She knocked lightly on the door, but heard no response.
Dear God, had Lady Weston passed away during the night?
Prudence opened the door, and what she saw inside the room nearly knocked her over.
Lady Weston sat up in the bed, looking quite perturbed, indeed.
“Ah, finally…someone has come,” she said. Her voice was weak and raspy still, but the color of her skin had improved. “I cannot reach the bell pull.”
Prudence closed the door behind her, crossing the room and going to the aged lady’s bedside. “Lady Weston. How are you feeling?”
“Hungry!” she replied. “I daresay, I am famished. Why has my breakfast tray not been brought up yet? Has the cook left our employ?”
“No, not in the least,” Prudence replied, amazed at the improvement in Lady Weston’s health. “But where is Lady Harrington?”
“Alicia?” she asked. “I’m sure I do not know. Is she not in her rooms?”
“Lady Harrington has been at your bedside all night, keeping vigil,” Prudence said, adding, “Perhaps she had to attend to something.”
“Vigil?” Lady Weston demanded. “Whatever for…was I dying?”
“Dr. Trask seemed to think your condition was quite serious,” Prudence answered.
Lady Weston huffed. “That quack—what does he know? I am old, that is all. I am bound to have spells from time to time, in fact, I’m entitled to them! Now, if someone doesn’t bring me a proper breakfast soon, I shall most certainly die of hunger.”
“Of course, Lady Weston,” Prudence said, moving to tug on the velvet bell pull.
Soon, the door opened and a maid entered, looking surprised to see her mistress sitting up in bed.
“Lady Weston would like a breakfast tray, Hester,” Prudence said. “Something light—tea, toast and marmalade.”
“I told you I am hungry, Miss Atwater,” Lady Weston asserted. “Hester, tell Cook I shall want eggs, ham and bacon along with it.”
Hester looked from Prudence to Lady Weston for direction.
Prudence shook her head and said, “Just the tea and toast, Hester. That will be all.”
“No—I want eggs and ham, as well!” Lady Weston called out but the maid had already gone. Then she looked at Prudence with obvious shock. “Miss Atwater, I am fond of you, as you know. But who do you think you are to contradict my express orders to my staff?”
“Forgive me, Lady Weston,” Prudence said. “I mean no disrespect, but I must do what is best for you. I owe it to Alfred and Lady Harrington. And to answer your question, I am soon to be your great-niece-in-law.”
Lady Weston stared at Prudence for a moment, then said, “You have accepted Alfred’s proposal?”
“No,” she replied. “He has accepted mine. I have asked Alfred to be my husband.”
The aged lady smiled. “Brava, my dear. In that case, you may indeed contradict my orders from time to time. As the new Lady Weston, this shall be your house, and it shall be your right.”
Prudence clasped Lady Weston’s hand gently. “I would only do so out of care for you, my lady.”
The door opened and Lady Harrington came in, stopping suddenly when she saw Lady Weston. She rushed forward. “Auntie! What are you doing sitting up? Are you alright?”
Lady Weston smiled and replied, “I am better than ever, Alicia, my dear. Miss Atwater has just shared some wonderful news with me, which affects you, as well. Would you like to tell her, or may I?”
Prudence gave a nod. “You certainly may, my lady.”
“Miss Atwater has asked our dear Alfred to marry her,” Lady Weston said, beaming.
Lady Harrington, still in shock over her aunt’s dramatic improvement, said, “She asked him to marry her?”
“And he accepted,” Lady Weston explained.
“I am not sure,” Lady Harrington said, “but I think the world may have just turned upside down. Auntie was gravely ill but is on the mend, and now women are proposing marriage.” Then, she laughed and pulled Prudence close for a hug. “But all I care about is happiness—yours, Alfred’s and Aunt Withypoll’s.”
“Thank you, Lady Harrington,” Prudence said. “Lady Weston understands, and so does Alfred, but I had to do it my way.”
The door opened again and Hester walked in carrying a tray. She was followed by Alfred, looking dashing as always, who said, “I just heard the news. Auntie is sitting up and wants something to eat.”
The maid placed the tray in front of Lady Weston and exited the room.
Alfred perused the tray, and said with a smile, “Tea, toast and marmalade…exactly what you used to order for me when I was convalescing as a boy, Auntie. You’ll soon be right as rain.”
“Quite right, Alfred,” she said, happily. “Miss Atwater wisely overturned my request for eggs, ham and bacon, as well. A very capable and authoritative young lady.”
Alfred raised a brow. “Miss Atwater contradicted your orders, and you allowed it?”
“I most certainly did,” Lady Weston replied. “As she is going to be mistress of this house, I thought it best to get the staff used to the idea of taking orders from her.”
Alfred glanced at Prudence inquisitively.
“The news of our engagement sort of came out,” she said, shrugging.
“My dear, I think it is well past time for any semblance of convention regarding our relationship,” he said, calmly. “It is perfectly fine that you made the announcement to Auntie and Mama. After all, we are to be family.”
Prudence took his hand, her heart filling with love, pride, and new-found peace. “My dear Lord Weston, I believe we already are….”
Epilogue
One Year Later
Broomley Park, Luton
Prudence shielded her eyes from the bright sunshine as she gazed over the vast grounds of Broomley Park, the Weston family seat. It was still hard for her to believe that she was mistress of such a place, as well as the London townhouse, and all the other Weston property in Norfolk she hadn’t even seen yet.
Life was full of surprises, she thought with a smile.
A year ago, if anyone had told her she’d be married to a wonderful man like Alfred, and blessed with a beautiful baby daughter, she’d have thought them mad. Yet, here she was, living a life she’d never expected, but gave thanks for every day.
Her heart swelled with emotion as she watched the figure of a man walk up the hill toward her.
Alfred.
Her husband. Her lover. Her partner in all things.
Thinking back to when she first met him, she’d thought of herself as the skilled teacher. Little did she know this incredible man would teach her so much about life, love and the essence of family.
He smiled as he neared her, and she felt her heart quicken with desire as she looked up into those dark, devilish eyes.
“We are making good progress on the dormitories,” he said. “Mungo expects the men to be finished sooner than planned. The Weston Academy will be ready to house more students in a few weeks’ time.”
Upon their marriage, Prudence had changed the name of the school to better reflect her new partnership with her husband. She knew her father would have understood.
“But what are you doing out here?” he asked. “Don’t you have a class to teach?”
Prudence took his hand as they turned and began walking back to the great house. “Actually, not at the moment. Your mother is teaching a class in art history and Great-Aunt Withypoll is demonstrating table manners and etiquette for a group in the dining room.”
“And where is our darling daughter?” he asked.
“Probably having her morning nap,” Prudence answered. “Dolly is in the nursery with Emma and Bertie. So you see, I was not needed anywhere.”
He pulled her close, saying, “Anywhere but here. What a dutiful wife you are, waiting with bated breath for your husband’s return.”
She slapped his chest playfully. “Yes, that must be it. I am known for my devotion to
marital duty and complete obedience to my husband.”
“Have you been sipping the cordial already?” he asked, looking down at her and raising a teasing brow.
Prudence laughed out loud. That was one of the things she treasured about their marriage. They both made each other laugh.
Since marrying Alfred there had been laughter and tears, and many changes in both of their lives.
Alfred’s father had been arrested, tried and imprisoned for his criminal activities. Great-Aunt Withypoll had regained her health and vowed to live until she was one-hundred years old, or even one-hundred and one. Dolly and Mungo had married as well, and Dolly had given birth to their son Albert—whom everyone called Bertie—only a week after Prudence had delivered their daughter, Emma.
Though at one time she feared losing her independence, Prudence had made some concessions in her new life as wife and mother, but strangely, they didn’t seem difficult to her now. Perhaps because she was so happy with Alfred and their beautiful baby girl, and with taking her place in this new family they’d created together.
“Have you heard from Mr. McTavish?” she asked as they walked. “Have he and his wife found any new students for us?”
McTavish was an old comrade of Mungo’s from his pirate days, Prudence had learned. He’d been working at one of the brothels when Alfred and Mungo had run into him the night she’d been kidnapped, and he’d assisted them in their quest to rescue Prudence.
Now, he and his wife—a woman who had previously worked at the brothel—handled recruitment for the Weston Academy. Though Prudence had once vowed never to give up going into the streets herself to help people in need, she was content to let the McTavish’s use their connections to help those trapped in London’s dark underworld.
“Mungo and I met with Tav yesterday,” Alfred answered. “He and Rose have taken in two girls who are sisters, and are looking forward to starting a new life here at the Academy. They should be arriving by the end of the week.”
“That is wonderful news, Alfred,” she said, her heart filling with warmth. “You know, though I would never have believed it a year ago, my little school has grown into something much bigger than my father and I had ever conceived of. And it really is thanks to you, and Great-Aunt Withypoll, and your dear Mama, Dolly and Mungo, and the McTavish’s, too. Though you wouldn’t think so, even your father deserves some thanks.”
Alfred frowned, asking, “How do you figure that? Because of him, I almost lost you—and Emma.”
“It was when I was tied to that bedpost, fearing for my life that I realized what was truly important to me,” she replied. “You, and our unborn child, and our family. Nothing—not my need for independence or my fear of losing it—was more important than seeing you again. Though it took me awhile to realize it, your father gave me a gift that day, the gift of clarity. Ever since the moment I saw you coming through that window to rescue me, I knew complete happiness. It has never gone away, and it never shall.”
Alfred lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it. “Nor shall I, Prudence, my love.”
“Thank you for believing in me, Alfred,” she said. “You accepted me for who I am, but you changed me, for the better. In my efforts to give my students a new life, I gained a new one for myself, as your wife.”
They stopped for a moment, gazing at the manor house of Broomley Park. All the people Prudence loved most in the world were inside it, save for one, and he stood next to her.
She reached up on tiptoe and pulled him close for a kiss—one that expressed all the emotions in her heart—love, desire, devotion and contentment. Then she smiled up at him. “With you at my side, Alfred, I will always be home.”
Dear Reader,
Thank you for taking the time to read TAMING THE BRIDE, book two in the Brides of Mayfair series. I hope you enjoyed it! If you haven’t read book one, I encourage you to try SEDUCING THE BRIDE, where Alfred plays a role as the hero’s best friend. That book is available now, and you can read on for more information about that.
Also read on for an excerpt from book three in this series: HIS COURTESAN BRIDE. If you would like to be notified about its release, as well as special events and giveaways, please visit my website at www.michellemcmaster.com and sign up for my mailing list. I would love to send news to you.
I also encourage you to follow me on Bookbub to learn about temporary 99 cent sales on ebooks from my backlist. Just click the blue follow button and Bookbub will send you an email to let you know.
Lastly, if you enjoy the thriller genre, please check out my Watch Me series, which I write under the pen name of Avery Holt. I have a separate website for my Avery novels, and you can visit Avery’s website here.
Once again, thank you for reading one of my novels.
Until next time!
Michelle McMaster
Other Books in the Brides of Mayfair Series
SEDUCING THE BRIDE
Brides of Mayfair Series – Book 1
Lord Beckett Thornby is in need of a wife. In order to claim his inheritance, the confirmed bachelor must marry. Yet the last place he expects to find a bride is in the backstreets of London, in a rubbish heap.
Isobel Hampton is running from a painful past…and a dangerous man who will stop at nothing until he finds her. A marriage of convenience with a sinfully handsome lord seems like the perfect solution, until Isobel realizes her husband wants much more from her than she is willing to give. Soon, the marriage that was supposed to be “all business” turns into a dangerous dance of seduction that could leave one or both of them with a broken heart.
(Originally published under the title The Marriage Bargain in 2000. Seducing the Bride is a newly revised and updated edition.)
Purchase SEDUCING THE BRIDE on Amazon
Add to Goodreads Shelf
HIS COURTESAN BRIDE
Brides of Mayfair Series – Book 3
When Miss Serena Ransom is caught in a scandalous embrace with Lord Kane at a Mayfair ball, her reputation is destroyed and her future looks grim. But when she joins The Courtesan Club, conceived by the famous courtesan, Lady Night, Serena begins a new life and vows to take charge of her own destiny as never before. Serena is a celebrity, and London’s most powerful men are competing to become her lover and protector.
Everything is falling into place, except for the one man who threatens everything—Darius Manning, the Earl of Kane.
Serena stirred Darius’s passions as no other woman ever had. Even as he kissed her that night at the Mayfair ball, he knew he could never make her his wife, for he was pledged to another. Now, years later, Darius is free at last and cannot forget the passionate, auburn-haired miss that still fires his blood. The wealthy Lord Kane makes Serena an offer she can’t refuse, to share his bed as his exclusive courtesan.
But as Darius and Serena begin a journey of unbound pleasure together, they soon learn that the most dangerous emotion of all isn’t passion, or desire… but love.
Purchase His Courtesan Bride on Amazon
Read on for an excerpt from HIS COURTESAN BRIDE…
Excerpt from
HIS COURTESAN BRIDE
Book 3 in the Brides of Mayfair Series
Copyright © 2016 Michelle McMaster
Prologue
May, 1816
Telford House,
Mayfair, London
“Don’t you know how dangerous it is for you to be seen with me?” a sinful voice whispered in Serena’s ear.
Strong, masculine hands slid around her waist and pulled her flush against him in a dark corner of the dimly lit gardens. The heat of Darius’ body penetrated through the delicate fabric of Serena’s ivory silk ball gown, a heady contrast to the cool, summer night air that danced around them.
“Of course I do,” she managed to whisper. He was right. This was dangerous business, indeed—for both of them.
If they were discovered like this, in such a compromising position, all hell would break loose. Of course, Serena herself stoo
d to lose the most if their forbidden liaison were discovered. But at times like this, that fact seemed dreadfully unimportant.
Warm lips touched Serena’s neck just below her ear, making gooseflesh erupt upon her skin.
“Then why did you come?” he demanded.
Serena gasped as his hands slid upward over the bodice of her gown, claiming her breasts as if it was his right. If he had been her husband, it would be his right to touch her so intimately. If he had been her fiancé, even. But Darius, Lord Kane—famous war hero and leading bachelor of the Marriage Mart—was neither of those things to Serena.
Not yet.
She tried to reply, but gasped as deft fingers teased her nipples to achingly hard points.
“You know why,” she said, hearing the edge in her voice.
It was a game they played. They both knew the answers to such questions. Yet they asked them, regardless.
“For this?” His warm, wicked mouth burned a trail of hot kisses over her throat and shoulders. Serena leaned her head back against his hard chest, turning her head to give him more access to her tender skin.
“And this?” He quickly loosened the laces at the back of her gown, pulling at the whisper-thin fabric.
Serena shivered helplessly as Darius bared her skin to the night, biting her lip as he slowly palmed her breasts. As her lover pleasured her with his hands, Serena gazed through half-lidded eyes at the opulent manor house in the distance. Golden light spilled out of the tall French windows onto the terrace and courtyard below.
Taming The Bride (Brides of Mayfair 2) Page 22
