The American Bride
Read The American Bride Online
Authors: Karla Darcy
Table of Contents
THE AMERICAN BRIDE
BY
KARLA DARCY
Presented By:
Glades Publishing
Readers love Karla Darcy
"Fans of Downton Abbey and Jane Austen (without zombies) will adore this book. Karla Darcy makes us remember why we lose sense and sensibility for a sexy Regency hero and captures the era with a glorious and colorful voice!"
Roxanne St. Claire, New York Times Bestselling Autho
r
"Karla Darcy weaves one fabulous Regency Romance after another. Wise, witty and wonderful. Move over Jane for another Darcy you will love!"
Mary Alice Monroe, NY Times author of Beach House Memories
"… creates a particularly attractive heroine to captivate both the hero and the reader alike. Darcy is winning a large readership with her diverting novels in this most competitive genre."
Romantic Times
"The result is an amusing contest of matching wits, that will leave you holding your sides as you root for a happy compromise between the foes."
Affaire de Coeur
"Karla hooks readers and carries them along to a wonderfully satisfying ending."
"I simply couldn't put the book down. This emotionally intense love story will grip readers' attention."
"…writing is graceful and witty, plotting is clever, added to this are two characters who will charm and delight you."
"The humor and tenderness give this book heart and authentic details and great sexual tension make for a great read."
"Darcy is winning a large readership with her diverting novels in this most competitive genre."
"…. weaves her magic spell once more in this intricately plotted gem of a book."
The American Bride
is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Copyright 2012 Karla Darcy
All Rights Reserved
Published by: Glades Publishing
License Notes:
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return it and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
Publisher’s Note:
The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.
Published by: Glades Publishing
http://www.GladesPublishing.com
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eISBN:
978-0-9857614-8-6
Original cover design by: Tara O’Shea
64 70 67 72 6f 75 70
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Also by Karla Darcy
The Five Kisses
The Masked Heart
The Marriage Wager
The Scandalous Ward
The Virtuous Ward
DEDICATION
For Lorraine Pickard
Everything a friend should be
Chapter One
"I wish I were dead."
"Nonsense, Caroline. Where's your backbone?" the Duchess of Landglower snapped.
"But I've never even seen this Lord Wilton. What if he's repulsive?"
"Your marriage, my dear child, is unquestionably legal," the Duchess
announced. "It was conducted three months ago in my own household with duly authorized witnesses. I stood as proxy for you in this instance."
"Couldn't it be annulled?"
"Impossible!" Came the adamant reply.
"Oh, Grandmother, " Cara moaned, "I wish that I had never left America."
Her elegant eyebrows arched in surprise, Liela, Duchess of Landglower, inspected the fiery creature who had stormed into her presence an hour earlier. Her faded blue eyes noted the defiant bearing of the young figure pacing back and forth across the thick Aubusson carpet. With a final adjustment of the lacy nightcap covering her white hair, Liela leaned forward in her chair and stared at the girl.
"Caroline, I would appreciate it if you would sit down. Not only do you rouse me in the middle of the night but now proceed to make me seasick with your constant pacing."
Recognizing the steel beneath the dryly spoken rebuke, Cara flounced down onto the chair across from her grandmother. Even in her frustrated anger the girl was practical enough to realize that she could not afford to incur the older woman's wrath. Impatience for action and a ready tongue may have been considered fine attributes for an American but Caroline was finding that they were definitely not an asset in London in 1814.
Arms resting on her knees, hands clasped in silent supplication, Cara leaned toward the Duchess.
"My marriage really can't be legal, Grandmother," Cara pleaded. "After all, I've never even set eyes on Lord Wilton."
"Now, my child, there are certain facts that must be accepted." The Duchess held up one elegant blue-veined hand curtailing the younger girl's outburst. "First, the marriage is incontestably valid."
The blunt words hit Cara like a blow. She leaned against the velvet chair back trying to catch her breath. Her white face went even paler except for angry spots of color showing up high on her cheeks. The Duchess watched with approval as the girl fought to keep her emotions under tight control. Except for her color and the thinning of her lips Caroline's expressionless face masked her inner turmoil. Her father had done well raising the child, Liela admitted.
Giving the girl time to absorb the irrefutable fact of her marriage, Liela reached for the Waterford decanter and poured sherry into two delicate crystal glasses. Raising her glass she appraised the chit who had had the temerity to cross the ocean in the middle of a war and storm her household, rousing the Duchess from a sound sleep. Knowing the rigidity of her servants, Liela suspected the latter took more nerve than the ocean crossing.
Her granddaughter was tiny in stature but exquisitely proportioned. She had a full bosom accentuated by the cut of her silk dress which although modestly highnecked was drawn in beneath her breasts. The black skirt fell in a shimmering flow of fabric, caressing the willowy curves of her body. Angry color burned across the girl's cheekbones in striking contrast to the almost translucent color of her skin.
"When your father proposed this marriage I turned the entire project over to my man of business to be sure there was nothing havey-cavey about the arrangements," the Duchess continued. "It was all done with the utmost legality. I can give you no hope in that quarter, Caroline."
"I tried to convince Poppa that none of this was necessary," Cara moaned. "But he was so sick at the time that I just didn't have the heart to fight him."
"Even on his deathbed your father was only thinking of your safety and welfare, child," Liela reasoned.
"Oh, Gran, I can understand what he was trying to do. It's just that...."
Cara's voice wavered and she fought to keep her emotions intact.
"I've always known that I wouldn't have a great deal to say about the man I would marry. But to be married to a man I've never even set eyes on is appalling."
"My dear child, you can't be expecting love?" the Duchess objected.
"Well, you did, Gran," Cara accused the older woman.
Taking advantage of her grandmother's discomfort, Cara plunged ahead. "As I recall the story you were already betrothed to the son of a wealthy landowner when Grandfather came along. You fell in love with him and when your parents refused to allow you to break the engagement you decided to elope to Gretna Green." Cara's eyes twinkled mischievously into her grandmother's watery blue ones. "As I heard it you were in your nightgown."
Two spots of color shone on the wrinkled cheeks of the older woman. "At least you should get the story correct," she snapped.
A gentle smile played across the features of the old woman as she remembered a time when her blood had pulsed as vibrantly as her granddaughter's. She had loved Paxton from the first day that she had seen him.
"I was fully dressed but it was late at night when I stole out of the house and rode to your grandfather's estate. He promptly saddled a horse and accompanied me back home where he awakened the household. While my father ranted and threatened, Paxton listened without comment and then he announced that in view of my compromised position he would marry me. He was a fine man, your grandfather."
There was silence in the room except for the gentle crackle of the logs burning in the fireplace. The Duchess stared into the flames remembering the passion ignited by her husband. Absently she turned the large encrusted Ducal ring on her finger.
"What would you have me do, Cara?"
Touched that her grandmother had finally used her pet name, Cara flung herself at Liela's feet, reaching up to hold the long elegant hands of the older woman.
"Couldn't I just go away, Gran? You could say that I never arrived and that for all you know I am dead."
"Oh, my dear, life is never that simple. You can't just run away. You would have no life at all. No. It is quite impossible."
Cara put her head in her grandmother's lap and without thought the old woman smoothed the riot of reddish gold curls that tumbled down the girl's back. The Duchess smiled as her hands touched the fiery tresses remembering her own once red hair. Against her knee Liela could feel the heartbeat of the distraught child.
"I want to help you but you must see that it would not be fair to Lord Wilton to let you run away."
"Fair!" the girl flared. "None of it's fair to me."
"Cara, your father had your best interests at heart. He could have married you to anyone but I think he chose well. Lord Wilton is young and very handsome. I'm sure he has many fine qualities." Sunk in her own despair Cara failed to note the uncertainty of the Duchess' appraisal. "Who knows? Given time you may grow to love him."
"But, Grandmother, that's just the point. I don't have any time. We're already married. He'll never give me time to know him. We shall be introduced and then he'll have the right to do with me whatever he wants."
The older woman could not dismiss the note of distress in the girl's voice nor the blushing agony in her face. She knew the girl was correct. The things she had heard about Wilton left her in little doubt that he would not immediately bed the beautiful girl. Even at her advanced age she chafed at her granddaughter's predicament.
Once more the room was silent. The two women were separated by a generation but joined by a common bond of blood. Wistfully Liela searched the lovely features of the girl at her feet seeing herself at the same age filled with the passion and romance of youth. Because of her love for her husband Liela had come joyfully to the marriage bed. She had blossomed under Paxton's gentle lovemaking. Even now she could imagine the pain and embarrassment if he had been a lustful stranger.
"Sit up, Cara." The Duchess' voice was brisk in decision. "I can not set this marriage aside for you. But I could arrange for you to get to know Wilton without him suspecting who you are."
"Oh, Gran," Caroline said. The bodice of her dress rose and fell as she panted in her agitation.
"No, don't hurl yourself on me." Liela held up her hands in alarm. "Just sit still. If this can be arranged would you be content to accept this marriage?"