart said in confusion. “You are obviously not afraid of Joan.”

  “No, but I stood up to her when she was hurting others not me,” Frances said with a shrug and a smile. “It’s easier to defend others than yourself.”

  “Oh my dear girl, Frances, if only I’d known this before,” Stuart said sadly, regretting all the time lost and all the upset it had caused.

  Frances stood. “I needed to be honest with you, and I have been; thank you for listening to me: I realise after my behaviour you could have refused to listen; it is yet another example of how good you are.”

  Stuart stood, “I don’t understand: why are you going?”

  “There is nothing else to say. You’ve just said yourself you wish you’d known before,” Frances replied. “Too much has been said; too much time has passed.”

  “Wait a moment! You can’t go anywhere yet!” Stuart said. “You’ve just told me in not so many words, I admit, that you would have married me if I had proposed two years ago.”

  “I wanted to be honest with you,” Frances responded.

  “And I thank you for your honesty, but now I want to say something to you,” Stuart said, crossing to Frances and taking her hands in his.

  “What can you say after I’ve explained to you how weak and easily led I have been?” Frances responded with remorse.

  “You aren’t weak and easily led; if nothing else, I have seen numerous occasions since my return,” Stuart said with feeling, “Where you were magnificent: like when you took Lord Stannage to task!”

  Frances laughed despite the seriousness of the conversation. “I’ve never been considered magnificent before.”

  “Well you are, and I want the opportunity to be able to tell you that every day until I die,” Stuart said quietly. He brought Frances’s hands to his lips and kissed the back of both gloved hands. “Will you marry me, Frances? I love you; I always have and always will.”

  “You love me?” Frances squeaked as the realisation hit her that he was speaking the truth. “You have been so patient with me.”

  “I will not say it’s been easy, but if the last confusing weeks are the price I have to pay to make up for being a buffoon, and not seeing that I should have proposed two years ago, then I will accept it. Will you give me your answer?”

  “Will you kiss me?” Frances asked, finally voicing what she had wanted from him since her arrival.

  Stuart laughed and pulled her into his arms. He quickly untied the bonnet and threw it on the sofa. At Frances’s protest at the harsh treatment of her bonnet he laughed and took her face gently in his hands. “I’ll buy you a hundred bonnets, if I can discard them every day just to kiss you,” he said, before doing just that.

  Frances leaned into Stuart with a moan. She had not realised how much she wanted to touch him and how much she wanted to be touched by him until she felt his lips on hers. The moan was all the encouragement Stuart needed; she was enfolded into the most passionate embrace they had ever shared. He was going to spend every moment of his life making up for the time they had lost.

  Eventually, Stuart pulled slightly away, breathing heavily but smiling at Frances’s dishevelled hair. “I’ve just had a thought,” he whispered hoarsely.

  “You could think through that?” Frances asked. “I can hardly stand, let alone think.”

  Stuart chuckled. “If we’d have married two years ago there could be a little Frances running around the house by now.”

  Frances blushed deeper than the flush of passion she already wore. “There could be,” she acknowledged.

  “I think I would like to be a father sooner rather than later,” Stuart admitted.

  “Does the talk of children mean there is to be a special licence for the marriage?” came the clear voice of Mrs Adams at the doorway.

  Frances tried to jump away from Stuart, but he wrapped his arms around her to prevent her moving out of his embrace. “I think so, Mother, but she hasn’t said yes yet,” he said, looking at Frances. “Well? Is it to be a yes, or are you going to disappoint my mother as well as me? She keeps tellin
g me she wants to be a grandmother.”

  “She does, so will you put us all out of our misery, Frances, for goodness sake?” Mrs Adams said, stomping over the threshold of the room.

  Frances laughed and shook her head in wonder. “I suppose I had better say yes then,” she reached up to stroke Stuart’s hair. “I love you: I think I always have; I just didn’t realise it.”

  “I love you too,” Stuart whispered before kissing her with a reverence that unknown to him brought a lump to his mother’s throat.

  “Thank goodness for that; you’ve finally both seen what has been as plain as day for years!” Mrs Adams said, her voice choked. “Now let’s get that special licence sorted out!”

  Chapter 20

  Annabelle was a little surprised to receive a note from Mrs Adams informing her that Frances had finally accepted Stuart’s proposal, that they were going away to obtain a special licence but, Stuart had insisted that Frances should have a wedding surrounded by her friends and family. To aid with preparation she would be staying with Mrs Adams she would be grateful if Annabelle could arrange for Frances’s things to be sent over to the Adams’s household.

  “I know it is the result Frances wanted, but I’m surprised she’s staying there,” Annabelle admitted to Frederick.

  Her husband laughed at Annabelle. “Am I to find my wife is a prude?” he said teasingly. “She doesn’t seem to be one at night.”

  Annabelle flushed and glared at her husband. “I will learn how to stop blushing at your outrageous remarks one of these days!” she said indignantly.

  “I hope not; it is very endearing,” Frederick said seriously.

  “See you’ve done it again! No matter what you say, you put me off my train of thought,” Annabelle cursed him.

  Frederick ceased teasing her. “The news will travel fast of the marriage. Is it time to go out and face the world?” He had been enjoying not having the wider world interfere with their life, but he was realistic, too, knowing it could not last.

  Annabelle moved from where she stood opposite the desk in Frederick’s study and walked around to where he was seated. She indicated that she wished to sit on his knee, and he opened his arms in welcome.

  “I do miss everyone, but I don’t want our time to be spoiled either. Can we not delay it a little longer?” Annabelle asked. “We are alone now apart from the staff; I would like it to stay that way, just for a time.”

  “You aren’t doing this for me are you?” Frederick asked, making Annabelle face him. “We have hardly seen anyone since the night of the theatre. If you’re afraid of going into the outside world because of me, it will cause problems.”

  “That had occurred to me, but it wasn’t the only reason,” Annabelle admitted.

  “I will not stifle you Annabelle,” Frederick said seriously. “You will come to hate me if we don’t have a life outside. Believe me, I hated myself on numerous occasions because of it.”

  “Can we not restrict what we do?” Annabelle asked. “Seeing you hurt like that…it wasn’t worth seeing a play; nothing was worth the beating you received.” She knew full well to what extent he had been hurt as he still had faint marks of some of the bruises.

  “I like being sociable, too,” Frederick admitted. “If I promise we won’t ever put ourselves in such a position again will that help you to accept that we will be going into the wider world?”

  “If we always go in company and stay in company, I think I can live with that,” Annabelle said. “But I would isolate us if anything like that happens again. I could have lost you that night and, now, even more than then, I could not bear it Freddy.”

  Frederick loved to hear his family name on her lips, and he kissed her gently, unable to stop himself from touching her when she was close. “I promise we will be sensible,” he said. “Now what was the other reason you didn’t want to announce we were back in the locality?”

  “That was a selfish reason,” Annabelle admitted with a smile.

  “Oh?” Frederick asked, immediately curious and anticipating what she was going to say with his increased heartbeat.

  “Well we’ve been married for some time now and, although the last few days have been lovely, we’ve never had time to be on our own. I want some time with you before I have to share you again,” Annabelle admitted, her hand having wandered to playing with Frederick’s hair.

  “You don’t want to share me yet?” Frederick asked, moving his hand and gently squeezing her bottom over the fabric of her dress.

  “Not yet. There is still so much I want to ask you about your past: I want to know everything, but I want to spend time with you behind the locked door of our bedchamber,” Annabelle admitted, blushing once more.

  “I have something I need to tell you,” Frederick said with a twinkle in his eye.

  “Go on,” Annabelle said, warily.

  “All the doors have locks on them,” Frederick said, giving her a kiss that was deeper than the butterfly ones he had been giving her since she had joined him on his seat.

  “All the doors, but is that, is that normal?” Annabelle asked.

  “It’s normal for the doors to have locks,” Frederick responded.

  “I wasn’t asking that,” Annabelle said with a grimace.

  “I know, but I thought it prudent to check. Do you know what I want to do?” Frederick said. “I want to make it so that every time you invite someone into our home, no matter what room you take them into, you will have a permanent blush on your cheeks, because you will know what other uses the furniture in the room can be used for.”

  “No! We can’t do that!” Annabelle said, laughing, shocked.

  “Oh, yes, we can, and I am going to show you exactly what I mean right here and now,” Frederick said, deepening the kiss until Annabelle could only moan his name.

  *

  Rosalind, Duchess of Sudworth, was surprised but pleased to receive a letter from her sister, Annabelle, explaining that her husband and herself would be delaying their return to the area for a little while longer. Annabelle apologised for the continued postponement of their arrival but assured her sister the wedding trip was wonderful, and her husband was even more so.

  She was further surprised to hear a few days later that Frances had returned to stay with Mrs Adams.

  “Annabelle will miss Frances, I’m sure,” Rosalind said at the news that Frances and Annabelle were no longer together.

  “I doubt that very much,” Mrs Adams said with authority. “They are like a pair of loved up lovebirds you could ever wish to see. As long as she is with Frederick, Annabelle won’t notice whether there are thousands surrounding her or none.”

  “Is this what Frances told you?” Rosalind asked. It was not the usual terminology that Frances would use.

  “Of course,” Mrs Adams said. “I don’t doubt Frances’s word; she’s as reliable as if I’d seen it with my own eyes.”

  There was something about Mrs Adams’s assurance that made Rosalind narrow her eyes. She was sure the old woman was not being truthful, but for now there was no point trying to challenge her. For whatever reasons Mrs Adams had, she was not prepared to tell Rosalind the full details.

  “Right,” Mrs Adams said, changing the subject. “What are these rumours about Grace I’ve heard?”

  The End

  Read on for a sneaky peak at Book 3!

  About the Author

  I have had the fortune to live a dream. I’ve always wanting to write but, life got in the way as it so often does until a few years ago. Then a change in circumstance enabled me to do what I loved; sitting down to write. Now writing has taken over my life, holidays being based around research, so much so that no matter where we go, my long-suffering husband says ‘And what connection to the Regency period has this building/town/garden got?’

  I do appreciate it when readers get in touch, especially if they love the characters as much as I do. Those first few weeks after release is a trying time, I desperately want everyone to love my cha
racters that take months and months of work to bring to life.

  If you enjoy the books please would you take the time to write a review on Amazon? Reviews are vital for an author who is just starting out, although I admit to bad ones being crushing. Selfishly I want readers to love my stories!

  I can be contacted for any comments you may have, via my website

  www.audreyharrison.co.uk

  or

  www.facebook.com/AudreyHarrisonAuthor

  Novels by Audrey Harrison

  Regency Romances

  The Four Sisters’ Series:-

  Rosalind – Book 1

  Annabelle – Book 2

  Grace – Book 3

  Eleanor – Book 4

  The Inconvenient Trilogy:-

  The Inconvenient Ward – Book 1

  The Inconvenient Wife – Book 2

  The Inconvenient Companion – Book 3

  The Complicated Earl

  The Unwilling Earl (Novella)

  Other eras

  A Very Modern Lord

  Years Apart

  About the Proof Reader

  Joan fell in love with words at about 8 months of age and has been using them and correcting them ever since. She's had a 20-year career in U.S. Army public affairs spent mostly writing: speeches for Army generals, safety publications and videos, and has had one awesome book published, (italics, I'm on my kindle and can't get there) Every Day a New Adventure: Caregivers Look at Alzheimer's Disease, a really riveting and compelling look at five patients, including her own mother. It is available through Publishamerica.com. She also edits books because she loves correcting other people's use of language. What's to say? She's good at it. She lives in a small town near Atlanta, Georgia in the American South with one long-haired cat to whom she is allergic and her grandson to whom she is not. If you need her, you may reach her at oh1kelley@gmail.com.