Loving the Bitter Baron: Sweet and Clean Regency Romance (His Majesty's Hounds Book 11)

by Arietta Richmond

  He swept her up into his arms, and spun her around, only stopping so that he might kiss her without them both collapsing from dizziness. As they deepened the kiss, the door opened.

  “Well! Does this mean that you have something to tell me?”

  The Dowager Duchess stood in the doorway, attempting to look her sternest, but Alyse could see the half smile that she was repressing. She turned, keeping a firm grip on Lord Till… on Gerry’s hand, and smiled brightly at her mother.

  “Yes, mother, we do. I am afraid that I must inform you that you have the onerous task of arranging another wedding, for Lord Tillingford has just asked me to marry him, and I have accepted.”

  The smile escaped her mother’s control completely, and the Dowager Duchess beamed at them.

  “Well, this is a little irregular, young man – after all, you are supposed to ask the head of the family for leave to court her. But I can’t imagine that he’ll be at all distressed by this. None of my children do things the way that polite society expects. Well, I’ll leave you two to… talk. I have plans to set in motion. Am I correct in my assumption that you will wish to marry as soon as can practically be arranged?”

  “Err, yes, Your Grace, I believe that speed would appeal to both of us. And may I say now, that I am happy to leave all of the arrangements in your capable hands.”

  “Wonderful. I had best get started. Do provide me your family’s direction, and some information about them – I don’t believe we’ve ever met.”

  Alyse watched what could only be seen as a grimace pass over Gerry’s face, before he replied.

  “I will do so. I think that you’ll find my parents most accommodating. They are, not to put too fine a point on it, fond of being associated with titles and people of importance.”

  “Ah, I see. Have no fear, I’ll manage to deal with them… appropriately. Leave it to me.”

  She swept from the room, leaving Gerry looking rather overwhelmed, and Alyse on the verge of laughter. Laughter which never quite happened, because Gerry swept her up, and spun her around again.

  “I believe we were busy when we were interrupted. I find I’d like to resume from that point.”

  His lips met hers again, and everything else ceased to matter at all.

  Epilogue

  Five short weeks later, they stood in the church at Meltonbrook village, surrounded by family and friends. The church was beautiful, quite old, and had been the location of many weddings in the Barrington family in the last few centuries. Alyse was filled with joy as she walked down the aisle to join him, her hand shaking a little where it rested on Hunter’s arm.

  Gerry’s eyes were upon her, shining with love, and she was filled with a sudden impulse to cast aside all dignity and run to him. She did not. She would not risk catching the hem of her beautiful dress, which Madame Beaumarais had graciously made for her, even though it had now been revealed that Madame was actually the Marquise de Beaumarais. That would be unforgivable, when the lady in question was amongst the guests!

  So she walked, outwardly calm, her heart beating faster than it ever had before, until she stood beside him.

  The ceremony seemed a blur – she had eyes for nothing and no-one but Gerry, and she repeated the words as required, in a daze, until, at last, it was done. Stepping out into the early spring sunshine, her hand in Gerry’s, she breathed in the scent of roses as the, now expected, storm of rose petals hit them. She had dreamed of this day for so long, she could scarce believe it was real – but it was.

  It was a short carriage ride back to Meltonbrook Chase, and she curled against Gerry, his arm around her, glorying in the fact that she could, now, be in his arms every day. If she’d had the choice, she would have ignored the wedding breakfast and all the celebrating, and snuck away with Gerry to somewhere quiet. But she knew that her mother would never let that happen. Still, it was only a few hours to put up with.

  They were long hours, filled with talking, and dancing, and being congratulated, over and over again. Late in the evening, they settled together on a couch in one corner of the ballroom, simply watching others dance, content to simply be with each other. Alyse noticed, amongst the dancers, Charles, dancing with Maria, Countess of Granville, who was Nerissa’s sister. Maria’s story was sad, for she had married with great celebration, only to lose her husband, within a year, to a terrible accident. She was only recently out of mourning. Alyse had rather thought that her brother was taken with Maria, but he had never said anything of it. Perhaps this was a sign. She would be interested to see what happened there.

  Gerry slid his arm around her, pulling her against him, and she let her head fall to his shoulder, as the reality of it sank in. She was married, to the man she had always wanted.

  She was not sure that it was possible to be happier than she was at that moment. Gerry brushed a kiss onto her brow, then whispered in her ear.

  “Shall we slip away, and leave your mother, Hunter and Nerissa to deal with the departing guests?”

  “Oh, yes please. I want nothing more than to be alone with you.”

  “Nothing more? Are you sure?”

  “Well… perhaps a little more…”

  He turned her face to his and kissed her gently, savouring the moment, then stood, drawing her up with him.

  “Then come, my darling Alyse, and let us discover more of happiness together.”

  No one but Hunter noticed them go, and he simply smiled, and said nothing, overjoyed that his sister, and his friend, had found what they needed in each other.

  The End

  I hope that you enjoyed

  ‘Loving the Bitter Baron’

  You’ll find a taste of the next book in the series,

  ‘Rescuing the Countess’,

  just after the ‘About the Author’ section of this book.

  About the Author

  Arietta Richmond has been a compulsive reader and writer all her life. Whilst her reading has covered an enormous range of topics, history has always fascinated her, and historical novels have been amongst her favourite reading.

  She has written a wide range of work, from business articles and other non-fiction works (published under a pen name) but fiction has always been a major part of her life. Now, her Regency Historical Romance books are finally being released. The Derbyshire Set is comprised of 10 novels (7 released so far). The ‘His Majesty’s Hounds’ series is comprised of 14 novels, with the tenth having just been released.

  She also has a standalone longer novel shortly to be released, and two other series of novels in development.

  She lives in Australia, and when not reading or writing, likes to travel, and to see in person the places where history happened.

  Be the first to know about it when Arietta’s next book is released!

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  When you do, you will receive two free subscriber exclusive books - ‘A Gift of Love’, which is a prequel to the Derbyshire Set series, and ends on the day that ‘The Earl’s Unexpected Bride’ begins, and ‘Madame’s Christmas Marquis’ which is an additional story in the His Majesty’s Hounds series

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  Here is your preview of

  Rescuing the

  Countess

  His Majesty’s Hounds – Book 12

  Sweet and Clean Regency Romance

  Arietta Richmond

  Chapter One

  Charles Barrington, Viscount Wareham, watched as Lady Maria Loughbridge was wed to Lord Edmund Wollstonefort, the Earl of Granville. It was, they were saying, the wedding of the Season, even though it was the first wedding that Season. Maria looked beautiful, as always. He did not think it possible for her to look anything other than beautiful.

  Once, when he had been younger, and foolish, he had looked at Maria, and thought that he would, one day, marry her. Then he had grown old enough to
understand that the place of a third son in the world, even the third son of a Duke, was nothing – certainly not high enough for Viscount Chester to consider him as a suitor for his daughter. Nothing had ever been said – he had simply come to understand how the world worked. But he had never stopped seeing Maria as beautiful – beyond the surface beauty that everyone focused on.

  He looked away, staring at the stone floor of the church, letting the words of the ceremony, binding her irrevocably to another man, wash over him.

  He would find someone else to marry, he was sure, for, now that his father and Richard, his eldest brother were dead and gone, and Hunter was Duke, he was no longer considering the church as a career. He did not, yet, really know what he would do. When the ceremony ended, he left the church with everyone else, and slipped through the crowd, into the streets. He would not attend the wedding breakfast – for he found little in the day to celebrate. For the first time since Martin’s death two years before, drinking himself senseless in a tavern seemed like a good option.

  ~~~~~

  “How dare you countermand my orders to my servants! You will not do so again, do you understand?”

  Lady Constance Wollstonefort, the Dowager Countess of Granville, spoke sharply, her tone scathing, as she glared at her daughter-in-law. Maria repressed a sigh, for that would only draw more of the woman’s wrath, and looked sideways to her husband, hoping that he might defend her. He said nothing, as she had come to expect. She sadly acknowledged that he would never stand up to his mother.

  “Yes, my Lady. I will endeavour to remember that instruction.”

  It was as close as she could go to rebellion. The woman would make her life miserable, no matter what she said. Whilst the first few months of her marriage had been pleasant, if less romantic than she had hoped, as soon as they had removed from London, to Myniard House, the Earl’s estate in Wiltshire, things had changed for the worse.

  Lady Granville had made it instantly obvious that no woman could ever have been good enough for her son, and that Maria fell far short of her standards in every way. Since then, Maria’s life had been miserable. Her only relief was to go walking in the grounds of Myniard Park, spending as long away from the house as she could. The one advantage to her mother-in-law’s attitude was that the woman expected nothing of her – in fact, she forbade Maria from having any influence in the household at all. Which left Maria with her time to herself, and no duties to fulfil, beyond those performed in her husband’s bedchamber, on the occasions when he chose to call her there.

  Some days, as she sat under the towering oak trees by the stream, she allowed herself to dream, to wonder what life would have been like, if she had married a different man. It was not that she disliked Edmund – he was kind, and genuinely cared for her. But he did not love her, and she did not love him. It was a cold kind of marriage, the exact opposite of the kind of thing that young girls dream of.

  Her mother and father had been so happy when she had received the offer of marriage from Edmund. So proud of her, for marrying well. And she, good, obedient daughter that she had always been, had done as they said, and agreed to marry him. How foolishly innocent she had been.

  She knew that dreaming now was pointless – she was married, and that was that. Perhaps, if she was lucky, Edmund would give her a child – with a child, she could spend all her love and energy there, and feel better in the world for it. But it had been months now, and she had not quickened, so, perhaps, it would not happen. The life that stretched before her seemed impossibly grey and miserable.

  As always, as she returned from sitting by the stream, she collected herbs and medicinal plants, depositing them at the little gardener’s cottage which she had claimed as her sanctuary, before going back to the house. At least that was one useful thing she could do. Tomorrow, she would hang them to dry, and consider what other plants she needed to gather before winter.

  At dinner, she simply sat, watching her husband eat, finding her own appetite lacking. Edmund was a substantial man, whose hair was unfortunately thinning early, and there was no grace about him. Despite her determination not to think of ‘might-have-beens’, her mind would insist on comparing him to the young men she had known – her neighbours in childhood, the Barringtons, had three boys, all of whom had grown into fine looking men. If only Edmund looked more like that! She pushed aside the foolish wish, and forced herself to eat.

  Lady Granville glared at her across the table, as if even her table manners were inadequate, and Maria wished herself invisible. There was not a day that passed when the woman did not find something about her to criticise. For Maria, who had been the golden child of her family, always beautiful, always praised, life at Myniard House had been the rudest awakening to the cruelty of the world possible.

  In the end, she could not eat, and, pleading a megrim, took herself to her room. Once she had locked the door, like so many other nights, she cried herself to sleep.

  Continued…

  Get

  “Rescuing the Countess”

  as soon as it’s released – go to http://www.ariettarichmond.com

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  Books in the ‘His Majesty’s Hounds’ Series

  Claiming the Heart of a Duke

  Intriguing the Viscount

  Giving a Heart of Lace

  Being Lady Harriet’s Hero

  Enchanting the Duke

  Redeeming the Marquess

  Finding the Duke’s Heir

  Winning the Merchant Earl

  Healing Lord Barton

  Kissing the Duke of Hearts

  Loving the Bitter Baron

  Rescuing the Countess (coming soon)

  Attracting the Spymaster (coming soon)

  Restoring the Earl’s Honour (coming soon)

  Books in ‘The Derbyshire Set’

  The Earl’s Unexpected Bride

  The Captain’s Compromised Heiress

  The Viscount’s Unsuitable Affair

  The Count’s Impetuous Seduction

  The Rake’s Unlikely Redemption

  The Marquess’ Scandalous Mistress

  The Marchioness’ Second Chance (Coming Soon!)

  Lady Theodora’s Christmas Wish

  The Derbyshire Set Omnibus Edition Vol. 1 (the first three books all in one)

  The Derbyshire Set Omnibus Edition Vol. 2 (the second three books all in one)

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