A Grosvenor Square Christmas

by Vanessa Kelly



  A Grosvenor Square Christmas

  A Regency Anthology

  by

  Anna Campbell,

  Shana Galen,

  Vanessa Kelly,

  and Kate Noble

  Copyright © 2013

  All rights reserved.

  Cover Designer:

  Ebook formatted by Jessica Lewis

  Author’s Life Saver

  License Notes:

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. It may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for lending, delete it from your device and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author’s work.

  This book is a work of fiction. All characters and events have no existence outside the imagination of the author. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

  To sample any of the stories included in this bundle, click on the links below:

  The Seduction of A Duchess by Shana Galen

  One Kiss for Christmas by Vanessa Kelly

  His Christmas Cinderella by Anna Campbell

  The Last First Kiss by Kate Noble

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  A Grosvenor Square Christmas Prologue

  The Seduction of A Duchess by Shana Galen

  One Kiss for Christmas by Vanessa Kelly

  His Christmas Cinderella by Anna Campbell

  The Last First Kiss by Kate Noble

  Prologue

  There is very little about the gray stone house that makes it different from the houses to the right or left of it. Indeed, the entire street, the entire square is remarkably the same. The same stone. The same windows. The same incredible wealth on display.

  Well, it is Grosvenor Square, after all. It has to have some grandeur.

  But for all the elevated sameness, No. 3 Grosvenor Square stands out.

  Perhaps it is the owner. After all, Lucy Frost, the widowed Countess of Winterson is a reigning doyen of the ton. (How could she not be with a name like that?) It has been said, not proven, that she has a trail of discarded lovers the length of Pall Mall. Said too, yet not proven, that her husband died happily, after a fit of laughter brought on by her marvelous wit. Possibly in bed. But that is merely delicious speculation.

  What has been proven is that she throws a fabulous party. Lady Winterson’s eccentricity and popularity would certainly add to No. 3’s allure.

  Then again, perhaps it is the butler. Philbert was procured by Lady Winterson when she purchased the house, and found she needed someone tall enough to hang holiday garland. He has been standing at the door of No. 3 for decades. Curious, since he doesn’t look any older than a man half his (unknown) age.

  Philbert is an institution, and knows the secrets of everyone who passes through No. 3’s door, as well as how they take their tea. Surely, he can account for the way the house draws the eye of everyone who promenades past.

  Or perhaps, it is something in the house itself. Something hidden in its stones, that glitters and glows and stores itself up until it cannot help but burst forth, shining on those darkest nights in the depths of winter. On those special nights, when Lady Winterson throws her annual Christmas Ball, people flood No. 3, bringing all their hopes, their excitement and the merriment of the season with them.

  But be it the house, the hostess, or her butler, it is during the Christmas Ball every year, for one special couple, that No. 3 Grosvenor Square truly is magic.

  As long as they look in the right place.

  The Seduction of a Duchess

  A Sons of the Revolution story

  By

  SHANA GALEN

  Copyright © 2013 by Shana Galen

  For Gayle. I couldn’t have written this story without you.

  Acknowledgements