His Contrary Bride (A Gentleman's Guide to One Upon a Time - Book 2)

by Charles, Jane

  Mr. Jacobs focused on Marius. “Your wife received her mother’s land as a dowry. She won’t receive the Chesterfield property until a child is born. Until that time, Lord Chesterfield has control of the estates and the title.”

  He leaned forward took a drink from his cup of tea then withdrew his handkerchief and patted his brow. “If Lady Sabrina has only daughters and Lord Ramsey has a son, then his son will inherit the title and Lady Sabrina’s eldest daughter the estates. This will continue until a male is born of Lady Sabrina’s line unless no children are born, then Lord Chesterfield and his children will become the heirs.”

  The solicitor turned to Sabrina. “Your uncle never managed his finances well. He knew the moment you delivered a child he would have only a title, seat in Parliament, and any funds you decided to provide for him.”

  “That is why he kept me at the academy and lied to Ramsey. It was more than my mother’s estate.”

  The solicitor nodded.

  “Why the secrecy?” Marius finally asked.

  “To protect the daughter. Even then, men would have offered marriage to gain the wealth, knowing his own son would eventually have the title. So to protect them from insincere men, the grooms never learn of their fortune until a month after the vows.”

  The solicitor turned his eyes back to Marius. “There is also a safety clause. Though I don’t believe you would ever harm your wife, her ancestors were still worried about other husbands.”

  “Go on.” Marius leaned forward.

  “If for any reason your wife should die, before her time, under suspicious circumstances and after leaving an heir, the husband will be suspected of murdering her to gain complete control of the wealth unless it can be proven otherwise. If that is the case, all control of property and estates will be taken from the husband and the heir will be given to the next in line to raise and protect.”

  “It appears they thought of everything,” Marius whistled.

  “I mean no offense sir, but there has been a history, though centuries old, of those exact circumstances occurring.”

  “None taken.” He smiled.

  Sabrina sat forward for clarification. “If I had a daughter, then a son, my daughter would inherit everything but the title and my son, only the title?”

  “That is correct. There have been a few occasions where that has happened, but it occurred more with cousins as with you and Lord Chesterfield. If your first child is a male, then all goes to him and he takes control of the title at the age one and twenty.”

  Epilogue

  December 29th

  The last of the guests had left and Marius was finally alone with Sabrina. Without waiting for the carriages to pull away, Marius turned intent on taking his wife up the stairs to their bedroom. Sabrina didn’t budge from her spot. “There is something I wish to give you. Could you wait in the parlor for me?”

  Marius was intrigued, and even though he desperately wanted to make love to her, he agreed to wait and walked into the designated room while Sabrina went upstairs for his gift.

  After pouring himself another brandy, he relaxed into one of the various chairs situated around the fireplace after having to move a pillow. Smiling, he picked up the pillow. No, his friends would never know why there were throw pillows everywhere. It was their own secret. Sabrina had come a long way in accepting her passionate side but she had difficulty beginning the initiation. Thus the pillows began to appear in the various rooms where Sabrina wished to make love, for which Marius gladly complied. She didn’t always need the pillow to muffle her cries, his own mouth served the purpose often enough. The pillows were simply her way of expressing her desire.

  “You look pleased husband.” Sabrina paused in doorway.

  Marius stood and turned to greet her. “I am very happy, Sabrina. How could I not be?”

  Sabrina stepped into the room, closing the door behind her. Marius grew hopeful when he heard the lock click. His wife had also removed her dress and was wearing a silk dressing gown.

  She grabbed his hand and pulled him into the center of the room. “My last Christmas gift for you this year.” She handed him a large box that had been hidden behind her back.

  Marius sank to his knees and began tearing the wrapping. More paper filled the large box and he had to dig until he found the gift. Before he ever saw the item, he knew it was another pillow, though he couldn’t imagine a place they hadn’t made love. Before he looked at the pillow, he glanced up at his wife with a grin. The vision practically drew his breath away. She had removed her robe and was wearing a new creation, obviously created by Bridget, the seamstress in Hopedale, given how provocative the piece of silk was. It clung to every inch of her body, including the very slight bulge in her abdomen, where their first child had begun to grow.

  “Look at the pillow.”

  Marius did as she asked. The entire pillow was embroidered with mistletoe. He couldn’t believe she was willing to risk being caught in a doorway.

  “Do you remember last Christmas?” She asked.

  “Clearly.”

  “Then I was perfectly content to simply kiss you all night.”

  “I can’t help but wonder if you had read my mind then.” He came to his feet, pillow forgotten as he pulled her into his arms.

  “How so?”

  “I can remember thinking, while I plucked the berries; I hoped this Christmas I would get what I everything wanted.”

  “What would that be, pray tell?”

  “Do you really need to ask?” He was intent on maneuvering her to the closest mistletoe.

  “All you have to do is look up.”

  Slowly, he did. Above him, hanging from the lights was a spray of mistletoe. Grinning at his wife’s inventiveness, Marius pulled her close again before capturing her mouth.

  About Jane

  Jane Charles has lived in the Midwest her entire life. As a child she would more likely be found outside with a baseball than a book in her hand. In fact, Jane hated reading until she was sixteen. Out of boredom on a long road trip she borrowed her older sister’s historical romance and fell in love with reading. She long ago lost count of how many fiction novels she has read over the years and her love for them never died. Along with romance she has a passion for history and the two soon combined when she penned her first historical romance. What turned into a hobby became a passion, which has been fully supported by her husband, three children and three cats.

  Jane can be contacted at: janecharles522@gmail.com

  http://www.JaneACharles.blogspot.com or

  http://www.LadyScribes.blogspot.com

  His Impetuous Debutante

  Lady Phoebe Johansen embarks upon her first season with two goals in mind – to remain unwed and scandal free in London. It isn’t that she is against marriage and if her situation were different, she would welcome the opportunity for love and children. It is just not practical. Unfortunately, her older brother is smothering any chances she has of actually enjoying the season out of fear her impetuous nature will land her in predicaments more ruinous than the physical mishaps she had suffered at home.

  Taylor Qualls, the Earl of Sandlin, is forced once again to face his own obligations this season. He has a year and a half to find a suitable bride and produce the heir as dictated in his grandfather’s will. Nobody needs to tell him that Lady Phoebe is the last woman on earth he should marry. After all, given his own track record with wives and Lady Phoebe’s penchant for mishaps, she wouldn’t survive a month as his bride.

  His Not So Sensible Miss

  Emily Frasier has lived as the ward of Duke Ellings since her father died when she was fifteen. She also knows that soon it will be time to leave his household and make her way on her own. When she discovers a cottage while visiting her aunt and uncle she knows this is where she wants to live and become a teacher, as her father once was.

  Dillon Chambers must find a wife this season in order to please his mother. If she didn’t have control over something more precious
than his freedom and life, he would not have made the promise to marry a lady with high connections at the end of the season. When he comes across Emily at his cottage and learns she is the ward of a duke, he feels his luck has finally changed. He could please his mother and settle with a lady he would actually want to have as his wife.

  When the truth becomes known in London that Emily is only a professor’s daughter, Dillon knows his parents will never approve. Will he risk everything to have her? Will Emily do the sensible thing or risk her reputation and heart so that Dillon doesn’t destroy all he holds dear?

  To Walk in the Sun

  Hiding from a dangerous man, Tess Crawford thought The Wiggons’ School for Elegant Young Ladies would be the perfect place to disappear. Or it would be if the local villagers weren’t on edge because of the vampire in their midst, at least they think he’s a vampire. The fascination with the reclusive viscount disrupts the girls’ studies and Tess fights an unending battle to convince her students that monsters do not exist.

  Vincent Latimer, Viscount Atwood, is not a vampire, no matter what the villagers believe. He wishes the book, Wake Not the Dead, had never been written. There is a very good reason he visits his wife’s grave at night, and it has nothing to do with trying to raise her from the dead.

  When a storm thrusts Tess into Vincent’s path and destroys the school, both of their pasts collide.