“I feel as though I did not protect you.”
She shook her head. “My dear man, it was not your job to protect me. That was supposed to have been taken care of. The wrong person was trusted with my care. That will not happen again.”
“No, it will never happen again, not if I have a choice. I want you to stay with me, Belle, wherever I go, wherever you go, I want you to be with me.”
“I want the same, my lord William.”
“Do you vow to stay by my side?” His voice dropped almost to a whisper.
“I will. I will stay by your side as long as you want me there.”
“I will never want any different, Princess Belle. I love you.”
She smiled. “I love you, Lord William Montgomery. I will love you until the very day I die.”
He gathered her in his arms, holding her close to him, feeling as though every depraved thing he had ever done in his life was wiped away by her love. “I love you, Belle. I love you.”
END OF BOOK ONE
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Will Duke Shawn finally meet his match in the form of the waspish older gentleman who has already asked for Lady Elizabeth’s hand and been denied?
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CHAPTER ONE
RETURNING HOME
Duke Shawn William Worthington looked out of the carriage window, sighing for what seemed like the millionth time. He was so grateful to see the fields, hills and valleys he was used to. He was back home. Finally. His time as a Lt. General in the Army had come to an end and he was more than ready to return to his hometown. He’d grown up with a doting mother and an attentive father, along with his three brothers and two sisters. His father, Henry Worthington, was a cousin to the Prince Regent, though distant, and had been given a great deal of land and responsibility when King George III had been deemed unfit to rule. Henry Worthington spread the responsibility between his own cousins and, of course, his sons when they were old enough to rule.
All except his youngest brother, Lawrence, who was the last born. He was told to be caretaker for Shawn’s lands while Shawn served in the military.
The carriage rumbled over the rocks and dirt, jostling Shawn about in an almost brutal manner. He found himself irritated and wanted to say something to the driver, but held his tongue. He knew it was not the driver’s fault that the roads were rough.
It was Lawrence’s fault.
Shawn was the oldest of the children. Henry had always been exceedingly proud that his firstborn had been a son. Shawn proceeded, from the moment of birth it seemed, to excel at everything he did. He got high grades at the academy, among the highest of his class. He was a natural at all types of sports and spent some of his free time practicing the various forms of art, including singing and painting. His mother had laughed when he expressed a desire to do a needlepoint with her when he was 12 years old. That was women’s work and she wouldn’t let him. However, Shawn had secretly taken one of her projects and worked on it in a large closet by candlelight for a month. It had turned out beautifully.
The carriage was quick to pull up alongside the front porch of the expansive house. He hadn’t seen it in four years. He was once again glad to be home.
He stepped out of the carriage and was greeted by a small, thin man who had been the butler at the estate for what seemed like forever.
“Duke Worthington, my lord, it is wonderful to see you again after all these years, alive and well.”
“Thank you, James. I am glad to be home.”
“I’m sure that you are, sir. I shall have your bags brought to your room, sir. We have kept it as it was when you left, but we have kept it clean and ready for your return.”
“Thank you again. Where is my brother?”
“He is in the library waiting for you, sir.” The butler bowed deeply. Shawn could see that the old man was genuinely pleased that he was back. On another occasion, it would have pleased him to come to such a warm reception. In this case, it worried him. James was not easily rattled. The war had not touched his county of Fairbanks, except that many men went off to fight. Nevertheless, his citizens had been safe. As far as he knew.
“Are you all right, James?” Shawn narrowed his eyes, gazing intently at the butler.
James opened his eyes a bit wider and nodded twice. “Yes, my lord. I apologize.”
“For what are you apologizing? Have you done something wrong?”
“No, my lord.”
Shawn shook his head. “Then I see no need to apologize.”
“Yes, my lord.”
Shawn stared at him for a moment longer. He shook his head and proceeded up the steps to the front door. A footman opened it, also giving him a warm smile. He didn’t recognize the young man. He stopped. “Good afternoon,” he said.
The footman’s eyes opened wide in disbelief. The Duke was greeting him. His smile froze on his face. “Good afternoon, my lord,” he mumbled.
“And what is your name?”
The footman swallowed. “N…Nathan. Nathan Beauregard.”
“Well, it is good to meet you, Nathan Beauregard. Have you been with us for long?”
“About a year, my lord.”
Shawn gave him a sweeping look. “You look happy.”
Nathan chuckled softly. “Should I not be happy, my lord? You have returned from fighting and we are all well pleased to see you.”
“Why are you pleased when you have never met me?”
Nathan lifted his eyebrows. “You are known to be a respectable gentleman and a fine employer, my lord. This is always good news for servants like myself.”
Shawn cocked his head to the side. “Have you not been given the same impression by my brother, Lawrence, who has been ruling this land for the last four years?”
Nathan’s face darkened and his smile wavered. Shawn instantly knew what that meant. His heart sank. What had Lawrence been doing in these four years that would make a servant behave this way? He feared the worst.
Shawn closed his eyes for just a moment, mentally gathering his strength to keep his temper from exploding. He needed to know all the facts. Perhaps he was assessing too quickly by judging from the sometimes unreliable opinion of two servants.
However, James had been butler since his father had given the lands to Shawn and had the large house built to accommodate him and the family Henry had expected Shawn to have.
His thoughts put him in an even darker mood. It frustrated him that his arrival home couldn’t have been all around jovial and joyous. He had returned just two weeks after his father’s death. He’d been unable to return for the funeral and burial because he’d been in the midst of battle. Two weeks. If only he had been released from service in time.
Moreover, to return and find that Fairbanks County may have been on the road to ruin because of his brother’s behavior.
He shook his head as he entered the library. He was reading too much into this and needed to gather facts before making any judgments.
CHAPTER TWO
ASSESSING THE SITUATION
The library had an extensive bar area. Shawn made for it immediately, picking up several of t
he bottles and gazing at them fondly. He knew his drinking was a little out of control, but it was expected of a returning soldier to drown their sorrows in a few bottles of liquor for at least a month after returning.
He couldn’t afford to spend his time with a fuzzy brain. He had responsibilities. However, he also had haunting visions and heard echoes of the sounds of cannons and gunfire. He had to do something to eliminate the memories. Alcohol typically worked best.
He made himself a drink. His brother was sitting behind the great desk in front of the large bay window and hadn’t bothered to look up at him yet. He was amazed that Lawrence wasn’t paying attention to him. Did he let anyone come in and fix a drink without even looking up to see who they were?
Lawrence was reading something unpleasant. At least it was unpleasant to him. Shawn didn’t know what he was looking at and wasn’t sure he cared. He and Lawrence had never gotten along well. Not only was Lawrence the youngest while Shawn was the oldest, Lawrence often failed while Shawn succeeded at everything he did. There were too many years between them to have anything in common. In addition, Lawrence didn’t take kindly to being ordered around by his oldest brother. On his own, he made terrible decisions, especially where women were concerned.
That was one area where Shawn was unable to council Lawrence. Shawn had never had a serious relationship and now, in his mid-thirties, he never expected to do so….
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ALSO BY JESSIE BENNETT
Faces of Love Series
1. LINK: Book 1 - Thawing A Duke’s Heart
2. LINK: Book 2 - The Lady’s Torn Heart
3. LINK: Book 3 - A Brazen Lady And The Shunned Duke
The Chronicles of Loyalty Series
1. LINK: Revealing A Marchioness’s Heart
The Inheritance Saga Series
1. LINK: To Capture The Duke’s Heart
LINK: To Love A Viscount
The Fairbank Series
Prequel LINK: The Marquess’ Temptation
1. LINK: The Marquess’ Curse (Love & Hearts)
2. LINK: More For A Duke (The Familial Adventures)
3. LINK: Loving The Reluctant Viscount (Love & Hearts)
LINK : The Duke’s Dark Secret (Truth & Lies)
Acknowledgement
Thank you for taking your time and energy to read “The Marquess’ Curse”. Without your continuous support, I would not have written this book.
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Publisher’s Notes
This book is copyright © 2016 by JESSIE BENNETT & CARLTON HOUSE PUBLISHING CO.
This book is a work of fiction. Any similarities to real or dead people, places, or events are not intentional and are the result of coincidence. The characters, places, and events are the product of the author’s imagination and are used fictitiously. All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the author/publisher. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.
Regency Romance: The Marquess’ Curse (The Fairbanks Series - Love & Hearts) (CLEAN Historical Regency Romance) Page 14
