Married to a Stranger. Louise Allen

      

       Introducing Louise Allen’s most scandalous trilogy yet!

       DANGER & DESIRE

      Leaving the sultry shores of India behind them, the passengers of the Bengal Queen face a new life ahead in England—until a shipwreck throws their plans into disarray …

      Can Alistair and Perdita’s illicit onboard flirtation survive the glittering social whirl of London?

      Washed up on an island populated by ruffians, virginal Averil must rely on rebel captain Luc for protection …

      And honourable Callum finds himself falling for his brother’s fiancée!

      Look for

      RAVISHED BY THE RAKE

       SEDUCED BY THE SCOUNDREL

       MARRIED TO A STRANGER

       from Mills & Boon^® Historical

       About the Author

      LOUISE ALLEN has been immersing herself in history, real and fictional, for as long as she can remember, and finds landscapes and places evoke powerful images of the past. Louise lives in Bedfordshire, and works as a property manager, but spends as much time as possible with her husband at the cottage they are renovating on the north Norfolk coast, or travelling abroad. Venice, Burgundy and the Greek islands are favourite atmospheric destinations. Please visit Louise’s website—www.louiseallenregency.co.uk—for the latest news!

       Previous novels by the same author:

      THE DANGEROUS MR RYDER*

      THE OUTRAGEOUS LADY FELSHAM*

      THE SHOCKING LORD STANDON*

      THE DISGRACEFUL MR RAVENHURST*

      THE NOTORIOUS MR HURST*

      THE PIRATICAL MISS RAVENHURST*

      PRACTICAL WIDOW TO PASSIONATE MISTRESS**

      VICAR’S DAUGHTER TO VISCOUNT’S LADY**

      INNOCENT COURTESAN TO ADVENTURER’S BRIDE**

      RAVISHED BY THE RAKE†

      *Those Scandalous Ravenhursts

       **The Transformation of the Shelley Sisters

      †Danger & Desire

      and in the Silk & Scandal mini-series

      THE LORD AND THE WAYWARD LADY

      THE OFFICER AND THE PROPER LADY

      and in Mills & Boon^® Historical Undone! eBooks:

      DISROBED AND DISHONOURED

      AUCTIONED VIRGIN TO SEDUCED BRIDE

       Did you know that some of these novels are also available as eBooks? Visit www.millsandboon.co.uk

       Author Note

      I loved writing about the immediacy and the drama of the wreck of the Bengal Queen in the first two books in my Danger & Desire trilogy, but I found it equally challenging to explore the effect of that several months later on two more people whose lives are changed for ever after the ship hits the rocks. Sophia Langley is miles away, safe in a Hertfordshire village, but after years of believing she knows her destiny now she is forced to come to terms with her very uncertain future. Duty and desire both seem to pull her in the same direction—is it the right one to take? Meanwhile Callum Chatterton has to make a decision that satisfies his sense of duty but which threatens to completely overset his careful plans and equally carefully guarded heart.

      One of the joys of writing a series is that I can continue to follow characters from earlier books, and it was fun to encounter Dita and Alistair from RAVISHED BY THE RAKE and Averil and Luc from SEDUCED BY THE SCOUNDREL again, and to glimpse their new married lives. They were as eager for a happy ending for Callum and Sophia as I was—I hope you enjoy reading about their journey to find love as much as I enjoyed writing it.

      Married to a Stranger

      Louise Allen

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

      To all my friends in the Cambridge Chapter of the Romantic Novelists’ Association— thanks for the support and the fun.

       Prologue

       Hertfordshire—1799

      ‘I love Daniel and I will wait for him and marry him!’ Sophia Langley glared at Cal. Her small bosom—Where had that come from all of a sudden? he wondered—rose and fell within the bodice of her unfashionable gown; her nose, as usual, was smudged with charcoal.

      ‘It is ridiculous. You are far too young, both of you.’ He resisted the urge to pick her up like the small, underfed kitten she resembled and give her a good shake to try and get some sense into her. Why on earth his twin would fix on the daughter of one of their gentry neighbours to fall for defeated him. The chit wasn’t even out yet.

      ‘You do not understand me, you have taken virtually no notice of me when we visit, and now you know what is best for me? I am seventeen and Daniel is the same age as you.’ Indignant blue eyes, her best feature, narrowed at him.

      The retort that she was only seventeen and three days old and that he was ten minutes older than his twin was childish; he bit it back unsaid. At just eighteen he was a man and he did not bicker with girls. ‘What do you mean, I take no notice of you? We played together as children, didn’t we?’

      She snorted. He supposed she was refraining from observing that she had trailed around after them and had been tolerated as a fielder at cricket and as a suitable maiden to rescue while they were defeating dragons or Saracens or half the French army, but that hardly made them soul mates.

      ‘We are both going to be away for a long time. You will meet someone else, fall in love properly when you grow up.’

      It was, he realised as soon as he had said it, tactless in the extreme. Sophia drew her skinny frame up to its full height somewhere near his chin.

      ‘You pompous, unfeeling wretch! How you can be the twin of someone as wonderful as Daniel, I have no idea, Callum Chatterton, but I love Daniel and I swear I will marry him and I hope you fall in love with someone who breaks your heart.’ She stalked away, the dignity of her exit marred by catching her toe in the edge of the rug. He laughed. She slammed the door.

      Cal shook his head and went back to packing for India.

       Chapter One

       Glebe End House, Hertfordshire— 5th September, 1809

      ‘It is from Callum Chatterton.’ Sophia Langley looked up from the single sheet of paper flattened under her hand between plate and cup. Her mother, a slice of toast suspended halfway to her mouth, looked as puzzled as she felt. ‘He says he will call this afternoon.’

      ‘Then he is back.’ Mrs Langley frowned. ‘I do not think he has been back to the Hall since March.’

      ‘It appears not.’ Why the man who would have been her brother-in-law was calling now, six months after the funeral of her betrothed, she could not imagine. ‘Lord Flamborough has said very little about him, now I come to think of it.’

      Will Chatterton, the Earl of Flamborough, elder brother of the twins, was a near neighbour. He had always been a good friend—too good for Sophia’s