Regency Surrender: Passion And Rebellion. Louise Allen

      ‘Oh, yes, Nathan, I’m completely sure. And I promise you,’ she said earnestly, ‘that this time, marriage won’t feel like a prison sentence.’

      ‘I’m not the only one who might think of it like a trap, though, am I? You’ve been so used to running not only your own life, but also that of hundreds of others, through your manufactories, that it’s going to be hard for you to give it all up. Especially when I don’t really want any of it.’

      ‘Give it all up? I thought you said you didn’t want me to give it all away?’

      ‘Yes, but once we marry, it will all belong to me.’

      ‘Yes, but, Nathan, you don’t want to change me, any more than I want you to become something you’re not, do you?’

      ‘Of course not. I want you to be happy, too.’

      ‘Well, then, if you don’t want me to give it all away and you don’t want to be chained to a desk yourself, why don’t we do something that nobody would expect? Why don’t we just snap our fingers at convention?’

      He looked at her with a frown for a few seconds, then his expression cleared.

      ‘We can make our marriage anything we want, you’re right. We don’t need to let society mould us into being anything we don’t want to be. Not either of us.’ He drew a deep breath. ‘If you want to carry on running your business empire, then I won’t try to stop you. I don’t want to be the one to clip your wings.’

      She beamed at him. ‘Any more than I would try to stop you painting. Or...or anything you want to do.’

      ‘I should never have walked out on you, earlier. I just...I got so angry when I heard you had so much money. And that you’d concealed so much from me. It all felt...’

      ‘I know,’ she said. ‘It all got tangled up in memories of your first marriage. Of getting into it before you really knew what Lucasta was like.’

      ‘You are nothing like her,’ he said fervently. ‘I’m so sorry for implying that you are.’

      ‘I forgive you. You didn’t mean it. I’ve sometimes said things, when I’ve been angry, that I’ve regretted later, haven’t I? And you didn’t listen to the words I said, but judged what was beneath the surface. The emotions that had made me lash out at you. And then you came after me.’

      ‘Just as you came after me.’

      ‘I feel so sorry for Lucasta,’ she said, wrinkling her brow. ‘Not only because she had you, and didn’t appreciate what she had, but also because she had so many frustrated ambitions. If she wanted to have a voice in Parliament, why shouldn’t she?’

      ‘Amy,’ he gasped. ‘That’s...revolutionary talk.’

      She grinned up at him impishly. ‘And even in France, they don’t let women into government, do they?’

      ‘Not legally, no, but behind the scenes...’

      ‘Never mind what goes on behind the scenes in France, Nathan. I’m far more concerned with what is going to go on behind closed doors in Stanton Basset.’

      As she spoke, she pulled the pin from his neckcloth, then started to work on the complicated knot with determined, if rather unskilled fingers. When he saw she was getting nowhere, he pushed her hands away and loosed it himself.

      ‘Never let it be said that I disappointed a lady,’ he said with a lazy smile.

      He led her to the rug before the fire, lowered her down on to it and began to undo her gown, with a great deal more expertise than she’d shown with his neckcloth.

      ‘You won’t, Nathan. You couldn’t.’

      He buried his face in her neck, breathing in as though he was intent on inhaling her.

      ‘I will do my utmost not to, my clever darling. My only love.’

      And he didn’t disappoint her. Right there on the hearthrug.

      * * * * *

       Regency Surrender: Defiant Lords

       His Unusual Governess

       Anne Herries

       Claiming the Chaperon’s Heart

       Anne Herries

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

       His Unusual Governess

      Anne Herries

      BENEATH THE GOVERNESS’S BLUSH…

      Heiress Sarah Hardcastle is convinced her plan to escape the unwanted attentions of a fortune hunter is foolproof. Buried deep in the countryside, and with a whole new identity as prim governess Miss Goodrum, Sarah is looking forward to the quiet life for once.

      But her careful masquerade is shaken when she meets her pupils’ mentor, Lord Rupert Myers. An incorrigible flirt, Rupert has the looks and the charm to make Sarah blush all the way down to her high-buttoned neckline—and the determination to uncover what’s beneath! Sarah will need her wits about her if she’s to resist Rupert’s roguish ways and keep her secret intact....

       I would like to dedicate this book to the memory of my great friend Paula Marshall, whom I loved dearly, as did so many of you.

       Prologue

      ‘What was so important that you summoned me here?’ Lord Rupert Myers arched a languid eyebrow at the Marquess of Merrivale. ‘’Tis an unseasonable hour and I was up late last night.’ He smothered a yawn and levelled an elegant gold-rimmed eyeglass at the older man. Seeing that the marquess looked strained, he dropped the air of boredom and said in a very different tone, ‘What may I do for you, sir?’

      ‘Good grief, sir,’ his uncle said, looking at a coat that had so many capes it made Rupert’s broad shoulders look positively menacing. ‘Where did you get that monstrosity?’

      ‘Uncle!’ Devilish eyes mocked him. ‘My feelings are deeply lacerated. Don’t you know I’m a very tulip of fashion? I dare say at least six young idiots have copied this cape only this week, for I saw Harrad’s boy wearing one with nine capes and this has only seven.’

      ‘More fool him,’ the marquess grunted. ‘Sit down, m’boy. You make me feel awkward, towering over me like an avenging dervish. What happened to the eager young fellow I saw off to war six years ago?’

      ‘I dare say he grew up, sir,’ Rupert replied carelessly, but there were shadows in his eyes as he sat in the chair opposite and his mouth lost its smile. He did not care to be reminded of that time for the memories were too painful. ‘Is something bothering you?’

      ‘I fear it is,’ the marquess said. ‘I’m in somewhat of a pickle, m’boy—and I’m hoping you’ll sort me out.’

      ‘Anything to oblige. I do not forget that you stood as a father to me when my own...’ Blue fire flashed in bitter regret, for the late Lord Myers had been a rogue and a cheat and had brought his family almost to the edge of ruin. That Rupert had been able to save himself and his sister from disgrace was in large part due to this man. ‘No, I will not go down that road. Tell me what you wish, sir, and if it is in within my power I shall do it.’

      ‘It’s