"With pleasure," said Lily, sending Julian one of her bright, disarming smiles.
He grinned, then looked at Veronica. "Once you marry me, my darling, Lily will come live with us, yes? I'll see that she has the proper husband."
Veronica smiled back. "I shall trust her virtue to no one but you, my guard."
Julian laughed, and then, turning serious, dragged Swann upright by the collar. "As for you, it is straight to the authorities."
* * *
Veronica stood nervously amid the foggy gardens of Wrothram House. Her time on the road with Julian, Lily, and Swann had taken place hours ago. After that, Shelton had deposited her and Lily back at the house. Then he had driven off with Julian and Swann.
What was taking so long? she wondered for the hundredth time. Shelton had returned an hour ago, telling her Julian would meet her in the gardens. That was it. That was all.
She paced a few steps, on edge, then turned and paced back the way she'd come.
From inside the house she heard the sounds of Simms greeting her tyrant of a father. The earl had returned home.
Veronica closed her eyes, terrified of what her father would do once he'd learned she'd not only gone to Yorkshire and returned home with a bedraggled guard, but had gone with Lily to a soiree from which Lily had been abducted and taken north to Gretna Green—and by a man who'd had a hand in murdering a family, no less!
Veronica opened her eyes, trembling in the cool, late-night air of the garden. She heard a sound, turned, and then saw Julian come into view by the back way, from the mews.
"My lord," she murmured.
"Julian," he corrected her.
"H-how did it go?" she asked.
He gazed at her deeply, drinking in the sight of her. "Unpleasantly, of course. Swann and his cohorts will be tried. As for Rathbone..." He shrugged. "I cannot say. The man has more than a few powerful men in his pocket. My guess is he will walk clean and free of anything."
"Oh, Julian," she murmured. "I-I am so sorry. About your family... your loss of hearing... and the many months you were forced to live at Fountains, alone, with no one to turn to."
"I am feeling better now, Veronica." He moved forward, closing the distance between them, then capturing her in a tight, heated embrace. "I am better because of you, my sweet. You taught me how to love again, and you showed me that there is a life for me yet to be lived."
Veronica tipped her face up to his. "I... I taught you all of that?"
"Aye," he murmured.
"Odd," she whispered, pressing her face against his shirtfront, her fingers curling into the fabric of his coat. "I-I'd never known love until I met you, Julian. You presented yourself as some dangerous stranger, courting me, plaguing me... and all along you were exactly what I'd needed."
"And what was that, Veronica?"
"A man to love until my dying day and beyond." She glanced up at him. "I do love you, Julian. I loved you when I thought you were some nefarious miscreant, and later I loved you as my guard."
He held her tightly. "I'm glad," he murmured. He kissed the top of her head, then tipped her face up and kissed her fully on the mouth, his lips slanting over her own, claiming her for all time. "Marry me," he murmured against her mouth. "Marry me and be my countess, the mother of our children, the warm, sweet body in my bed every night and every morning. Oh, Veronica, my sweet, say you'll be mine for all time...."
"Yes," she whispered. "Forever yours. Always."
Veronica's knees weakened beneath his delicious onslaught of kisses, her mouth opening fully. She clung to him, holding tight, knowing, no matter what, they would always be together.
Simms banged open the doors leading to the garden, announcing loudly that her father was now in residence and wished an audience with his daughters.
Veronica stiffened, and then, when Julian deepened another kiss, she sighed, deciding at that moment Simms could go to the devil, and she kissed her husband-to-be, not even terrified by her father's arrival.
"My lady," the butler called in imperious tones.
"Later, Simms," Julian growled, turning Veronica about and pressing her deeper into the shadows of the foggy garden.
Veronica smiled against Julian's mouth, knowing he would protect her... would always protect her, and would always be true.
"My father will be furious, my lord," she murmured.
"You are to call me Julian," he reminded her, pulling her even closer, "and you are to let me deal with this father of yours. Need I remind you I am the seventh Earl of Eve?" he murmured, pausing to produce from one pocket the Eve Diamond. He pressed it against Veronica's throat. "I shall fasten a chain of the finest links for you to wear this about your neck."
"No. Julian. It—it was a gift for your father."
He brushed away her worries. "And my father shall look down from his place in heaven and see that my beautiful wife wears it now. He will be pleased. And we shall pass this diamond along to our firstborn... and he—or she—will carry with them our love as well as the love of my father, mother, and dear sister. It will be so, Veronica. Say it will."
Veronica nodded, her heart overflowing. "It will, Julian. It will be just as you say."
And she knew that what she said was the truth. At long last, Veronica had found true love.
The End
Want more from Lindsay Randall?
Page forward to see how the To Woo an Heiress series began with an excerpt from
LADY LISSIA'S LIAISON
To Woo an Heiress
Book One
Excerpt from
Lady Lissa's Liaison
To Woo an Heiress
Book One
by
Lindsay Randall
LADY LISSA'S LIAISON
Reviews & Accolades
"Ms. Randall has taken a unique approach in this Regency, and she leads us on a merry chase. The hero and heroine are special. Throw in Gabriel's delightful son, and you have a winner!"
~Rendezvous
"I've a great interest in angling," Wylde explained. "In fact, that interest is what prompted me to settle along the Dove River—that and my penchant to be alone."
Lissa glanced at him. "You prefer solitude, my lord?"
His dark gaze flickered. "Something akin to that."
Lissa moved forward, rounding the huge table spread with a veritable treasure of angling supplies. "'Tis quite a collection."
"Is it?"
She nodded, letting out her breath over the sight of it all. "Indeed. There are feathers here that cannot be found along the Dove. And these hooks?" She reached for a particularly shiny silver one that was small and very fine. "They have been fashioned by a master craftsman."
"Continue," Wylde said, rounding the table to stand beside her.
Lissa looked up, taken aback by the sheer nearness of him, and by his deep, husky tone. His penetrating gaze, his voice, his closeness, and especially the masculine, clean scent of him were wreaking havoc with her insides. In fact, she didn't know how long she could manage to stand so near to him and act as though nothing was amiss with her heartbeat. Truth of the matter was, her heart was pounding a thrilling beat. The path her thoughts were taking was most unladylike, Lissa knew, but she couldn't help herself. Nor could she stop. She was very much affected by Lord Wylde...
Lady Lissa's Liaison
To Woo an Heiress
Book One
by
Lindsay Randall
~
To purchase
Lady Lissa's Liaison
from your favorite eBook Retailer,
visit Lindsay Randall's eBook Discovery Author Page
www.ebookdiscovery.com/LindsayRandall
~
Discover more with
eBookDiscovery.com
Page forward and complete your journey with an excerpt from
MISS MARCIE'S MISCHIEF
To Woo an Heiress
Book Two
Excerpt from
Miss Marci
e's Mischief
To Woo an Heiress
Book Two
by
Lindsay Randall
MISS MARCIE'S MISCHIEF
Reviews & Accolades
"A warm, tender Valentine's treat of opposites attract... Ms. Randall displays a wonderful talent for writing humor. I caught myself laughing out loud several times."
~Rendezvous
They sat side by side atop the coachman's bench.
"I think of you as 'Mistress Mischief,' for obvious reasons," said Cole.
Marcie bowed her head, quickly hiding the shimmer of tears that suddenly sprang to her eyes. Only one other person had ever called her Mistress Mischief.
"I have offended you," said Cole, misunderstanding her reaction.
Marcie blinked away the wetness from her eyes. She looked up at him. "Quite the opposite. You see, my father used to call me Mistress Mischief."
"It seems I am forever stirring up memories for you."
"Yes," she whispered. "It does seem that way, doesn't it?" And as she spoke, she felt a tiny tremor of feeling inside her breast, a feeling she could not quite express. Happiness at the memory of her father? Yes, it was that... and yet it was so much more complicated, and had more to do with the man seated beside her.
Cole Coachman reached over with one gloved hand to pull up her carriage rug. "Wouldn't want you to catch your death," he murmured.
His gloved hand brushed against her own, and Marcie felt a shiver tingle up her spine. Of a sudden, she could not help but notice how very near he was. She could smell the crisp, clean scent of him, and the delicious smell of cedar emanating from his greatcoat and red scarf. The world sped past as the coach whisked over the road, and to Marcie it seemed as if there was only just herself, Cole Coachman, and Prinny the owl alive in the universe. What a very cozy place it was.
Miss Marcie's Mischief
To Woo an Heiress
Book Two
by
Lindsay Randall
~
To purchase
Miss Marcie's Mischief
from your favorite eBook Retailer,
visit Lindsay Randall's eBook Discovery Author Page
www.ebookdiscovery.com/LindsayRandall
~
Discover more with
eBookDiscovery.com
Lindsay Randall officially began writing in the third grade. "I remember the moment vividly," Lindsay says. "Every year my family would head to the New England states for two weeks of vacation. It was in Brattleboro, Vermont, that my mother bought me my first diary. By the end of those two weeks, I'd nearly filled the pages. I was hooked. Writing became my passion."
It was during her second year in college that Lindsay turned from journal writing to novel writing. "I was supposed to write a paper about eminent Victorians, but what I actually wrote was the beginning chapter of a romance novel." She sold this—her very first manuscript—to Kensington Publishing at the age of 25.
Since then, 12 other romance novels have followed, as well as dozens of magazine articles. In 2009, she received a Reviewers Choice Award from RT BookReviews.
Lindsay is a member of the Authors Guild of America, the nation's oldest and largest society of published authors, and is a founding member and first president of Pennwriters, a multi-genre writers' organization based in Pennsylvania and beyond.
By day she is a development writer for a private university, while her late nights and weekends are reserved for pursuing her passion—writing romances.
A Dangerous Courtship (To Woo an Heiress, Book 3) Page 19
