by Kate Bateman
The chandelier above them provided excellent illumination. She studied every detail of his face, trying to impress it upon her brain, to forge a memory she could hold in her heart forever.
The silence between them became pronounced. With a deep breath, Emmy decided to broach the subject at the forefront of her mind. “All right, Harland, out with it. The prince said you’d devised a suitable punishment for me. You might as well tell me what it is and put me out of my misery.”
His lips curved up at the corners in that teasing way she knew so well. “I’m not sure he described it as a punishment, per se. I discussed the matter with Conant, and we both agreed the plan held merit.”
She bit her lip and waited for him to continue.
“The charges against you will be dropped—”
She lifted her brows in silent astonishment and waited for the inevitable catch.
“—if you become my wife.”
Emmy almost swallowed her own tongue. For a moment, she couldn’t even begin to make sense of what he’d just said. She simply gaped at him.
“I’ve given Conant my assurances that as my wife, you will refrain from stealing. I have guaranteed your future good behavior. The Nightjar will be put to rest once and for all.”
Emmy blinked. And then her confusion coalesced into disbelief and white-hot fury. Of all the mutton-headed, arrogant— She didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. This was a punishment. A slow, heartbreaking humiliation. She’d learn the exquisite pain of having his attention for a brief time before he left her for another. Of having him marry her, and then abandon her in the countryside while he returned to his life in London.
It was the perfect revenge. As his legal wife, she would have no recourse to complain against whatever he chose to do with her. He could lock her away in some musty old country estate and be perfectly within his legal rights.
Her heart felt as though it had been shredded. How many times had she dreamed of hearing a proposal from his lips? But never one such as this. He was clearly being coerced into offering for her. How humiliating.
“Isn’t that as much a punishment for you as it is for me?” she choked.
Harland scowled, as if she’d mortally offended him. “I think you know me well enough by now to know that nobody can force me to do anything I don’t want to do.”
She raised her brows. “And if I refuse?”
He snapped his jaw shut, and for a moment she didn’t think he’d answer, but eventually he ground out, “Then you’d still be pardoned.”
She narrowed her eyes. “I would be free?”
“Yes.”
“Safe from prosecution and imprisonment?”
“Yes, provided you never committed another crime.”
“What about my family?”
“They would be safe too.” He lowered his brows into a fearsome scowl.
“In that case, I decline.”
He raked his hand through his hair in a gesture of frustration. “Let me rephrase.”
She crossed her arms in front of her and gave him a look that clearly said: As if anything you could say now would make it better.
He gazed down at her, and she tried to ignore the traitorous quickening of her pulse. Why did he have to smell so good?
“It has occurred to me that I was mistaken in my previous assessment of our relationship. Do you remember when I said I didn’t think we could ever be friends? I’d like to amend that.”
She glared up at him, hating the way her stupid heart still fluttered with a tiny spark of hope. She must be deranged. “You think we could be friends?”
“Why not? We’ve already been lovers. I was hoping we could amalgamate both roles.”
Her heart crashed to the pit of her stomach. Stupid rat of a man! “You want to make me your mistress? No, thank you.”
She turned away, desperate to escape the suffocating misery that had descended on her like a shroud. She was almost at the door, her hand on the knob, when he spoke.
“Leaving me, princess?”
His soft voice stopped her in her tracks. He’d said those words to her in the same resigned, slightly teasing tone four years ago, at Lady Carlton’s masquerade.
When he hadn’t known who she was.
Emmy sucked in a disbelieving breath. He knew! He knew she was the one who’d danced with him and kissed him and left him alone. How? How long had he known? She swung around and was immediately caught in his smoke-grey eyes.
He sent her a crooked smile, cocky and heartbreakingly unsure all at once. “Don’t leave me this time, Emmy. Stay.”
Her throat was hot and tight. The end of her nose began to sting. She pressed herself back against the door. “Why should I stay?”
He took a step toward her, closing the distance. “The Nightjar only ever steals things that have already been stolen, is that correct?”
“Yes.”
He shook his head. “Not true. Because you stole my heart, Emmeline Danvers. It’s never belonged to anyone else since that night I danced with you at the Carltons’ masquerade.”
He took another step, and Emmy dragged in another shaky breath.
“And since you can’t give me my heart back, I want yours, in exchange. I promise I’ll guard it as well as I would my own. I will never bruise it or cause it to ache. I will love it forever.” His eyes bored into hers, burning and intense. “Why should you stay? Because if you go, I’ll be miserable for the rest of my life.”
Emmy could barely breathe. She hardly dared believe the sincerity in his expression.
He took a final step, and they were chest to chest. “I don’t know what qualities you think a husband of yours might need,” he said softly. “A knack for scaling tall buildings? The ability to argue convincingly in front of a judge? I’m not sure I have those. I can’t be your partner in crime. But I’d like to be your partner in life, if you’ll have me.”
With a sob, Emmy threw her arms around his waist and dropped her forehead onto his chest. His arms came around her, and she felt him kiss the top of her head and exhale as if in great relief. He spoke into the top of her hair.
“Don’t cry. Just say yes. Say yes because you love me. As much as I love you.”
She lifted her head. Tears pricked her eyes, but she managed a radiant smile. “That was a much better proposal, Harland. And in light of your recent admissions, I’d like to amend my earlier answer. I accept.”
His smile was like a ray of sunshine breaking through a cloud. “Thank God.”
Emmy closed her eyes in blissful surrender as his mouth came crashing down on hers. Joy bloomed within her. She was home.
Epilogue
Eight weeks later.
Emmy paused as she was about to sign the marriage document. Her heart was full almost to bursting. She and Alex had become man and wife just minutes ago, as part of a double wedding with Sally and Luc. Harland had obtained two special licenses from Doctors’ Commons and the ceremony had taken place in the elegantly appointed drawing room of the Tricorn Club. All that remained was the signing of the register.
“What’s the matter?” Alex leaned down and peered over her shoulder. “What are you waiting for?”
Emmy sent him a teasing smile. “Father always told me never to put anything in writing. Too incriminating.”
Alex mock frowned. “It’s too late, Lady Melton. We’re married now. Signing that is a mere formality.” He handed her the pen and lowered his voice so the vicar couldn’t hear. “Sign the damn book, Emmy. I want no doubt at all that you’re my wife.”
She signed her name with a flourish, and his smile grew decidedly Machiavellian.
“What?” she asked.
“I’ve finally stolen something from you, Emmy Danvers.”
“Oh really? What?”
“Your name. I’ve taken the Danvers and given you Harland in return. And, generous soul that I am, I’ve given you an extra name for good luck. The Countess of Melton. Are you happy now?”
Emmy smiled
up at him. “Happier than I ever thought I could be.”
“I can’t wait for tonight,” he murmured.
“Why?”
He raised his eyebrows with a suggestive leer. “Because I have my very own black feather, just like the one the Nightjar used to tease me with.”
His eyes flared with desire and Emmy felt her cheeks heat in response. Really, the man was a devil, speaking to her like this in front of at least thirty witnesses, all of whom were dear friends and relations. She sent a weak smile toward Lord Mowbray’s great-aunt Dorothea, the one he called the “Dread Dowager Duchess of Winwick,” and tried to pretend that her husband wasn’t seducing her in full view of everyone. The news that Alexander Harland was married would be all over town by teatime. No doubt the scandal would keep everyone gossiping for weeks to come.
“If you only knew how many dreams I’ve had about you and that feather,” he whispered. “I’ve been carrying it around with me for weeks.”
“We have the wedding breakfast to get through first,” Emmy said primly, then sent him a look full of promise from under her lashes. “But after that, Lord Melton, I’m all yours.”
His smile grew decidedly wicked. “Oh, yes, indeed you are.”
AUTHOR’S NOTE
Emmy loves discovering foreign words that have no direct translation in English. I didn’t use this in the story (because I thought it implausible that Emmy would have found out about it in 1816) but there’s a wonderful Japanese phrase that’s just perfect for her and Alex: Koi No Yokan. The sense of inevitability upon first meeting a person that the two of you are going to fall in love.
Coming soon …
Look for the next novel of “genuine romance” (Kirkus Reviews) in the Bow Street Bachelors series by Kate Bateman
The Princess & the Rogue
Available in 2021 from
St. Martin’s Paperbacks
ALSO BY KATE BATEMAN
This Earl of Mine
Praise for This Earl of Mine
“A book that begins with a Regency heiress seeking a bridegroom in Newgate Prison promises daring adventure, and Kate Bateman gives readers just what they’re looking for … Pure fun.”
—BookPage
“Genuine romance that shines through … delightful leads and sexy capers.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“Delicious, witty, and ripping good fun! Kate Bateman’s writing sparkles.”
—USA Today bestselling author Laura Lee Guhrke
“Dashing, daring, and deliciously romantic!”
—USA Today bestselling author Caroline Linden
“A riveting new voice for Regency readers! Kate Bateman is now on my auto-buy list.”
—Janna MacGregor, author of The Good, the Bad, and the Duke
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Kate Bateman (also writing as K. C. Bateman) is the #1 bestselling author of Regency, Victorian, and Renaissance historical romances, including the Secrets & Spies series: To Steal a Heart, A Raven’s Heart, and A Counterfeit Heart. All her books feature her favorite feisty, intelligent heroines (badasses in bodices!), wickedly inappropriate banter, and sexy, snarky heroes you want to both strangle and kiss.
Kate wrote her first historical romance in response to a $1 bet with her husband, who rashly claimed she’d “never finish the thing.” She gleefully proved him wrong. When not traveling to exotic locations “for research,” she leads a not-so-secret double life as a fine art appraiser and on-screen antiques expert for several TV shows in the UK, each of which has up to 2.5 million viewers. She splits her time between Illinois and her native England and writes despite three inexhaustible children and that number-loving husband who still owes her that dollar. You can sign up for email updates here.
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Contents
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Epigraph
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Epilogue
Author’s Note
Also by Kate Bateman
Praise for This Earl of Mine
About the Author
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
First published in the United States by St. Martin’s Paperbacks, an imprint of St. Martin’s Publishing Group.
TO CATCH AN EARL
Copyright © 2020 by Kate Bateman.
All rights reserved.
For information address St. Martin’s Publishing Group, 120 Broadway, New York, NY 10271.
www.stmartins.com
eISBN: 9781250306128
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St. Martin’s Paperbacks edition 2020