Priceless. Sharon Kendrick

tion>

      

      “Will gold and glory warm your bed at night?

      “Will they tend you when you’re ill, or weep for you when you die?”

      Dumbstruck, Con struggled into his breeches, trying to think of something, anything he could say that might convince Enid to have him on his own terms.

      For once it was her turn to have the final word.

      “I think the world of you. I’d sooner have you for my husband than any lord or prince. If you thought half as highly of yourself as I think of you, you’d have nothing to prove to anyone.”

      Without giving him a chance to reply, she closed the door of the wash house, plunging it once again into stifling darkness.

      “I have nothing to prove.” Con tried to believe it, but the words rang false in his ears and the empty place inside him gaped wider than it ever had before….

      Acclaim for Deborah Hale’s recent titles

      THE WEDDING WAGER

      “…this delightful, well-paced historical will leave readers smiling and satisfied.”

      —Library Journal

      THE ELUSIVE BRIDE

      “…an absolute pleasure!”

      —The Romance Reader Web site

      THE BONNY BRIDE

      “…high adventure!”

      —Romantic Times

      A GENTLEMAN OF SUBSTANCE

      “This exceptional Regency-era romance includes all the best aspects of that genre….Deborah Hale has outdone herself…”

      —Romantic Times

      #620 BADLANDS LAW

      Ruth Langan

      #621 A PERILOUS ATTRACTION

      Patricia Frances Rowell

      #622 MARRIED BY MIDNIGHT

      Judith Stacy

      Border Bride

      Deborah Hale

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

      MILLS & BOON

       Before you start reading, why not sign up?

      Thank you for downloading this Mills & Boon book. If you want to hear about exclusive discounts, special offers and competitions, sign up to our email newsletter today!

       SIGN ME UP!

      Or simply visit

      signup.millsandboon.co.uk

      Mills & Boon emails are completely free to receive and you can unsubscribe at any time via the link in any email we send you.

      Available from Harlequin Historicals and

      DEBORAH HALE

      My Lord Protector #452

      A Gentleman of Substance #488

      The Bonny Bride #503

      The Elusive Bride #539

      The Wedding Wager #563

      Whitefeather’s Woman #581

      Carpetbagger’s Wife #595

      The Love Match #599

      “Cupid Goes to Gretna”

      Border Bride #619

      For my eldest son, Robert, the best birthday present I ever received, who more than deserves a dedication after eight books. Thanks for your patience, sweetheart!

      Special thanks to Heidi Hamburg, who knew just what kind of woman Con ap Ifan needed.

      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 One

      Have a care, now! a small voice whispered in Conwy ap Ifan’s thoughts as he picked his way through the quiet, greening countryside of the ever-shifting border between England and Wales. Watch your back. Stay on guard.

      He was a carefree, impulsive fellow by nature. It had taken him many years of mercenary service in the Holy Land and elsewhere to cultivate a sense of caution.

      Con had the scars to prove it.

      Perhaps he ought to heed that vigilant little voice, now. These borderlands, which Norman folk called The Welsh Marches, were far less serene than they might appear to the casual traveller on a fine spring day.

      “Tush!” Con muttered to himself as he scrambled from stone to stone, fording a swift-flowing stream. Between planting and shearing, even Welshmen were too busy