0764213504
© 2015 by Roseanna M. White
Published by Bethany House Publishers
11400 Hampshire Avenue South
Bloomington, Minnesota 55438
Bethany House Publishers is a division of
Baker Publishing Group, Grand Rapids, Michigan
Ebook edition created 2015
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—for example, electronic, photocopy, recording—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
ISBN 978-1-4412-2881-9
Scripture quotations are from the King James Version of the Bible.
This is a work of historical reconstruction; the appearances of certain historical figures are therefore inevitable. All other characters, however, are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Cover design by Jennifer Parker
Cover photography by Mike Habermann Photography, LLC
Author represented by The Steve Laube Agency
To
Pappap
was my dedication when I first penned this novel at age thirteen.
After I finished my first rewrite at fourteen, it said,
In loving memory of Pappap.
Your life taught me to laugh in every possible moment; your death taught me to trust Him with all my might. You helped make me who I am, and I’ll always love you.
CWM
C
ONTENTS
Cover
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Character List
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Twelve
Thirteen
Fourteen
Fifteen
Sixteen
Seventeen
Eighteen
Nineteen
Twenty
Twenty-One
Twenty-Two
Twenty-Three
Twenty-Four
Twenty-Five
Twenty-Six
Twenty-Seven
Twenty-Eight
Twenty-Nine
Thirty
Thirty-One
Thirty-Two
Thirty-Three
Epilogue
Author’s Note
About the Author
Back Ads
Back Cover
C
HARACTER
L
IST
| Brook’s Family | |
| Brook Eden | The lost Eden heiress. Full name Elizabeth Brook Eden. Also called Baroness of Berkeley and Lady Berkeley (title inherited from mother). |
| The Earl of Whitby | Brook’s father. Given name of Ambrose Eden, but called Whitby or Lord Whitby, nicknamed Whit. |
| The Countess of Whitby | Brook’s mother, deceased; the previous Baroness of Berkeley. Given name of Elizabeth Brook, but called Lady Berkeley before her marriage and Lady Whitby afterward. |
| Mary, Lady Ramsey | Brook’s aunt, Whitby’s sister. Brook calls her Aunt Mary but everyone else calls her Lady Ramsey. |
| Lady Regan | Brook’s first cousin, the elder of Lady Ramsey’s daughters. |
| Lady Melissa | Brook’s first cousin, the younger of Lady Ramsey’s daughters. |
| The Marquess of Ramsey | Brook’s step-cousin, Lady Ramsey’s stepson and her daughters’ half brother. Called Ram. |
| Lady Catherine Rushworth | Brook’s second cousin on her mother’s side, called Lady Catherine formally, Kitty by her friends. |
| Lord Rushworth | Brook’s second cousin on her mother’s side, Lady Catherine’s brother and guardian. Given name of Crispin, called Lord Rushworth or Rush. |
| Lord (John) Rushworth | Brook’s mother’s first cousin, deceased; the previous Lord Rushworth and father of Lady Catherine and Rush. |
| Major Henry Rushworth | Brook’s mother’s first cousin, brother of John Rushworth, uncle of Lady Catherine and Rush. |
| Justin’s Family | |
| Justin Wildon | Brook’s childhood friend in Monaco. Also called Lord Harlow or Harlow. Upon his father’s death, becomes Marquess of Abingdon, sometimes called Bing. Upon his grandfather’s death becomes Duke of Stafford. |
| The Duke of Stafford (with subsidiary titles of Marquess of Abingdon and Earl of Harlow) | Justin’s paternal grandfather. Given name of Samuel Wildon but called Stafford or Duke. |
| William Wildon | Justin’s father. Called Lord William. He inherited the courtesy title of Marquess of Abingdon after his older brother’s death but refused to use it. |
| Georgiana Wildon | Justin’s mother, deceased. |
| Edward Wildon | Justin’s uncle, deceased; the oldest son of the Duke of Stafford, so the Marquess of Abingdon until his death. |
| Caroline, Lady Abingdon | Justin’s aunt, Edward’s widow, Georgiana’s sister. Justin calls her Aunt Caro but everyone else calls her Lady Abingdon. |
| Susan, Lady Cayton | Justin’s aunt, daughter of the Duke of Stafford, mother of Lord Cayton; Justin calls her Aunt Susan, everyone else calls her Lady Cayton. |
| The Earl of Cayton | Justin’s first cousin, Susan’s son. Called Cayton, though Justin occasionally calls him James. |
| Other Characters | |
| Deirdre O’Malley | Lady’s maid to Brook. |
| Earl Thate | Justin’s best friend, called Lord Thate or Thate. |
| Viscount Pratt | Neighbor to Brook and Whitby, very distant cousin to Whitby on his mother’s side. Called Lord Pratt or Pratt. |
| The Marquess of Worthing | Brook’s friend. Given name of Brice Myerston, son and heir of the Duke of Nottingham. Called Lord Worthing, Worthing, and occasionally Brice. |
| Lady Ella Myerston | Brook’s friend, Worthing’s younger sister. Called Lady Ella or Ella by her friends. |
One
M
ONTE
C
ARLO
, M
ONACO
L
ATE
A
UGUST
1910
T
emptation sat before her, compelling as the sea. Gleaming silver, green leather, the nearly silent rumble of engine . . .
Brook trailed a gloved hand along the door, cast one glance over her shoulder, and let herself in. She couldn’t stop the grin as she gripped the wheel of the Rolls-Royce. And why should she? Only a fool would leave such a car running right outside her door and not expect her to do something about it.
“Don’t even think it.”
His voice brought laughter to her lips, and she looked up to find her dearest friend at the opposite door—her first sight of him in five months. The warm Riviera wind had tousled his hair, making her wonder where his hat had gone today. “Teach me to drive it, Justin.”
He glared at her with an intensity to match the Mediterranean sun. All manner of men flooded Monaco in pursuit of its casino, and none could glower like the British. Well, perhaps the Russians, but theirs were more scowls than proper glowers.
Though, if he expected her to be cowed by the look, he had taken leave of his senses.
He leveled an accusatory finger at her nose. “I’m happy to take you for a drive in my new car,
mon amie
, but
I
will be behind the wheel.”
“Come, Justin.” She said his name as it was meant to be said. In French. Soft J and long U, emphasis on the second syllable, the N silent—as she knew no one in his native country did. “Your gift will soon be back in England. We mustn’t waste a moment of its time in Monaco. Get in and teach me.”
“A moment of
its
time?” But he laughed and slid into the left side of the car, shaking his head. The sun caught his hair and burnished it gold, caught the angles of his face and made it all the stronger. “The prince will have my head for this.”
Brook grinned at him. Once upon a time, she had dreamed that they would fall in love and live happily ever after—before she realized a future duke could never be more than friends with a nobody without a past. Before she came to understand Prince Albert wasn’t really her grandfather. “He will be jealous, you mean. He must always have a chauffeur behind the wheel.” Brook gripped the wheel tighter, until she could feel the thrum of the 40/50 engine in every cell. “Perhaps I will borrow one of the chauffeur’s jackets and surprise him one day—after you’ve taught me.”