The Conquest of Lady Cassandra
Read The Conquest of Lady Cassandra Online
Authors: Madeline Hunter
Tags: #Romance, #Regency, #General, #Historical, #Fiction
PRAISE FOR
MADELINE HUNTER’S NOVELS
Dangerous in Diamonds
“This one is a sparkling gem!…With strong undercurrents that are both comic and dark,
Dangerous in Diamonds
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Publishers Weekly
“A terrific historical…a delightful series.”
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Midwest Book Review
Sinful in Satin
“Hunter deftly sifts intrigue and exquisite sensuality into the plot of the third book in her exceptionally entertaining quartet.”
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Provocative in Pearls
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RT Book Reviews
(Top Pick)
Ravishing in Red
“Richly spiced with wicked wit and masterfully threaded with danger and desire, the superbly sexy first book in Hunter’s new Regency historical quartet is irresistible and wonderfully entertaining.”
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Jove titles by Madeline Hunter
RAVISHING IN RED
PROVOCATIVE IN PEARLS
SINFUL IN SATIN
DANGEROUS IN DIAMONDS
THE SURRENDER OF MISS FAIRBOURNE
THE CONQUEST OF LADY CASSANDRA
Specials
“AN INTERRUPTED TAPESTRY”
FROM TAPESTRY
of Lady Cassandra
MADELINE HUNTER
JOVE BOOKS, NEW YORK
THE BERKLEY PUBLISHING GROUP
Published by the Penguin Group
Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
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Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario M4P 2Y3, Canada (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.) • Penguin Books Ltd, 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England • Penguin Ireland, 25 St Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd) • Penguin Group (Australia), 707 Collins Street, Melbourne, Victoria 3008, Australia (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty Ltd) • Penguin Books India Pvt Ltd, 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi-110 017, India • Penguin Group (NZ), 67 Apollo Drive, Rosedale, Auckland 0632, New Zealand (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd) • Penguin Books (South Africa), Rosebank Office Park, 181 Jan Smuts Avenue, Parktown North 2193, South Africa • Penguin China, B7 Jiaming Center, 27 East Third Ring Road North, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100020, China
Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England
This 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. The publisher does not have control over and does not have any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.
THE CONQUEST OF LADY CASSANDRA
A Jove Book / published by arrangement with the author
PUBLISHING HISTORY
Jove mass-market edition / March 2013
Copyright © 2013 by Madeline Hunter.
Excerpt from
The Surrender of Miss Fairbourne
copyright © 2012 by Madeline Hunter.
Cover photography by Claudio Marinesco.
Text design by Laura K. Corless.
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.
For information, address: The Berkley Publishing Group,
a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.,
375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.
ISBN: 978-1-101-61830-1
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| ALWAYS LEARNING | PEARSON |
Special excerpt from
The Surrender of Miss Fairbourne
AUGUST 1798
“W
ith each passing minute, I am more relieved that it will be a small wedding,” Emma admitted. She gazed into her looking glass while her maid fitted a headpiece onto her golden-brown crown.
“I am wishing with each passing minute that it were larger,” Cassandra said. She gestured for the maid to move aside and took over with the headdress. Covered in white silk and decorated with tiny pearls and a discreet white feather, the confection looked stylish but subdued, and appropriate for a bride who was a mature woman and not some girl fresh from her first Season.
Emma’s age was one reason for the small wedding. The others were the location in the country, the dispersal of good society throughout the realm in August, and perhaps a desire on Emma’s part not to be the center of an assembly.
“At a large wedding, one can avoid people whom one wants to avoid without being obvious,” Cassandra continued
while she worked two hairpins into place. “You, as the bride, can’t, of course. But a guest can.”
Emma looked at her in the reflection. “Do you anticipate being cut by some of them? Is that why you did not come down from town until yesterday?”
“Actually, I was thinking there may be some guests that
I
might want to avoid,” Cassandra said, with a laugh. “I delayed because my brother insisted on visiting. You are a good friend to concern yourself with my reception by society, but you worry for naught. Southwaite’s relatives and friends would never insult him and you that way.”
She wished she could share with Emma the real reason she had delayed leaving London. Emma possessed great sense, and could advise her on how to handle the threats her brother Gerald, the Earl of Barrowmore, had made about Aunt Sophie. A year ago, Emma might have found a way to loan her the money, which had suddenly become so critical if she were to thwart Gerald’s nefarious plans.
But it would be selfish to darken a friend’s wedding day with tales of woe. Emma was about to become the new Countess of Southwaite, and her freedom to help a friend was circumscribed by larger duties. Also by a husband who did not much like that friend.
Emma turned in the chair. Her expression suggested she guessed at Cassandra’s inner turmoil. She pulled Cassandra into an embrace and rested her head against Cassandra’s body.
“Thank you for coming, even if it was later than planned. Had you not, I would have prepared all alone today, with only a maid, and had no one to laugh with me to keep my nerves calm.”
Cassandra stroked her hand down Emma’s head and along the curls that fell over her shoulder. At twenty-five, Emma was older by two years, but when it came to worldly things, Cassandra had often thought of Emma as a younger sister. She savored their embrace, especially because if she could
find the means to take Aunt Sophie out of Gerald’s reach, there would not be many more.
“You are my best friend, Emma, and a most exceptional friend you are too.” Among Emma’s remarkable qualities had been the ability to disapprove without scolding, and to accept a friend’s choices without demanding explanations. “Nothing could have kept me away.” She reached for her reticule where it rested on a chair. “Now, a bit of paint on your cheeks and lips.”
“You know I do not paint.”
“Just a touch, Emma. Only this once, so you do not look like a terrified ghost.”
Emma made a face at herself in the looking glass. “I am a bit pale, aren’t I? Do I really appear a little terrified too?”
“More than a little. There is no accounting for it either. It is not as if a great mystery waits for you when you go to your chamber afterward. Has he been a gentleman this last week, and stayed away so that he did not leave your bed the morning of the ceremony?”
Emma blushed. “How did you guess? He behaved most properly.”
“How annoying that must have been.”
Emma’s face turned bright red. They caught each other’s eyes and laughed.
“He probably wants to make you eager for the
official
first time,” Cassandra teased.