by Shana Galen
Blackthorne's Bride
Shana Galen
* * *
Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Epilogue
Author's Note
Copyright
* * *
For Linda Andrus
Your support has been invaluable.
* * *
Acknowledgments
Thank you to Evan Fogelman, for your steadfast support; to May Chen, for pushing me to make this my best work yet; to Christina Hergenrader and Courtney Burkholder, for your friendship and insight; and to my husband, for your encouragement and unwavering love.
The FULLBRIGHTs
No Man's Bride
Edmund and Cordelia (née Brittany)
Catherine (20), Elizabeth (17)
Good Groom Hunting
Mavis (née Fullbright) and Joseph Hale
Joseph Jr. (22), John (20), Josephine (18)
Blackthorne's Bride
William, Earl of Castleigh and Ellen (née Todd)
Madeleine (18)
The BRITTANYs
Sir Gareth and Imogen (nee Stafford)
Thomas (23), Charles (21), William (20),
Ashley (18), Devlin (17), George (15)
Chapter One
London 1801
Lady Madeleine was going to make the best of this night, even if it killed her.
And it probably would kill her.
Maddie shook her head. That was no way to think. If one expected the worst, one received the worst.
But there simply wasn't anything good about dressing in boys' clothing and running around London in the dead of night. Unless one wanted to be kidnapped.
You're doing it again! Maddie chided herself. She had to start thinking positively.
Very well, then ... She might not like wearing boys' clothing, but at least it was comfortable.
She didn't like to sneak out at night, but at least she didn't have to carry a parasol in the dark.
And she didn't like to climb into darkened windows, risk the wrath of her horrid uncle, or tempt the cutthroats hiding down every London alleyway, but ...
Oh, Lord! She was going to be murdered, and there was just nothing good about that!
Maddie tightened her grip on her cousin Catie's arm and hurried to catch her two adventuresome cousins, Ashley and Josie.
Above her, the moon was but a sliver in the dark, starless sky The tall, terraced houses of Mayfair—white and bedecked with flowers spilling from boxes in the daylight—now loomed menacingly over her. They stared at her from sightless eyes.
Maddie tried to keep her gaze on Ashley's blond hair. The London fog obscured everything except what was right in front of one's face, but Ashley's wheat-blond tresses shimmered silver in the meager light. Ashley turned a corner, and Maddie clutched Catie tighter.
"Hurry," Maddie whispered, not wanting to lose sight of Ashley. But then the fog closed in, thick and heavy, and Maddie had to reach out and feel her way past the building on her right. She lurched to the side and stepped on something furry.
With a squeak—hers or its—she ran on.
Catie and she rounded the corner, and Maddie saw Ashley's bright hair. She was waiting for them. Thank heaven for her luminous cousin. The fog hadn't infiltrated this street as thickly yet, and Maddie was able to see the welcoming houses and the small tree-lined park that made up Berkeley Square.
Home. Almost home.
She wasn't going to die.
"Are you well?" Catie asked, pausing for a moment.
"Perfectly fine," Maddie replied, wishing she weren't shaking so badly. "Why do you ask?"
"You're holding my arm so tightly that I'm going to have a bruise."
Maddie loosened her hold. "Sorry."
"It's all right," Catie said.
Jiminy! If anyone should be consoled, Maddie thought, it was Catie. Her horrible father had locked her in a closet for two days. She herself was only out on the dark, unsafe streets because, though she was scared half out of her mind, she couldn't leave Catie in there.
Up ahead, rising out of the fog like a ghostly galleon from a storybook, floated her father's town house.
Home. Safety. For all of them.
The girls climbed up the bed sheets they had left hanging down the side of the house under Maddie's bedroom window. Maddie collapsed gratefully on the floor when her feet were again on solid ground.
When her stomach had ceased fluttering and her limbs were no longer shaking like saplings in a storm, she rose and fetched nightgowns, cool water, and fresh linens for the others. While the girls washed and changed, Maddie opened her desk drawer and pulled out a stash of almond biscuits she'd been saving for just such an occasion. She passed them out as her cousins gathered on the bed.
"Thank you, Mother," Ashley said as she took her biscuit. Maddie stuck out her tongue. She was used to the other girls teasing her for fussing over them, but she knew they appreciated it.
She wasn't the eldest or the bravest or the most beautiful. Respectively, Catie, Josie, and Ashley fit those roles. Maddie had always been the most privileged. Her father was the Earl of Castleigh— rich and powerful.
But privilege was not something one chose, nor something Maddie enjoyed. She would have much rather been courageous or beautiful or wise. Instead, she was frequently described as kind and tenderhearted. Boring descriptors, especially for a girl of eight, but she figured it was the best she could expect.
She scooted onto her bed next to her cousins, and Ashley elbowed her. "Well, that was fun, wasn't it?"
Maddie wanted to groan. Fun? Her insides still jittered from the so-called adventure, and her hands shook as they tried to hold the almond biscuit.
"You know ..." Catie said quietly. Maddie thought she looked almost dead from fatigue. "Once we grow up and marry, we won't be able to have adventures like this anymore. Our husbands won't let us."
Now, this was a new idea, and one Maddie rather liked. No more climbing out windows. No more scratchy—er, rather comfortable—boys' clothing or dark city streets.
Josie sat forward. "When I become a pirate, I won't need a husband. I'll have loads of treasure all for myself."
"And I'm going to have lots of adventures," Ashley said. "I won't have time for a husband, especially a mean one."
Everyone knew she was talking about Catie's horrible father. He was even worse at being a husband than a parent.
"But how will you have money for adventures without a husband?" Josie asked. Maddie wondered the same.
"Well, I don't care how poor I am," Catie said confidently. "I'm not going to marry at all. Ever."
Maddie blinked. It was a shocking statement, one she couldn't imagine making herself. Not marry? Her father said it was a woman's job to marry.
Of course, her mother laughed at her father when he said that because her father always assigned women roles they didn't particularly want. Just the other day, when Maddie had tried to give a shilling to a little beggar boy on the street, her father scolded her because little ladies were not to consort with street urchins.
Little ladies weren't supposed to consort with a whole list of other people and things as well: injured puppies, spirited horses, homeless children, the poor and downtrodden.
Maddie didn't understand it. What good was all the wealth her family possessed if they didn't share it?
When she grew up, she intended to help people. And if a husband would stop that, then Catie was right, and Maddie had no need of one either.
Maddie stood. "And I'm not going to marry either. Never. I don't need the money. If you want, Catie, you can come stay with me. You too, Ashley, when you're not on an adventure, and you, Josie, when you're not on your pirate ship."
Catie smiled at her, then sat up straighter. Maddie thought she looked awake and alive again. "I propose that we make a pledge, a promise never to marry. I'm the oldest, so I go first. I, Catherine Anne Fullbright, swear never, ever, ever to marry so long as I live. Now your turn, Maddie."
"I, Madeleine Richael Fullbright, swear never, ever, to marry so long as I live. Now your turn, Josie," Maddie said.
"I, Josephine Linet Hale, swear never, ever, to marry so long as I live. I promise to be a pirate!"
"Now you, Ashley," Catie directed.
"I, Ashley Gweneira Brittany, swear not to marry for as long as I live. But you know what this means, don't you?" She didn't wait for an answer. "We're going to be spinsters."
Maddie didn't like that word. No, not at all.
Then Josie said, "It won't be bad to be unmarried if we're all unmarried," and Maddie felt a little better.
"So we'll make it fun," Catie interjected. "We'll be the Spinster's Club."
"That's right," Josie agreed. "We'll stick together. No men or mean girls allowed."
Catie was the first to sit up, stick out her hand, and Maddie took it gladly. She felt warm and happy, safe in her room with her best friends surrounding her.
* * * * *
Ten Years Later
"Lady Madeleine, I simply must have you. I must. May I call you darling?"
Maddie gave Sir Alphonse Pennebacker a shove, thrusting him back far enough that she could catch a breath of fresh air before his perfumed stench invaded her nostrils again. "No, you may not call me darling. In fact, Sir Alphonse, I asked you not to call on me ever again."
Sir Alphonse smiled. "But, my lady, that is the beauty of our present circumstance. I am here. You are here. We are fated to be together."
"I hardly think fate played a role," Maddie said, scooting along the bookshelf in the Westmans' library. If she could reach the end, she might have a chance to dart out the door and escape Sir Alphonse. "You knew I would attend my cousin's wedding breakfast. My entire family is in attendance."
Maddie inched past a volume of Shakespeare and several books of poetry. A section of essays remained and then she would be free. Well, as free as she could be in a house brimming with her meddlesome family.
"The question," Maddie said, eyeing the essays, "is why you are in attendance."
"Distant relation," Sir Alphonse said with a wave of one lace-bedecked sleeve. He edged closer, and Maddie could not help but stare at the beauty mark above his lip. It was obviously painted on. No less obvious was the copious rouge he used to redden his cheeks.
Maddie moved imperceptibly nearer to the volumes of essays. "Distant relation of whom? The bride or groom?"
The edge of her dress brushed the volumes in question, and Maddie prepared to make her move when Sir Alphonse pounced, cornering her, and suffocating her with the overwhelming stench of roses.
"What does it matter, my dear lady? I am here. You are here. Say yes, my darling. Consent to be my wife."
Maddie tried to force the words out without taking a breath. "I cannot, sir. I do not love you."
He stepped back, hand to his heart as though mortally wounded. Maddie almost felt sorry for him. She would have, had she not seen the same reaction from him seven times before.
"You wound me, my lady. I love you."
"No, you do not," Maddie said levelly. "You love my money, and you love my father's title. You do not love me."
"There you are wrong," Sir Alphonse said firmly "That may be true of your other suitors, but not I. Tell me, my sweet, what can I do to prove my love?"
He leaned closer, and Maddie felt faint from the lack of fresh air. She could not back up any farther. The spine of a book dug into her shoulder.
"Shall I climb a mountain for you? Write you a hundred love songs? Quote poetry to you all night long?"
She swallowed the bile rising in her throat and closed her eyes. "Tell me what color my eyes are, Sir Alphonse, and I will consider your proposal."
There was a long silence. Maddie heard the distant sounds of laughter in Josie's new ballroom and the quiet ticking of the clock in Lord Westman's library.
Finally Sir Alphonse cleared his throat. "My lady, such a question—"
Maddie shook her head, refusing to open her eyes. "Answer me, sir." She almost hoped he'd answer correctly. She had no intention of marrying Sir Alphonse, but just once she would have liked a man to notice something about her.
Something besides her dowry.
He took a deep, raspy breath. "Brown. Brown like your glorious hair. Beautiful, lovely brown."
Maddie opened her eyes. Her very blue eyes. "I'm sorry, Sir Alphonse. Now, if you don't mind—"
"Maddie? Where are you?" The library door Maddie had been eyeing so longingly flew open, and Ashley stood in the opening.
She took in the scene at once and scowled at Maddie's captor. "Sir Alphonse, what are you doing?"
Alphonse jumped back. "Nothing, Miss Brittany. I—I—I—"
Ashley, so beautiful and so self-assured that she intimidated all but the most confident of men, shook her head. "You are monopolizing Lady Madeleine on a day when her family needs her most. Please leave us at once. I have urgent family news to discuss with my cousin."
"Of—Of—Of—"
"Good-bye, Sir Alphonse," Ashley said, pushing him out the door and closing it on his agitated stutters. She turned back to Maddie. "Good God, how can you stand him?"
"I can't." Maddie moved away from the bookcase and toward the window. She threw it open, ostensibly to let in fresh air, but took the opportunity to scan the garden. "But I don't see any reason to treat him rudely."
"Oh, then you want him to keep proposing marriage?"
"No." Maddie saw no sign of the one she sought and turned back to Ashley. "But I don't want to hurt Sir Alphonse's feelings."
Ashley shook her head. "Maddie, you are rich and your father is powerful. A dozen men a day must propose to you and will keep on doing so if you do not firmly reject them. That is not rudeness. That is sanity."
"You reject suitors your way, and I shall use mine."
"Yours doesn't work."
"Not so far," Maddie mumbled, her gaze roving to the garden again. Where was he? She turned back to Ashley. "Thank you for your help, but if you don't mind, I want to sit here alone for a few moments."
Ashley's pale eyebrows rose above her sea green eyes. "Oh, really?"
Maddie looked down at her dainty, beribboned lavender and ivory slippers. They were a perfect match for her muslin day dress, which was composed of a lavender overdress and ivory underdress. The layers of the outer garment were draped and held in place at the knee by glossy lavender ribbons.
She couldn't have chosen less practical attire for running away. And with the exception of her father, no one but Ashley could hinder her plans. Willing her voice to sound convincing, Maddie said, "I'll join you again in a moment." She looked at Ashley from under her lashes to gauge the effect of her statement.
Jiminy! Ashley still looked skeptical. The clock on the mantel chimed quarter past the hour, and Maddie knew she had to remove Ashley quickly. Mr. Dover was bound to show up in the garden behind her at any moment.
Standing before Maddie, Ashley narrowed her eyes. "Madeleine Richael Fullbright, what is going on?"
"Nothing," Maddi
e said automatically.
Ashley stared at her. "You're lying!" She put her hands on her hips. "I cannot believe you lied to me."
Maddie felt as though she were standing on a narrow strip of beach and the tide had just come in. Cold, threatening water swirled at her ankles. She tried to pretend it was warm, scented bathwater.
"Ashley, might we speak of this later?" she said, and this time couldn't stop herself from looking over her shoulder at the garden.
The water surged to her waist, and she almost fell back from its force. Mr. Dover was skulking about outside the window.
Maddie swung back around.
"What is it?" Ashley said. "You look like Hamlet after he saw the ghost of his father."
Maddie felt a hysterical giggle well up inside. If her father went looking for her now, she'd be the one who ended up a ghost. She had to go.
Now.
Taking her cousin by the shoulders, Maddie pushed Ashley toward the door. "Thank you for your concern. I'll explain everything later."
But Ashley was not looking at her. She was looking past her, out the window.
The ocean floor dropped out from under Maddie.
"Who is that man?" Ashley pointed a finger, and Maddie didn't have to turn to know what her cousin saw. Mr. Dover was tall, almost too tall for his own body. He always seemed to have too many arms and legs and never knew what to do with them. He was young, not yet thirty, but he wore small spectacles over his brown eyes. At least she thought his eyes were brown. She hadn't looked all that closely.
"Man?" Maddie said with exaggerated innocence. "I don't see a man."
Rigid disapproval on her face, Ashley took her by the shoulders and turned her around. She pointed to the window, where Mr. Dover was indeed peering in. "That man."
"I have no idea," Maddie said.
Mr. Dover broke into a grin and waved at her.
Ashley sighed and released her. "You are a horrible liar, Madeleine Fullbright."
Ashley started for the window, and Maddie reached for her. Her hand closed on thin air. "Ashley!"