A burst of unseasonal sunshine greeted them as they emerged onto the church’s front steps. Royd dragged his gaze from Isobel’s face, looked ahead, and laughed.
Isobel followed his gaze and discovered a long avenue of uniformed figures with swords raised in honor. “Good Lord!”
There were army, navy, and merchantman uniforms, along with others she didn’t recognize. And in between, she spied many young cousins—both hers and Royd’s—skulking.
She looked at Royd.
He arched a brow at her. “Shall we?”
She laughed. “Yes—but let’s run.”
She hiked up her skirts, and they ran, weathering a storm of rice and flowers to emerge, still laughing, at the end of the long line.
Their groomsmen and attendants, now all married, followed. Caleb and Kate had returned from their honeymoon in time for Kate to be fitted for her gown.
The church was mere yards from Carmody Place, and the entire congregation had been invited to a wedding breakfast destined to feature in the annals of Aberdeen.
Royd and Isobel circulated among their guests, accepting congratulations and thanking those who had traveled, some from considerable distance, to attend.
The company sat in the great hall for a sumptuous meal, then the toasts began. While there were tales, jokes, and laughter aplenty, ultimately, Iona had the last word. Isobel’s cantankerous grandmother rose to her feet, recommended everyone charge their glasses, then raised hers and, with startling brevity, declared, “About time.”
Everyone cheered and drank to that, Royd and Isobel included.
Then the music began, and Isobel rose, her hand in Royd’s. They whirled down the floor to unstinting applause.
Once the bridal party, and then all others so inclined, had joined them on the floor, she smiled, let Royd draw her nearer, and rested her head on his shoulder. “About time,” she murmured.
“At last,” he replied.
Later, when she returned from changing out of her silk gown, and the ritual of tossing the wedding bouquet was upon them, instead of taking aim, she held to tradition, turned her back to the expectant crowd, and flung her bouquet—somewhat exuberantly—over her shoulder.
The force of her throw had the bouquet clearing the heads of all the eager cousins and young ladies vying to catch it. It sailed on, then abruptly descended, hitting one outstretched hand, then another, before Kit Frobisher reflexively caught it. Her laughing expression transformed to one of horror. She stared at the bouquet as if it were a snake. She shook her head. “Oh no. No, no, no.”
She looked up, and Isobel, who had turned to see, caught her eyes and smiled widely.
Kit narrowed her eyes. She looked around wildly. “Here.” She thrust the bouquet at the nearest young lady.
Who, grinning, held up her hands. “Oh no—I couldn’t possibly.”
No matter who Kit approached, no one would take the bouquet from her.
Isobel walked up; although she managed not to laugh, she was smiling. “It’s no use. What’s done is done, and I should warn you it’s a family tradition that’s never failed to deliver.”
“Your family.” Kit frowned at the offending bouquet. “Not the Frobishers.”
“Ah, but the Carmodys are now inextricably linked to the Frobishers.” Isobel leaned close and lowered her voice. “Were I you, I’d keep my eyes peeled. Someone is coming your way.”
Kit met her gaze through narrowed eyes. “That someone had better keep his distance if he has any notion of what’s good for him.”
Isobel laughed and allowed Royd to draw her away.
They circled the room again. Isobel was content to chat, but Royd had other plans—plans he’d shared with no one but their son.
Very aware of the shenanigans that, especially in the circumstances, were likely to be played on him and his bride, he’d arranged a decoy. A smart phaeton and pair presently sat in the drive; various items were, even then, being attached to its axles and rear.
He bided his time. Carmody Place was a very old house. From Duncan, he’d learned of the secret routes leading from the great hall; he chose his moment and whisked Isobel through a hidden door. Surprised, she looked at him.
“Come on.” He took her hand and led her quickly through a maze of minor corridors to the rear of the huge house—where Duncan sat in a plain gig, concentrating as he held the reins.
Jeb, the old head groom, laconically holding the horse’s head, was the only other soul around. He grinned and tipped his hat to them as Royd helped Isobel up to the seat. “Good luck to ye, both.”
“Thank you, Jeb.” Isobel waited until Royd climbed in on Duncan’s other side and started the horse trotting down the rear drive before asking, “Where are we going?”
Over Duncan’s head, Royd met her gaze. “Home.”
He drove them to the manor at Banchory-Devenick.
When he drew the horses to a halt before the weathered gray stone façade, Duncan jumped down and ran to the front door. Isobel waited for Royd to hand her down. He left the gig in the care of a young groom and steered her inside.
She’d been there before, but only as a visitor. Now...felt different. For a start, the house was curiously quiet. “Where is everyone?”
“Papa decided now would be a good time to pay a visit to the Bristol office. He and Mama will sail with Kit on Consort—they’ll be leaving on this evening’s tide. As I assume Aileen mentioned, she and Robert are heading to New York on a belated wedding cruise, while Declan, unsurprisingly, wants to have Edwina back in London as soon as possible—her mother will be staying with them in Stanhope Street until after the baby’s born. So The Trident and The Cormorant will also sail tonight.” Royd arched his brows. “Believe it or not, Caleb and Kate have decided to live at Carmody Place, at least for the moment. Kate said that with you and Duncan gone, Iona will feel lonely, and Caleb pointed out that Carmody Place is closer to the office and the docks than the manor.”
Royd halted at the bottom of the stairs and faced her. “We haven’t discussed where we should live.” He glanced around. “If you’d rather be in town—”
“No.” She shook her head. “This is where we should be.” She’d known that the instant she’d walked in the door—a sensation as if the house had embraced her. “But I’ve never been beyond the drawing room.” She looked at him. “Show me.”
He took her over the entire house. It was larger than she’d imagined, a solid structure built of local gray stone that had been added to and added to over the generations.
He halted in a large first-floor room at the end of one wing. “This is the wing I thought we should have.” He nodded to the view of lawns bordered by woods. “It’s the most private, and there are rooms aplenty for Duncan and a nursery, and studies for us, as well as a private parlor should we feel the need to escape the bustle that sometimes overtakes the rest of the house.”
“It’s perfect.” She stood before the window. It was perfect in so many ways, not least because he would be there, Duncan would be, too, and they would be part of a larger family. It was what she was used to and also what she needed. But...
When he came to stand beside her and look out of the window, too, she glanced at his face, briefly studied it, then asked, “Will it be enough, do you think—the inventing and designing and commissioning, along with the occasional trip?”
Outside, Duncan was running in circles on the lawn, chasing a puppy Isobel hadn’t seen before.
Royd turned his head, met her eyes, and smiled—an expression far softer than he usually let show. “One thing I’ve learned through all our years—life is for living, and family is life. Nothing can or ever will take me away from this, because nothing can or ever will matter more.”
She saw the truth of his words in his eyes. She smiled a touch mistily. “Iona has
a saying that, until today, didn’t apply to me. She’s always insisted that home is where the heart is.” She raised a hand and placed it over his heart. “Over all our years, my heart has never been anywhere else but here.”
He raised his hand and placed it over hers. “As I’ve said repeatedly, Mrs. Frobisher, we make an excellent team.”
THE END
Dear Reader,
I hope you’ve enjoyed the adventure and the romances of The Adventurers Quartet. In many ways, the series name said it all—it wasn’t just the heroes who were adventurers, but their respective ladies, too! If you have enjoyed the journey and feel so inclined, do share your thoughts with a review here.
As most of you will know, my works are usually set in Britain, mostly in England or Scotland, but when your heroes and their ladies are of swashbuckling ilk—those who will boldly go wherever life’s challenges take them—then remaining in Britain simply wouldn’t have worked. These characters needed a broader and less civilized stage on which to make their marks, and bigger, wilder challenges to test them and reveal their true strengths. I chose West Africa and the town of Freetown as the setting for this series because it was a place where the British were already established, and at the same time, it was, indeed, very much a frontier, with all the dangers and associated lawlessness. I hope you had fun walking on the wild side—through dusty streets and jungles, and pacing on the decks of ships racing before the wind—rather than down Pall Mall.
Using such a very different setting to my usual circles of the British haut ton was also intended to provide a refreshing break before I return for more tales of the Cynster Next Generation, namely the trilogy, Devil’s Brood—three connected tales of romance and intrigue coming to you later in 2017.
Until then, happy reading!
Stephanie.
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If by chance you missed the previous volumes in THE ADVENTURERS QUARTET, look for THE LADY’S COMMAND, A BUCCANEER AT HEART, and THE DAREDEVIL SNARED to read the first, second, and third stages of the adventure, respectively detailing the uniquely thrilling journey into marriage of Declan Frobisher and his new wife, Lady Edwina, the meeting and entirely unexpected romance between Robert Frobisher and the bossy Miss Aileen Hopkins, and the love that blooms between Caleb Frobisher and Katherine Fortescue within the confines of the mining compound.
And if you missed Stephanie’s recent three releases in her long running Cynster series, further details can be found by clicking on the titles:
BY WINTER’S LIGHT
THE TEMPTING OF THOMAS CARRICK
A MATCH FOR MARCUS CYNSTER
Other Titles from Stephanie Laurens
Cynster Novels
Devil’s Bride
A Rake’s Vow
Scandal’s Bride
A Rogue’s Proposal
A Secret Love
All About Love
All About Passion
On A Wild Night
On A Wicked Dawn
The Perfect Lover
The Ideal Bride
The Truth About Love
What Price Love?
The Taste of Innocence
Temptation and Surrender
Cynster Sisters Trilogy
Viscount Breckenridge to the Rescue
In Pursuit of Eliza Cynster
The Capture of the Earl of Glencrae
Cynster Sisters Duo
And Then She Fell
The Taming of Ryder Cavanaugh
Cynster Special
The Promise in a Kiss
By Winter’s Light
Cynster Next Generation Novels
The Tempting of Thomas Carrick
A Match for Marcus Cynster
The Casebook of Barnaby Adair Novels
Where the Heart Leads
The Peculiar Case of Lord Finsbury’s Diamonds
The Masterful Mr. Montague
The Curious Case of Lady Latimer’s Shoes
Loving Rose: The Redemption of Malcolm Sinclair
Bastion Club Novels
Captain Jack’s Woman (Prequel)
The Lady Chosen
A Gentleman’s Honor
A Lady of His Own
A Fine Passion
To Distraction
Beyond Seduction
The Edge of Desire
Mastered by Love
Black Cobra Quartet
The Untamed Bride
The Elusive Bride
The Brazen Bride
The Reckless Bride
The Adventurers Quartet
The Lady’s Command
A Buccaneer at Heart
The Daredevil Snared
Lord of the Privateers
Other Novels
The Lady Risks All
Medieval
Desire’s Prize
Novellas
Melting Ice – from the anthologies Rough Around the Edges and Scandalous Brides
Rose in Bloom – from the anthology Scottish Brides
Scandalous Lord Dere – from the anthology Secrets of a Perfect Night
Lost and Found – from the anthology Hero, Come Back
The Fall of Rogue Gerrard – from the anthology It Happened One Night
The Seduction of Sebastian Trantor – from the anthology It Happened One Season
Short Stories
The Wedding Planner – from the anthology Royal Weddings
A Return Engagement – from the anthology Royal Bridesmaids
UK-Style Regency Romances
Tangled Reins
Four in Hand
Impetuous Innocent
Fair Juno
The Reasons for Marriage
A Lady of Expectations
An Unwilling Conquest
A Comfortable Wife
Table of Contents
Introduction
Cast of Characters
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Interior Artwork
Chapter 4
Map of Freetown & Surrounding Areas
Chapter 5
Map of Freetown & Environs
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Caleb’s Sketch of the Mining Compound
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Epilogue
Dear Reader
Other Titles from Stephanie Laurens
About the Author
“Laurens never fails to entertain and charm her readers with vibrant plots, snappy dialogue, and unforgettable characters.”
—Historical Romance Reviews
If you enjoyed Lord of the Privateers, don’t miss a single Regency-era t
ale in The Adventurers Quartet series:
The Lady’s Command
A Buccaneer at Heart
The Daredevil Snared
Looking for another captivating regency romance from #1 New York Times bestselling author Stephanie Laurens? Don’t miss her beloved novel Fair Juno, the compelling tale of the Earl of Merton and his unwavering quest for love, despite the scandal that threatens his pursuit of a mysterious lady.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
#1 New York Times bestselling author Stephanie Laurens began writing romances as an escape from the dry world of professional science. Her hobby quickly became a career when her first novel was accepted for publication, and with entirely becoming alacrity, she gave up writing about facts in favor of writing fiction.
All Laurens’s works to date are historical romances, ranging from medieval times to the early 1900s, and her settings range from Scotland to India. The majority of her works are set in the period of the British Regency. Laurens has published more than 60 works of historical romance, including 36 New York Times bestsellers. Laurens has sold more than 20 million print, audio-, and e-books globally. All her works are continuously available in print and e-book formats in English worldwide, and have been translated into many other languages. An international bestseller, among other accolades, Laurens has received the Romance Writers of America® prestigious RITA® Award for Best Romance Novella 2008 for The Fall of Rogue Gerrard.
Laurens’s continuing novels featuring the Cynster family are widely regarded as classics of the historical romance genre. Other series include the Bastion Club Novels, the Black Cobra Quartet, and the Casebook of Barnaby Adair Novels. All of her previous works remain available in print and all e-book formats.
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