The Gentleman's Scandalous Bride

by Lauren Royal

  THE GENTLEMAN’S SCANDALOUS BRIDE

  Lauren Royal & Devon Royal

  The Gentleman’s Scandalous Bride is the SWEET & CLEAN edition of Rose by Lauren Royal

  3rd Edition, July 2017

  Novelty Books

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  Title Page

  Book Description

  More Chase Family Books

  A Message from Devon...

  Chase Family Tree

  Cover Image

  Dedication

  1: Standing in her family's...

  2: "If I may speak with you...

  3: "You look melancholy...

  4: "What a day."

  5: Kit stood in a corner...

  6: "Hurry," Rose said.

  7: Kit walked briskly through...

  8: As the evening wore on...

  9: Kit had six men...

  10: As Rose and Gabriel...

  11: "I'm pleased."

  12: Kit led them on the easy...

  13: Before Rose could change...

  14: Kit sketched while Rose...

  15: As Rose watched Kit leave...

  16: "Home" right now for Rose...

  17: Rose closed the lodging's...

  18: Three days later, Kit...

  19: Rose had kissed three...

  20: "Burning the midnight oil...

  21: Even the king had tried to...

  22: Ellen led Rose down...

  23: "Kit," his sister said...

  24: Rose had nearly steeled...

  25: "She's distressed...

  26: Rose knew she should...

  27: "Lady Trentingham?"

  28: The attiring room was so...

  29: "Didn't you sleep well...

  30: Three days later, Ellen...

  31: Built just a few years...

  32: Outside, torches burned...

  33: Rose and Kit returned...

  34: "Good morning, Ellen."

  35: "Good afternoon, Mr....

  36: The next day, Rose...

  37: When Rose brought Ellen...

  38: Kit eventually remembered...

  39: Rose watched brother and...

  40: Rose's family was almost...

  41: Not too much later, Rose...

  42: At Ford's suggestion...

  43: Chrystabel slid beneath...

  44: As Kit and Rose...

  45: Rose spent a restless...

  46: The sun was setting upon...

  47: "Rosslyn." Kit looked up...

  48: As the evening wore on...

  49: Notebook, ruler, and rope...

  50: By the time Kit made...

  51: Later that day, Kit was...

  52: Everything looked so...

  53: Rose shrieked...

  54: Hampton Court was quiet...

  55: "Oh, Judith," Lily breathed...

  56: "Based on the upper floor's...

  57: Standing in the old village...

  58: Judith's wedding...

  59: "I've asked Kit to marry me."

  60: "Don't you think she was...

  61: Rose quickly realized Kit...

  62: "What will you do now?"

  63: It was mid-morning...

  64: Rose rubbed her temples.

  65: "Rose?" Like an apparition...

  66: They held hands as Rose...

  67: The next morning, after...

  68: "Rowan, wake up!"

  69: In Madame Beaumont's...

  70: With all the excitement...

  71: He was a coward.

  72: No note had come from Kit.

  73: Standing at the front of her...

  74: Rose couldn't remember...

  75: "Look at all the people...

  Thank You!

  BONUS MATERIALAuthor's Note

  Explore the Chase Family World

  Excerpt from THE CAVALIER'S CHRISTMAS BRIDE

  Books by Lauren & Devon Royal

  Contest

  About the Authors

  Acknowledgments

  Contact Information

  Copyright Page

  BOOK DESCRIPTION

  The Gentleman’s Scandalous Bride is the SWEET & CLEAN edition of Rose by Lauren Royal

  England, 1677

  The last of three sisters to marry, Lady Rose Ashcroft is determined to land a wealthy, titled husband—a marquess perhaps, or even a duke. Having had her heart broken in the past, she's decided the key to enticing a man lies in hiding her intelligence and academic interests while flaunting her more feminine qualities. Matchmaking mother in tow and strategy firmly in place, Rose heads off to Charles II's court to find love…

  And runs smack dab into Christopher "Kit" Martyn, the one man who could ruin all her plans. Kit is a dashing, successful commoner with his sights set on landing the post of official Royal Architect—and he's the only man Rose feels she can honestly talk to about anything. Kit knows the true Rose, and he wants her, but she thinks of him as a family friend. Can he convince her that a title is unimportant compared to the passion he knows they're destined to share?

  MORE CHASE FAMILY BOOKS

  For more information, click on a cover.

  The Chase Brides

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  Renaissance Chase Family Series

  Specially Priced Boxed Sets

  A MESSAGE FROM DEVON…

  Not gonna lie, I thought it was pretty cool growing up with an author for a mom! I’d always been into books (like, every morning when 1st grade reading time ended, Mrs. Schultz had to physically pry the book from my hands), plus there were perks. Mom was always home with us kids, so we never had to go to daycare. She was also always on deadline, so we got to eat a lot of Pizza Hut for dinner. And I could impress my friends by moseying into Barnes & Noble and casually pointing out my mom’s books on the shelves.

  The only problem: I wasn’t allowed to read them!

  Her romance novels were for and about adults, and I was just a kid. A kid who loved books and hated rules—so you can imagine my dismay.

  Of course, the instant I was old enough, I swiped a full set of her books from the garage and devoured them all in a row. And I wasn’t surprised when I loved every one, because, you guys, my mom is seriously awesome.

  Recently the aforementioned awesome lady had an awesome idea: releasing new, revised versions of her novels that are appropriate for all ages, so that everyone can enjoy them. To think, all those dismay-ful years could have been avoided!

  I knew instantly I was the girl for the job. My mom and I have been writing together basically since I learned how to type—our first all-new collaborative release, Alice Betrothed, is a project we started when I was in middle school—plus, I was a sweet-romance-reading teenager myself only a few years ago. I literally bumped into walls walking around high school with my nose buried in a book.

  There’s a crazy amount of fantastic romance out there right now—we’re SO excited that you’ve chosen our book! Like, spontaneous-dance-party-excited! I would be doing the robot right now if I weren’t busy typing. Maybe I’ll wrap up this letter so I can go do that.

  I so hope you’ll enjoy Rose’s story!

  xoxo

  December 2016

  CHASE FAMILY TREE

  To see a larger version of the Chase Family Tree, click here!

  For Lynne & Bob,

  in memory of Max

  ONE

  Trentingham Manor, the South of England

  September 1677

  STANDING IN her family’s small, crowded chapel, Rose Ashcroft shifted on her high Louis-heeled shoes, wishing she were in a cathedral so there would be somewhere to sit.
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br />   Wishing she were anywhere but here watching her sister get married.

  “Randal John Charles, Baron of Newcliffe, wilt thou have this woman to thy wedded wife, to live together after God’s ordinance in the holy estate of matrimony? Wilt thou love her, comfort her, honor, and keep her in sickness and in health; and, forsaking all others, keep thee only unto her, so long as ye both shall live?”

  “I will.” The confident words echoed through the magnificent oak-paneled chamber, binding Rand to Rose’s sister Lily.

  But Rose wasn’t listening to the ceremony. Instead she heard spinster, spinster, spinster running through her head. Nineteen and a lonely spinster…while both her sisters had fine husbands.

  Happy tears brightened their mother’s brown eyes. She leaned close, bumping against Rose’s left side. “They’re perfect together, aren’t they?” she whispered.

  Rose could only nod dumbly, gazing at her sister’s petite figure laced into a stunning pale blue satin wedding dress embroidered with gleaming silver thread. The bride’s hair, the same rich sable as Rose’s, cascaded to her shoulders in glossy ringlets. Beside her, the groom beamed, looking tall and utterly divine in midnight blue velvet, his gray eyes steady and adoring.

  The wretch.

  Not that Rose still resented Rand. Though his rejection had crushed her, he was so clearly in love with Lily that it was obvious the two of them belonged together. Rose had made her peace with that fact. Truly, she wished her new brother-in-law every happiness.

  But did he have to be so very handsome?

  The priest cleared his throat and looked back down at his Book of Common Prayer. “Lady Lily Ashcroft, wilt thou have this man to thy wedded husband…”

  Standing on Rose’s right, her older sister Violet shifted one of her twin babies on her hip and smiled up at her husband of four years, Ford. Sun streamed through the stained-glass windows, glinting off her spectacles. “Oh, isn’t this beautiful?” she said with a sigh.

  Holding their other infant, Ford squeezed Violet around the shoulders. Seated cross-legged at their feet, their two-year-old son Nicky traced a finger over the patterns in the colorful glazed tile floor, obliviously happy.

  Rose gritted her teeth.

  Her friend Judith Carrington poked her from behind. “I cannot believe Lily’s wedding is happening before mine,” she whispered in a tone of dismay. “I was betrothed first!”

  Rose couldn’t believe Lily and Judith would both be married before she even received a proposal.

  “…so long as ye both shall live?” the priest concluded expectantly.

  In the hush that followed, even knowing it was unkind of her, Rose half hoped some disturbance would occur to stop the wedding.

  But nothing did, of course. “I will,” Lily pledged, her voice as sweetly sincere as she was, ringing clear and true.

  A few more words, a family heirloom ring slid onto her finger, and the deed was done. Lily was the new Lady Newcliffe. And truly, Rose wished her sister every happiness.

  But did she have to be her younger sister?

  When Rand bent to kiss the bride, Rose turned away. Behind her, Judith was grinning up at her own betrothed—although only a little way up, since his stature was less impressive than Rand’s. Lord Grenville was five-and-thirty to Judith’s nineteen, and his pale brown hair was thinning on top, but Rose imagined that the way Judith looked at him made him feel like a king. And he gazed down at her in a way that surely made pretty, plump Judith feel like a queen.

  Rose wanted someone who’d make her feel like a queen. Gemini, a duchess or countess would do. Or even a lowly baroness…

  As the years crawled by without a husband on the horizon, she was getting less picky. Most any man would be acceptable to her now.

  So long as he was handsome, titled, rich, and powerful.

  The guests parted as Lily and Rand began making their way from the chapel. They’d taken but a few steps when a cat, a squirrel, and a chirping sparrow came to join them.

  Rose moved to hug her sister. “It was lovely,” she murmured. “I’m so happy for you.”

  And she was. Truly she was.

  Lily leaned down to pick up the cat, straightening with a brilliant smile. “Your turn next.”

  A hurt retort came to Rose’s mind, but she wouldn’t snap at her sister on her wedding day. “I’m happy for you, too, Rand,” she said instead, rising on her toes to give her sister’s new husband a kiss on the cheek. But not too far up on her toes, because Rose was tall. Too tall, perhaps, or too slim, or too quick-tongued…or too something.

  There had to be some reason she was still unmarried.

  Too intelligent, most likely. It was precisely that failing, she suspected, that had driven Rand away. A handsome and high-born young linguistics professor ought to have been Rose’s perfect match, given her unusual aptitude for foreign languages. But he’d never shown even a flicker of interest. He’d brushed right past her and gone straight for her little sister. Rose wasn’t so arrogant as to expect every man to fall in love with her, but…

  Well, she’d never had one ignore her completely.

  Unfortunately, she hadn’t taken his disinterest well. Desperation had driven her to proposition him in a most unseemly manner, and when that hadn’t worked, in vexation and despair she’d attempted bribery and trickery of the worst kind.

  She couldn’t imagine what had come over her that day and had feared she’d never be able to look Rand in the face again. But to her utter relief he seemed at ease with her, as though he’d graciously forgotten that humiliating episode.

  “I’m the luckiest man in the world,” he said now, making Rose feel like the unluckiest woman.

  Lily must have noticed her dejected expression, because her fingers stilled in the cat’s striped fur. “You will be next,” she said quietly, concern clouding her lovely blue eyes.

  “Undoubtedly so, since I’m the only one left,” Rose quipped. “Unless, that is, Rowan manages to find himself a bride before I find a groom.”

  Their ten-year-old brother stood nearby with Violet’s young niece, Jewel, their dark heads close together in whispered consultation.

  “He may have found himself a bride already,” Rose added dryly.

  Lily’s giggle pealed through the chapel, bouncing around the molded dome ceiling. “Surely someone will claim you long before Rowan gets it in his head to wed. Why, you’re the prettiest of us all!”

  Rose shrugged. She’d always thought Lily the most pretty. Still, she wasn’t about to turn down a compliment. Not today.

  Besides, it took more than beauty, she’d learned, to land a good husband.

  Well-wishers pressed closer. Rose began moving toward the drawing room and found Judith by her side. Forsaking her betrothed, Judith clutched Rose’s arm. “Who is that charming fellow?” she whispered conspiratorially.

  Rose cast a glance at the fellow in question. His gaze met hers, then skimmed her from head to toe in a way that might have made her heart skitter…if she were at all interested. “That’s Mr. Christopher Martyn, a friend of Rand’s—Rand calls him Kit. He’s an architect,” she added curtly.

  Judith frowned. “The name sounds familiar…”

  “King Charles recently awarded him a contract to renovate Whitehall Palace,” Rose admitted. “Among other commissions.” She happened to know that Windsor Castle and Hampton Court were also on Kit’s account books. But she didn’t want Judith to get the wrong idea. That he was someone important.

  But Judith’s blue eyes grew round with admiration. “He must be of great consequence to work for the king. And intelligent, too—no need to play the featherbrained country maiden for him.”

  “Don’t be a goose,” Rose retorted. “I’ve no interest in playing anything for him. And I’ve never acted featherbrained.”

  But perhaps now was the time to start. Her recent efforts to entice a certain gentleman—very well, to entice Rand—through intellectual conversation had failed. Hideously. So hideou
sly that the object of her affection was at this very moment wed to her sister. What could be more hideous than that?

  “You cannot tell me,” Judith whispered, “that you don’t think Mr. Martyn good-looking.”

  Dressed in forest-toned velvet, Kit Martyn was tall and lean, his hair dark as jet, his eyes a startling mix of brown and green. She shrugged. “I suppose he’s handsome in a typical sort of way.”

  Judith sighed. “He looks ever so nice. Do you think he’s nice?”

  “He’s nice enough.” Except for those unusual eyes, which were decidedly not nice. They held a spark of something Rose couldn’t quite name.

  “And good heavens, he’s building things for the king! I’m certain he has money—”

  “Money,” Rose interrupted pointedly, “does not make up for lack of a title.”

  Her sister Violet joined them, sans children for once. “Who needs a title?”

  Judith crossed her arms. “Lady Rose apparently wishes to become Lady Something-Higher.”

  “Oh, well.” Violet sent Rose an indulgent smile. “That’s only because she has yet to fall in love.”

  Rose returned the smile, her lips feeling taut. “Given that it’s as easy to fall in love with a titled man as one without, I’ve decided to concentrate on the former.”

  Violet and Judith exchanged a glance that set Rose’s teeth on edge, then left her to return to their respective—titled—men.

  Since Lily had given their mother barely two weeks to plan the event, the wedding party was small. Still, there were more than enough guests to fill the drawing room and spill out onto the Palladian portico and into the exquisite gardens. Trentingham Manor was known for its gardens, thanks to Rose’s father and his passion for flowers and plants.

  But it was a sunny day, and Rose feared for her creamy complexion, so she opted to stay indoors. She wandered the crowded drawing room, sipping from a goblet of the new and frightfully expensive champagne her parents favored for special celebrations. Although she enjoyed sharing a word or two with various relatives and neighbors, she was feeling rather at loose ends, not quite sure what to do with herself.