by Susanne Lord
“You’ll likely notice the cracked glass pane in the kitchen window.” What the hell was he doing mentioning it? “But I’m mending that. It’s just the glass was late, as it’s coming from Manchester. And don’t worry too much about that one hawthorn tree that’s got the limbs growing all akimbo. I’m transplanting that to the south garden as soon as I get myself the right shovel.”
She kissed his cheek, which made his heart ease a bit. “I love hawthorn trees.”
Good then. Good. “We’ll not all be underfoot, either.” Why weren’t they saying more? He cleared his throat. “There’s room, I’m thinking, for all of us to be comfortable.”
“We’re so close to our old home,” Emma said. “I simply can’t believe it. And I can’t wait for our sisters to move in. Our aunt will be sad to see them go, but they were becoming such a burden, even with the older girls working at the mill.”
None of his family would ever work at a mill again. Not ever.
“So close to home.” Mary’s voice cracked. “And to be out of The Smoke. I prayed every night to leave London and be able to raise Sebastian in the clean, country air.”
Ah…hell. Mary was tearing up again. She had to stop thanking him for every little thing. It was damn awkward. Once she got settled, she’d be all right. He’d put her in the path of Henry the Handsome Baker right away.
Mina was the woman he wanted most to make happy. But she’d seen Will and Charlotte’s house. Would she be disappointed in their home?
Trying to act easy, he looked out the window. Just a few clouds. It had rained this morning, but the sun was promising to shine. Would be really fine if the sun was shining when they got home.
Mina held his hand and leaned her little head on his shoulder. “I’m so excited, Seth. I can’t wait to see the river and the birch.”
He smiled. “We’ll have a picnic. The first fair weather day, I promise.”
Her eyes lit with happiness.
“Are you eager to see the cottage?” he asked, not able to contain himself. He might have asked her that a dozen times already, now that he thought on it.
“I’m sure the cottage will be wonderful and cozy,” Mina said. “You mustn’t worry, Seth. We grew up in a house with seven girls, our parents, and our grandmother. And you saw how we were able to live in London. We don’t require much room.”
He smiled. There was another surprise he had for Mina, and she’d have it soon enough. The carriage turned onto the drive to their cottage, and he watched her face as the house came into view. And he wasn’t disappointed.
Her jaw dropped open and he almost lost the thought he was having when it got replaced with the idea of kissing those lips. But he could hold a couple thoughts in his head at a time.
Especially as the kissing thought was damn near ever present anyway.
“Seth. What…what is that?”
“That’s home, Minnie.”
She stared. “You said it was a cottage.”
Confused, he pulled his gaze off her to see what she saw. “It is a cottage. Just a big one. Four bedrooms on the ground, six on the second story, and four big ones on the third. One of those is meant to be a nursery, I’m thinking. Fourteen altogether.
“And see that littler cottage across the pasture? Mary and Sebastian will be real comfortable there.” He leaned close to whisper in Mina’s ear. “Emma’s a bit of a feisty one, but maybe if we left her down on the ground level, she’d feel mistress enough of her own life. Enough space and peace and she might even forget the business of chasing down Colin Rivers.
“And we have a library, too. Not many books yet, but I ordered a fine dictionary and an atlas, which I think is a good start. Do you like green leather? I’m thinking we’ll bind the books all the same color like Will and Charlotte do. I think that looks elegant.”
She nodded, her lips parted. “That sounds… I like green.”
He grinned, his heart ready to burst from his chest with happiness. “You’re not saying anything. Are you grateful, then, Minnie?”
She blinked, silver tears clinging to her long lashes. “Yes…so grateful.”
“And you have yourself a garden,” he said.
The tears were streaming now, and he nearly busted with joy when she flung herself into his arms and wept. Which probably wasn’t a good thing for a husband to be feeling with his wife releasing the waterworks, but she’d likely forgive him just this once.
The carriage pulled in front of the house, and the sun was bright and shining all around them. The neighbor lad had mowed down the grass, and the fresh, clean scent welcomed them as they stepped out of the carriage.
Emma’s jaw was dangling. “This isn’t at all a cottage, Seth. This is a country house. There are columns!”
He studied the house. “Only four columns around the entries.”
“But you have”—Emma dashed to the corner of the house and bent to look at the south facade, then ran back to join them—“you have four entries. Sixteen columns. And glass windows on every floor. A cottage doesn’t have columns.”
Mina was wiping her eyes, but there was a smile on her lips. Thank God.
She took his hand. “Where is the stream?”
He grinned and bent down to kiss her. “Right where I left it for you, pretty.”
Cottage or country house. It didn’t matter.
He was home.
Epilogue
“I’m wanting to start on the rock wall repairs between our land and Gribbin’s next week.”
Seth stood over his desk in their library, the plans for the south pasture scrawled on the foolscap before him. Mina allowed herself the sheer pleasure of watching his smiling face, the tousled hair that he’d not combed since his morning ride, the way his tailored coat clung to his broad shoulders. She would have to write to Charlotte and Will and thank them for giving her the name of their tailor in Derby.
“I planned to hire one of the Stuart boys for the week, Minnie. They’re good lads and the only ones skilled at stonework around here. I really only need one of them, though.”
“Could you not hire them both?”
“I might,” he murmured, drumming his fingers on the table as he did when he was thinking. “I might if they work three days, rather than the week. That could work. With the weather so fine, it might be best to do the work as fast as we can anyway.”
“That sounds sensible. I know you didn’t want to have to choose between them.”
He grinned and winked at her.
Seth was such a generous man to his workers. Still, she couldn’t deny that these past nine months, to her near-daily surprise, they worked harder and longer for him than she’d ever expected hired men to work. Perhaps that was because Seth worked right alongside them.
She deferred to his instincts when it came to his farm workers, but Seth left all the household staff and accounts to her—and thank goodness for that. She really was a managing sort by nature.
A cacophony of voices and pattering slippers rose in the hall. The library door burst open and her youngest sister, Melisande—called Missy by all—along with Emma, Diane, Sue, Karen, and Mary, with Sebastian, invaded the room. The women were engrossed in their own conversations and battles, yet without fail, whichever room Seth inhabited during the day was where they chose to congregate.
All the Adams girls were in love with Seth Mayhew.
“Seth?” Fourteen-year-old Missy leaned over the corner of his desk, her voice suspiciously sweet. “Mrs. Baxter says we are in danger of running out of your drinking coffee, and I know how you rely upon a dish of coffee each morning to invigorate your spirits.”
He grinned over his papers at Mina, sharing an amused glance with her. “Whatever would I do without your monitoring the coffee inventory, Missy?”
Missy popped upright to her feet. “I would be happy to go to the village f
or Mrs. Baxter to purchase your coffee.”
“Would you now?” he said, smiling. “But wouldn’t you need someone to drive you in the carriage? You can’t walk alone.”
Missy cast a jaundiced eye over her older sisters, all settling down with their books and sewing. “I suppose I would need a carriage, as no one will walk with me, because they are so very lazy.”
Mina bit back her smile. Missy was the one sister who could never sit still. She could fatigue a cattle dog.
“Minnie?” Seth darted a pointed glance at Mary. “Is there anything we need from the village?”
“I don’t believe—”
Seth mouthed the word bakery.
Right! “Mary?” Mina started innocently enough. “I wonder if you wouldn’t mind driving Missy to the village?” She smiled. “And while you’re there…would you mind very much visiting the bakery and buying some of those lemon tarts I’ve had such a taste for lately?”
Mary gaped at her. “More lemon tarts? Mr. Danner will think us gluttons. No, Mina, I think it better not to overindulge. Besides, I’m starting a new shirt for Seth today. You do like this plaid fabric, don’t you, Seth?”
Seth shrugged, grinning. “I’d like any fabric you chose, Mary.”
“I know you don’t like any pattern that’s too remarkable. I think you’ll look very fine in this one.” Mary shook her finger at her. “No lemon tarts today, Mina.”
“But I love them so, Mary.” What a liar she and Seth had become in service to Mary’s romantic life. After all these months her sister still hadn’t seen through their scheme to throw her in the baker’s path as often as possible.
Mary shook her head. “No, Mina—”
“Actually,” Seth said, “I sure have been craving a Bakewell tart, myself.”
Mary’s head swung about, the protest for Mina frozen on her lips. “Oh.” She put down her sewing. “Oh. Well, tomorrow, Seth will need his coffee. I’ll go now, shall I?”
Oh…honestly. Her sister would happily spend a life in servitude to Seth. Her gratitude to Seth for saving her and Sebastian from the city hadn’t lessened an iota.
Seth winked at her as Mary bustled Sebastian out the door, and called for Missy to collect her cape. He must have seen the guilt on her face, for he came to sit beside her and take her hand onto his lap. “Henry’ll thank me. The man is good and smitten.”
“Are we doing the right thing?” Mina whispered. “What if Mary doesn’t wish to marry again? She doesn’t seem to notice him at all.”
“She will. Don’t worry. And you do like those lemon tarts.”
Still studying his plan for the south pasture, Seth pulled her close into the circle of his arm, and she rested her cheek on his warm shoulder.
Their library shelves were still rather empty. She had a new, green-leather-bound book with gold lettering to give him for his birthday next week.
She would tell him then that he was going to be a father. Somehow, she knew Seth would laugh at his book and cry happy tears for their child. He’d likely keep her up late listing names for their baby, perhaps with a nickname that only they were allowed to use. The book would go on a shelf in the library and be forgotten until much later. And that would be exactly right.
Because as Seth reminded her every day, in all the big and little things he did, home wasn’t a library of books, or a garden with her mother’s peas, or a stream with stepping-stones across it. Home wasn’t a place at all.
It was a person.
About the Author
Susanne Lord lives beside a beautiful pond surrounded by hawthorn trees and wildflowers. When it’s quiet and no one is about, she can pretend she is taking her exercise on the grounds of an ancient family estate. When it’s not, she’s reminded her family is not of the landed gentry, the pond is in the middle of Chicago, and the only adventure in her day comes in the form of emails marked “urgent” at her advertising job. She is an active member of Chicago North RWA. When not working, writing, attending theater, or reading, she travels to England, where she enjoys getting lost in the woods.
In Search of Scandal
London Explorers
by Susanne Lord
A daring explorer
All of London is abuzz with the tale of Will Repton. The lone survivor of a massacre in Tibet has returned to England a hero, but the traumatized explorer has no time for glory. Another dangerous expedition awaits. Nothing can deter him from his quest, and no one can unearth his secret—until Will meets Charlotte Baker.
Is no match for an adventurous heart
Vivacious Charlotte Baker also has a mission—to find a man whose bold spirit matches her own. When she meets Will Repton, she immediately recognizes him as her soul mate, and she’s naively willing to turn her back on the rules of propriety to ensnare him.
Will is torn between his fascination with Charlotte and his vow to finish his quest. He knows what it is to risk life and limb—but what if his most perilous adventure doesn’t lie across an ocean, but within his own lost heart?
“Beautifully written, deeply romantic, and utterly magnificent.” —New York Times bestselling author Courtney Milan
“[A] delightful debut... Passionate characters and personal adventures come alive.” —Booklist
For more Susanne Lord, visit:
www.sourcebooks.com
How to Impress a Marquess
Wicked Little Secrets
by Susanna Ives
Take one marquess, responsible, worldly, deadly dull but concealing an artist’s soul
Add one rebellious, brilliantly creative but lonely young lady who craves love, home, and family
Combine with ill-assorted guests at an ill-fated house party hosted by a dowager with a poison tongue and a penchant for scandal
You’ll be shaken, you’ll be stirred, you’ll laugh, and you’ll swoon—most of all you’ll be tossed into an intriguing Victorian love story that you’ll never want to leave
“I have never, ever laughed so hard or swooned so much while reading a historical romance.” —Long and Short Reviews for Wicked Little Secrets
“Will touch readers’ hearts. Ives delivers on every level.” —RT Book Reviews for Wicked, My Love Top Pick, 4.5 Stars
For more Susanna Ives, visit:
www.sourcebooks.com
Wicked, My Love
Wicked Little Secrets
by Susanna Ives
A smooth-talking rogue and a dowdy financial genius
Handsome, silver-tongued politician Lord Randall doesn’t get along with his bank partner, the financially brilliant but hopelessly frumpish Isabella St. Vincent. Ever since she was his childhood nemesis, he’s tried—and failed—to get the better of her.
Make a perfectly wicked combination
When both Randall’s political career and their mutual bank interests are threatened by scandal, he has to admit he needs Isabella’s help. They set off on a madcap scheme to set matters right. With her wits and his charm, what could possibly go wrong? Only a volatile mutual attraction that’s catching them completely off guard…
Praise for Susanna Ives:
“A fresh voice that reminded me of Julia Quinn’s characters.” —Eloisa James, New York Times bestselling author
For more Susanna Ives, visit:
www.sourcebooks.com
The Girl from Paris
Paget Family Saga
by Joan Aiken
Ellen Paget’s life is irrevocably changed when she accepts a position as governess for the radical Comte and Comtesse de la Ferte, in whose Paris salon Ellen is introduced to the most illustrious artists, writers, and philosophers of the day. The charming Benedict Masham, second son of an earl and an old family friend, makes it his business to look out for Ellen’s welfare. That would be nice, if it wasn’t so annoying to Ellen, wh
o wants to flout convention and spread her wings in Society.
Ellen soon sheds the stifling conventions of her proper English upbringing, and contends with the questionable affections of a beguiling writer, whose attentions to Ellen dismay the steadfast Benedict.
When tragedy and scandal force her to beat a hasty retreat back to England, it takes all of Ellen’s ingenuity and fortitude to solve the mysteries of the past and present—but can she do so in time to save her father and brother from the machinations of those who mean them harm?
Praise for Mansfield Park Revisited:
“Delightful and charming.” —Becky’s Book Reviews
“A lovely read—and you don’t have to have read Mansfield Park to enjoy it.” —Woman’s Own
For more Joan Aiken, visit:
www.sourcebooks.com
A Scandalous Adventure
Victorian Adventures
by Lillian Marek
They’re hiding a scandalous secret
When his monarch’s flighty fiancée disappears, Count Maximillian von Staufer is dispatched to find her. His search leads Max to discover not the princess, but a look-alike who could be her double. Desperate to avoid an international crisis, he conceives a plan that will buy some time—and allow him to get to know a beautiful Englishwoman.
And time is running out
Lady Susannah Tremaine and her young friend Olivia are staying at the Grand Hotel in Baden, where so far the most exciting part of the visit has been the pastries. But when a devastatingly handsome royal Germanic officer asks Olivia to impersonate a missing princess, Susannah finds herself drawn into a dangerous world of international intrigue as she tries to protect her friend—and her heart.
