How to Marry a Highlander (17 page)

“How callous of me.” He crossed his arms and leaned his shoulder against the doorpost. “I beg your pardon, madam.”

“Without any sincerity whatsoever, it seems. I pray you, sir, will you take me to Saint-Nazaire?”

The grin slid away, leaving the vibrant scar dipping over his right cheek yet more pronounced. He must have suffered the injury recently. The war had been over for a year and a half, but he bore the erect carriage and authoritative stance of a naval commander.

It wouldn’t matter if he were the head of the Admiralty and his vessel a hundred-gun ship of the line, as long as he carried her swiftly to her destination.

“How did you determine the location of their father’s home?” he said.

“I asked about. I can be persistent when necessary.”

“I am coming to see that.” He pushed away from the doorway and started off along the street. “Come.”

“
Come
?” She gestured to the children and hurried after him.

He looked down at her as she awkwardly tried to match his long strides, and he halted mid-street. He did not seem to heed the traffic of horses and carts and other pedestrians, but stood perfectly solid before her like he owned the avenue. His eye glimmered unsteadily, a trick of the setting sunlight, she supposed. It was a very odd sight. He seemed at once both in thorough command and yet confused.

He pointed at a building across the street. “Give my name to the man that you find on the other side of that door and tell him that I said he is to escort you to the children’s home and return you to your inn tonight.”

“But—no.” Arabella’s cold hands were pressed into her skirts. “You needn’t. That is to say—”

“He is a good man, in my employ, and you and the children will be considerably safer crossing this town with him than without.” He scowled again. “You will do this, Miss Caulfield, or I will not take you to Saint-Nazaire on my ship.”

Her heart turned about. “You will take me there?” Upon his ship. Upon the sea.

She must
.

He scanned her face and shoulders. “To whose home are you traveling, little governess?”

He was no longer teasing. She must be honest. “I am going to Saint-Reveé-des-Beaux. It belongs to an English lord, but the Prince of Sensaire is in residence there and he has hired me to teach his sister before her debut in London society at Christmastime.”

“Saint-Reveé-des-Beaux,” he only said.

“Do you know it, Captain?”

“A bit.” His brow cut downward. “Miss Caulfield . . .”

“Captain?”

“My ship is not a passenger vessel. There will be no other women, no fine dining or other amusements. Aboard it, you will be at my mercy. Mine alone. You do understand that, do you not?”

“I . . .” She hadn’t given it thought after so many people in port recommended him. Naïvely, she had assumed it meant he was a gentleman. But gentlemen had lied to her before.

She had no choice. “I understand.”

“We depart at dawn, with or without you.”

He moved away, and Arabella released a shaking breath. Forcing a bright smile, she pivoted about and beckoned the children to her.

A
UTHOR
B
IO

With the publication of her debut novel in 2010, KATHARINE ASHE earned a spot among the American Library Association’s “New Stars of Historical Romance.” Amazon awarded
How to Be a Proper Lady
a place among the Ten Best Books of 2012 in Romance,
When a Scot Loves a Lady
is a nominee for the 2013 Library of Virginia Literary Award in Fiction, and in 2011 Katharine won the coveted Reviewers’ Choice Award for
Captured by a Rogue Lord
. Reviewers call her books “breathtaking,” “lushly intense” and “sensationally intelligent.”

Katharine lives in the wonderfully warm Southeast with her beloved husband, son, dog, and a garden she likes to call romantic rather than unkempt. A professor of European history, she has made her home in California, Italy, France, and the northern United States. Please visit her website at www.KatharineAshe.com.

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www.AuthorTracker.com
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By
Katharine Ashe

How a Lady Weds a Rogue

How to Be a Proper Lady

When a Scot Loves a Lady

In the Arms of a Marquess

Captured by a Rogue Lord

Swept Away by a Kiss

Coming Soon

I Married the Duke

Available from Avon Impulse

How to Marry a Highlander

A Lady’s Wish

C
OPYRIGHT

Excerpt from
I Married the Duke
copyright © 2013 by Katharine Brophy Dubois.

HOW TO MARRY A HIGHLANDER
. Copyright © 2013 by Katharine Brophy Dubois. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

EPub Edition AUGUST 2013 ISBN: 9780062273932

Print Edition ISBN: 9780062273949

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