The Countess Misbehaves. Nan Ryan

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      He had kept her garter all this time.

      “I know what that is on your upper arm!” Madeleine hotly accused. Armand de Chevalier smiled, said nothing. “How dare you wear my garter for all the world to see!” she raged.

      “Now, Maddie, no one but you and I know that it’s your garter.”

      Unconvinced, she charged, “You are bent on ruining my life simply because I…because we…”

      “Made memorable love in a summer’s storm?” He softly finished her sentence.

      “Shhh!” she hissed. “Give that garter back to me!”

      “Can’t do that,” he said, lifting then lowering his wide shoulders. “It’s my good luck charm. Besides, it’s all I have of you.”

      “It’s all you’ll ever have of me, de Chevalier!”

      “Ah, you’re wrong there, Maddie,” he said with irritating cockiness. “You know you are.” A sudden warmth radiated from his eyes when he added, “One day we’ll be together again.”

      Countess Madeleine Cavendish swallowed with difficulty. Then she narrowed her eyes and promised him in a soft, acid-laced voice, “You’re the one who’s wrong, Creole. That day will never come!”

      “Yes, it will, chérie.” He smiled seductively and predicted, “Perhaps sooner than you think.”

      Nan Ryan “writes beautifully. Her style, plotting and characterizations are skillfully developed.”

      —Wichita Falls Times Record

      Also available from MIRA Books and NAN RYAN

      WANTING YOU

      The Countess Misbehaves

      Nan Ryan

      

www.mirabooks.co.uk

      For

      Katonna Smothermon

      A super talented lady, a beautiful woman, an excellent mother and a treasured friend.

      Contents

       Chapter One

       Chapter Two

       Chapter Three

       Chapter Four

       Chapter Five

       Chapter Six

       Chapter Seven

       Chapter Eight

       Chapter Nine

       Chapter Ten

       Chapter Eleven

       Chapter Twelve

       Chapter Thirteen

       Chapter Fourteen

       Chapter Fifteen

       Chapter Sixteen

       Chapter Seventeen

       Chapter Eighteen

       Chapter Nineteen

       Chapter Twenty

       Chapter Twenty-One

       Chapter Twenty-Two

       Chapter Twenty-Three

       Chapter Twenty-Four

       Chapter Twenty-Five

       Chapter Twenty-Six

       Chapter Twenty-Seven

       Chapter Twenty-Eight

       Chapter Twenty-Nine

       Chapter Thirty

       Chapter Thirty-One

       Chapter Thirty-Two

       Chapter Thirty-Three

       Chapter Thirty-Four

       Chapter Thirty-Five

       Chapter Thirty-Six

       Chapter Thirty-Seven

       Chapter Thirty-Eight

       Chapter Thirty-Nine

       Chapter Forty

       Chapter Forty-One

      One

      Liverpool, England

      August 1856

      She knew he was trouble the first time she saw him.

      And the first time the Countess of Ballarat saw Armand de Chevalier, was as she boarded White Star’s luxury liner, the S. S. Starlight, for the long voyage to America.

      The Countess, known to most as Lady Madeleine Cavendish, lifted her skirts, stepped onto the ship’s long gangway, and then paused to look up. She immediately spotted a tall, strikingly handsome, raven-haired man lounging against the ship’s railing and boldly giving her the once-over.