Olivia had never known love before. Her ne'er-do-well brothers had little affection, and less interest, in her. She could not remember ever having been kissed--her mother and father had been gone so many years. So when Sir Noah married her--not for love--but to save her good name, she scarcely da...
Nell Armstrong promised her dying grandfather to remain unwed and to care for her aging-and frightfully fitful-aunt for the rest of the elderly woman's life. But when Nell comes across the most loving man who has ever lived, she can't help but doubt her resolve.
A Marriage of ConvenienceDesperate to settle a debt regarding his estate, Baron William Ledbetter marries Prudence Stockworth in a hasty ceremony. The wealth she inherited in the wake of her fiance's death is enough to mend his financial affairs. But even if he didn't need the money, he finds him...
The only thing that gave Michael Upham respectability was his ancestry, and there was some question about that. He was known to have had Jacobite leanings in his youth, and in his more mature years to have consorted with smugglers. Trudy explained to her surprised relatives that as Michael was an...
And it was not the attempted seduction which bothered him most, though he wished Ellis had been more in control of himself. George himself had no fear that his sister would find in any such situation the self-control she needed. No, what bothered him were the two participants themselves. Neither ...
He was rather puzzled by this enthusiasm on her part, but saw no harm in it. He himself had contributed to the school in the past on Winterton’s suggestion, but had never had any interest in seeing the place. Thomas Single arrived promptly the next day at one, dressed in his usual quiet style, wi...
When the ladies breakfasted, Clayborne had already finished and left the house on estate business or fishing expeditions. Then Meg and Rebecca would take a stroll in the gardens or walk into the village to execute small commissions. Miss Turnpeck usually remained in the garden doing her needlewor...
Although he made no comment to Martin on the disastrous fate of his project, the valet had no doubt that things had gone awry, but carefully concealed his delight. His employer had obviously spent the night in his clothes, and from the pallor of his face it seemed likely that he had not slept ove...
Why do you need some land for a hunting-box? You know you’re always welcome to stay here.” Sir Penrith Southwood dug his hands into the pockets of his buckskin breeches as he stood before the blazing fire thawing from the day’s hunt. “It never crossed my mind to suggest you sell any of Oak Park t...
Her fever seemed about the same, neither reducing significantly nor elevating alarmingly. She was a little less fretful in her sleep, perhaps, and her sleep remained unbroken, since no more visitors insisted on seeing her for the rest of the afternoon. Keeping country hours, Clarissa ate her even...
When Cranford arrived he was shown into a drawing room in such contrast to Mrs. Waplington’s eclectic rooms that he almost smiled. Instead of the clutter of furniture, paintings, and mirrors, there was a refined simplicity ornamented by classical motifs and objects, which held no small interest f...
His uncle had always seemed a sensible, if rather prosaic, gentleman, and his kindness in coming to stay with Greywell during the last few months had been more than welcome. There was great relief in having someone lift him even temporarily out of his solitary self. That his Uncle Hampden had bee...
I insisted that she not neglect her standard duties, such as arranging meals with Mrs. Cooper, and overseeing the mending of the linens, and cutting the flowers for the table, and making sure that the underhousemaids used the proper mixture of soap lees, turpentine, and pipe-clay to clean the mar...
He had discovered a drinking establishment on the Ridgely Road where the occupants were delighted to talk with practiced ease under the influence of drinks bought for them by his lordship, who was a “regular right one," according to these same fellows. They seemed to know everything that was goin...