Her sister jerked her chin up and looked pointedly at Jonathan. “See, he said there is nothing wrong with…” She fell silent at her brother’s darkening glower.
“We met at Hyde Park,” Charlotte blurted. The table went silent and looked to the little girl. Her young years likely made her immune to the intensity of the questioning stares. She dipped her spoon into her plum pudding. “Daniel hit her with a snowball,” she said after she’d swallowed.
Daniel sank back in his seat. “She did it, too.”
Charlotte nodded. “It was a rather impressive hit. Wasn’t it, Lady Patrina?”
Patrina inclined her head. “A splendid one,” she agreed. “She hit me here.” She touched her lip. “And here,” she touched the corner of her eye. “Fortunately, Lord Beaufort handled the situation as any gentleman would.” She winked up at her new husband. Then froze. Husband. She rolled the words around her mind. Husband. He was her husband. A giddy sensation filled her heart at the idea of him belonging to her just as she belonged to him.
Penelope propped her elbows on the table and sighed, pulling Patrina from her musings. “He defended you.”
“He scolded her,” Daniel said with his first grin of the day.
Weston frowned, but Daniel was encouraged by the interested stares from the table around him. “Papa of course defended us. He reminded her that a lady shouldn’t throw snowballs at children.”
Mother sat forward in her seat. “You threw snowballs, Patrina?”
She winced at the high-pitched squawk of her mother’s voice. Her mother spoke with the same shock as when she’d scolded her for eloping with Albert. “Er…” Well, she’d rather suspected being wed to the marquess she’d be spared Mother’s mothering. Apparently not.
Charlotte and Daniel nodded in unison. “She did.”
“She is ever so good at it, my lady,” Charlotte said with only a seven-year-old girl’s appreciation.
A flurry of discussion ensued, led by Daniel and Jonathan, as to the best snow to be used for making snowballs.
Weston leaned over and said something to Charlotte. She nodded once and then her small fingers closed around the fork. She speared a piece of cold ham and proceeded to eat. He picked up his gingerbread. “I should be grateful you didn’t realize the extent of their mischievous ways until after you’d agreed to marry me,” he said wryly, waving the confectionery treat close to her lips.
“Are you bribing me, Weston?”
Gold flecks danced in his eyes. “It is a bit past a bribe now that you’ve wed the father of the troublesome pair. I would shower you with jewels and trinkets instead to show my appreciation for your wedding this marquess at Christmas.”
“I don’t require jewels and fripperies.” With a smile she plucked the gingerbread from his fingers. “Surely you have realized the truth by now.”
He lowered his head, his lips so close they nearly brushed her ear. “The truth?” Warmth spiraled through her being at his nearness, heated her blood, and set her ablaze from the inside out just thinking of becoming his marchioness in every sense of the word.
She turned and touched a finger to his lips. “I would marry this marquess any day of the year.”
The End
Biography
Christi Caldwell is the USA Today bestselling author of historical romance novels set in the Regency era. Christi blames Judith McNaught's "Whitney, My Love," for luring her into the world of historical romance. While sitting in her graduate school apartment at the University of Connecticut, Christi decided to set aside her notes and try her hand at writing romance. She believes the most perfect heroes and heroines have imperfections and rather enjoys tormenting them before crafting a well- deserved happily ever after!
When Christi isn’t writing the stories of flawed heroes and heroines, she can be found in her Southern Connecticut home chasing around her feisty six-year-old son, and caring for twin princesses-in- training!
Visit www.christicaldwellauthor.com to learn more about what Christi is working on, or join her on Facebook at Christi Caldwell Author, and Twitter @ChristiCaldwell
Other Books by Christi Caldwell
“Winning a Lady’s Heart”
A Danby Novella
Author's Note: This is a novella that was originally available in A Summons From The Castle (The Regency Christmas Summons Collection). It is being published as an individual novella.
For Lady Alexandra, being the source of a cold, calculated wager is bad enough...but when it is waged by Nathaniel Michael Winters, 5th Earl of Pembroke, the man she's in love with, it results in a broken heart, the scandal of the season, and a summons from her grandfather--the Duke of Danby.
To escape Society's gossip, she hurries to her meeting with the duke, determined to put memories of the earl far behind. Except the duke has other plans for Alexandra...plans which include the 5th Earl of Pembroke!
“A Season of Hope”
A Danby Novella
Five years ago when her love, Marcus Wheatley, failed to return from fighting Napoleon’s forces, Lady Olivia Foster buried her heart. Unable to betray Marcus’s memory, Olivia has gone out of her way to run off prospective suitors. At three and twenty she considers herself firmly on the shelf. Her father, however, disagrees and accepts an offer for Olivia’s hand in marriage. Yet it’s Christmas, when anything can happen...
Olivia receives a well-timed summons from her grandfather, the Duke of Danby, and eagerly embraces the reprieve from her betrothal.
Only, when Olivia arrives at Danby Castle she realizes the Christmas season represents hope, second chances, and even miracles.
“Forever Betrothed, Never the Bride”
Book 1 in the Scandalous Seasons Series
Hopeless romantic Lady Emmaline Fitzhugh is tired of sitting with the wallflowers, waiting for her betrothed to come to his senses and marry her. When Emmaline reads one too many reports of his scandalous liaisons in the gossip rags, she takes matters into her own hands.
War-torn veteran Lord Drake devotes himself to forgetting his days on the Peninsula through an endless round of meaningless associations. He no longer wants to feel anything, but Lady Emmaline is making it hard to maintain a state of numbness. With her zest for life, she awakens his passion and desire for love.
The one woman Drake has spent the better part of his life avoiding is now the only woman he needs, but he is no longer a man worthy of his Emmaline. It is up to her to show him the healing power of love.
“Never Courted, Suddenly Wed”
Book 2 in the Scandalous Seasons Series
Christopher Ansley, Earl of Waxham, has constructed a perfect image for theton--the ladies love him and his company is desired by all. Only two people know the truth about Waxham’s secret. Unfortunately, one of them is Miss Sophie Winters.
Sophie Winters has known Christopher since she was in leading strings. As children, they delighted in tormenting each other. Now at two and twenty, she still has a tendency to find herself in scrapes, and her marital prospects are slim.
When his father threatens to expose his shame to theton, unless he weds Sophie for her dowry, Christopher concocts a plan to remain a bachelor. What he didn't plan on was falling in love with the lively, impetuous Sophie. As secrets are exposed, will Christopher’s love be enough when she discovers his role in his father’s scheme?
“Always Proper, Suddenly Scandalous”
Book 3 in the Scandalous Seasons Series
Geoffrey Winters, Viscount Redbrooke was not always the hard, unrelenting lord driven by propriety. After a tragic mistake, he resolved to honor his responsibility to the Redbrooke line and live a life, free of scandal. Knowing his duty is to wed a proper, respectable English miss, he selects Lady Beatrice Dennington, daughter of the Duke of Somerset, the perfect woman for him. Until he meets Miss Abigail Stone...
To distance herself from a personal scandal, Abigail Stone flees America to visit her uncle, the Duke of Somerset. Determined to never trust a man aga
in, she is helplessly intrigued by the hard, too- proper Geoffrey. With his strict appreciation for decorum and order, he is nothing like the man' she's always dreamed of.
Abigail is everything Geoffrey does not need. She upends his carefully ordered world at every encounter. As they begin to care for one another, Abigail carefully guards the secret that resulted in her journey to England.
Only, if Geoffrey learns the truth about Abigail, he must decide which he holds most dear: his place in Society or Abigail's place in his heart.
“Always a Rogue, Forever Her Love”
Book 4 in the Scandalous Seasons Series
Miss Juliet Marshville is spitting mad. With one guardian missing, and the other singularly uninterested in her fate, she is at the mercy of her wastrel brother who loses her beloved childhood home to a man known as Sin. Determined to reclaim control of Rosecliff Cottage and her own fate, Juliet arranges a meeting with the notorious rogue and demands the return of her property.
Jonathan Tidemore, 5th Earl of Sinclair, known to thetonas Sin, is exceptionally lucky in life and at the gaming tables. He has just one problem. Well...four, really. His incorrigible sisters have driven off yet another governess. This time, however, his mother demands he find an appropriate replacement.
When Miss Juliet Marshville boldly demands the return of her precious cottage, he takes advantage of his sudden good fortune and puts an offer to her; turn his sisters into proper English ladies, and he’ll return Rosecliff Cottage to Juliet's possession.
Jonathan comes to appreciate Juliet’s spirit, courage, and clever wit, and decides to claim the fiery beauty as his mistress. Juliet, however, will be mistress for no man. Nor could she ever love a man who callously stole her home in a game of cards. As Jonathan begins to see Juliet as more than a spirited beauty to warm his bed, he realizes she could be a lady he could love the rest of his life, if only he can convince the proud Juliet that he's worthy of her hand and heart.
“In Need of a Duke”
A Prequel Novella to “The Heart of a Duke” Series by Christi Caldwell
In Need of a Duke: (Author's Note: This is a prequel novella to "The Heart of a Duke" series by Christi Caldwell. It was originally available in "The Heart of a Duke" Collection and is now being published as an individual novella. ***It features a new cover, prologue and epilogue.
Years earlier, a gypsy woman passed to Lady Aldora Adamson and her friends a heart pendant that promised them each the heart of a duke.
Now, a young lady, with her family facing ruin and scandal, Lady Aldora doesn't have time for mythical stories about cheap baubles. She needs to save her sisters and brother by marrying a titled gentleman with wealth and power to his name. She sets her bespectacled sights upon the Marquess of St. James.
Turned out by his father after a tragic scandal, Lord Michael Knightly has grown into a powerful, but self-made man. With the whispers and stares that still follow him, he would rather be anywhere but London...
Until he meets Lady Aldora, a young woman who mistakes him for his brother, the Marquess of St. James. The connection between Aldora and Michael is immediate and as they come to know one another, Aldora's feelings for Michael war with her sisterly responsibilities. With her family's dire situation, a man of Michael's scandalous past will never do.
Ultimately, Aldora must choose between her responsibilities as a sister and her love for Michael.
“For Love of the Duke
First Full-Length Book in the “Heart of a Duke” Series by Christi Caldwell
After the tragic death of his wife, Jasper, the 8th Duke of Bainbridge buried himself away in the dark cold walls of his home, Castle Blackwood. When he’s coaxed out of his self-imposed exile to attend the amusements of the Frost Fair, his life is irrevocably changed by his fateful meeting with Lady Katherine Adamson.
With her tight brown ringlets and silly white-ruffled gowns, Lady Katherine Adamson has found her dance card empty for two Seasons. After her father’s passing, Katherine learned the unreliability of men, and is determined to depend on no one, except herself. Until she meets Jasper...
In a desperate bid to avoid a match arranged by her family, Katherine makes the Duke of Bainbridge a shocking proposition—one that he accepts.
Only, as Katherine begins to love Jasper, she finds the arrangement agreed upon is not enough. And Jasper is left to decide if protecting his heart is more important than fighting for Katherine’s love.
“A Marquess for Christmas”
A Scandalous Seasons Novella
After causing a scandal last Season, Lady Patrina Tidemore, has little hope for marriage...until she meets the Marquess of Beaufort, a frosty nobleman with a broken heart. Can these two help each other heal and find love at the Christmastide Season?
Non-Fiction Works by Christi Caldwell
Uninterrupted Joy: Memoir: My Journey through Infertility, Pregnancy, and Special Needs
The following journey was never intended for publication. It was written from a mother, to her unborn child. The words detailed her struggle through infertility and the joy of finally being pregnant. A stunning revelation at her son's birth opened a world of both fear and discovery. This is the story of one mother's love and hope and...her quest for uninterrupted joy.
Coming Soon
By Christi Caldwell
“More Than a Duke”
Book Two in “The Heart of a Duke” Series
January 2015
Other Books You May Enjoy
Coming November 2014
After Forever, A Whisper of Scandal Novel
by Julie Johnstone
A year after her husband’s tragic death, all Lady Julianna Barrows wants is to be left alone and forget that most of her heart went with him when he passed. Instead, she finds herself the subject of many a matchmaking scheme and lurid offer to ease her widowhood, as well as save her fading fortune. Desperate to avoid having to remarry, she takes on a position as a tutor, only to discover that the man she’s helping unexpectedly stirs her heart and passion.
Nash Wolverton boxed his way out of the London slums and into immense wealth, but he couldn’t care less about Society’s approval. Except he has his by-blow daughter’s future to consider. To ensure her acceptance into Society, he’ll endure anything―including procuring a tutor to transform him into a gentleman so he can secure a suitable, boring wife.
Yet what he wants changes the moment he hires Julianna. She may be a lady, but she’s far from tedious. Bold and compassionate, she is nothing like the women of the ton. Suddenly, she’s elicited a simmering desire in him, and even a longing to love and be loved that he always thought out of his reach. Knowing what he planned to settle for can now never be enough, he vows to win her love. But as the walls she’s built begin to crumble, Julianna’s fears threaten to tear them apart and she alone must decide if protecting her heart trumps breaking Nash’s.
A Marquess for Christmas (Scandalous Seasons Book 5) Page 14