The Convenient Felstone Marriage

by Jenni Fletcher

  ‘I’m afraid so.’ He made a wry face. ‘Apparently I’m perfectly capable of ruining my own reputation without you. But I think Percy’s genuinely sorry.’

  ‘He ought to be.’ She felt a fresh flicker of panic. ‘What about Lester?’

  ‘Yes.’ The Baronet’s voice behind them was positively glacial. ‘What about Lester? Touching though this scene is, it doesn’t change anything.’

  ‘It changes everything.’ Robert set her to one side, pulling himself slowly to his feet. ‘If I were you, I’d walk away now.’

  ‘I’ve every intention of walking away.’ The Baronet pulled a small pistol from his jacket pocket. ‘But I’m taking your wife with me.’

  Ianthe cried out in horror. The Baronet was pointing the gun straight towards them, standing with his back towards the crescent. Anyone looking out of the windows wouldn’t be able to see the weapon at all. They wouldn’t come to help. On the contrary, they’d think that he’d come to help them.

  ‘I’m tired of waiting, Ianthe. You’re coming with me.’

  ‘She’s not going anywhere.’ Robert stepped in front of her, shielding her body with his own. ‘You can spread whatever rumours you like.’

  ‘I’m prepared to do a lot more than that.’ The Baronet jerked the pistol threateningly. ‘It would be such a shame if you fell over the cliff, especially having just saved your lovely wife, but then, accidents do happen.’

  ‘If you shoot me, I’ll be washed up on the shore. They’ll find the bullet.’

  ‘They might, or they might be convinced not to notice. I have powerful friends. Now step aside.’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Robert...’ Ianthe put a hand on his arm.

  ‘You’re not going anywhere with him!’

  ‘I won’t let him shoot you!’ She rushed past him quickly, moving to stand beside the Baronet. ‘You don’t know what he’s capable of!’

  ‘And that’s supposed to convince me?’ Robert’s face was like thunder.

  ‘We don’t have a choice!’

  ‘You should listen to your wife, Felstone. She’s a smart woman.’

  ‘That explains why she never wanted you.’

  ‘How dare you?’

  The Baronet’s finger twitched, and Ianthe reacted instinctively, hurling herself sideways at the same moment as Robert charged forward, barrelling into the other man with such force that it knocked them both off their feet.

  Quickly, she lunged for the weapon, but Robert got there first, clamping one hand over Sir Charles’s wrist as they both fought with the other, rolling closer and closer towards the edge of the cliff.

  ‘Look out!’

  She screamed and saw Robert lift his head at the warning, saw him register the danger a split-second before the Baronet slammed a fist into his jaw. Horrified, she saw him slump to one side, just as Sir Charles lifted the gun again and took aim, staggering back to his feet and heedlessly towards the edge.

  What happened next seemed to take place in slow motion. One moment, Sir Charles’s face was contorted with a look of hate-filled triumph, the next he simply looked surprised as the gun fired and he tumbled backwards off the edge of the cliff into thin air.

  ‘Robert!’ Ianthe threw herself to the ground beside him. ‘Are you hurt?’

  ‘What happened?’ He pulled himself up to a sitting position, tenderly rubbing his jaw.

  ‘Did the bullet hit you?’

  ‘Bullet?’ He seemed slightly dazed. ‘No, I don’t think so.’

  ‘You don’t think so?’ She ran her hands over him, frantically checking for blood.

  ‘I’m all right, Ianthe.’ He laughed hoarsely. ‘There’s no need to grope me in public.’

  ‘What?’ She punched him hard on the shoulder. ‘I’m making sure you’re all right! Ingrate!’

  ‘What happened to Lester?’

  ‘He fell.’ She shuddered. ‘He was going to shoot you and he fell.’ She punched him again.

  ‘What was that for?’

  ‘Because you almost got yourself killed. You could have fallen off the cliff and been shot into the bargain. You should have let me go!’

  ‘Never again.’ He dragged her into his arms, clasping her tightly to his chest. ‘You’re all I want now, Ianthe. You can be whatever version of yourself you want to be, just don’t leave me again.’

  She held out for another moment before throwing her arms around him too. ‘You’re all I want as well. I love you, Robert. Let’s go home.’

  Epilogue

  January 1866

  Ianthe looked around the large, desk-filled room with a sigh of contentment. The new school had been open for a week and she had thirty pupils already, most of them the children of families who worked in the shipyard, though she’d had enquiries from others in the community too. At this rate, she’d have to find bigger premises.

  ‘All done.’ Robert climbed down from the ladder where he’d been hammering a blackboard on to the wall. ‘Now, is there anything else I can do to assist you, Mrs Felstone?’

  ‘I think you’ve done quite enough for today, thank you, Mr Felstone.’ She gave him a teasing smile. ‘Until we get home anyway.’

  ‘Sounds intriguing.’ He sauntered slowly towards her, grey eyes darkening seductively. ‘Why not here? These desks look quite sturdy.’

  ‘Because Violet will be back at any moment!’ She feigned outrage. ‘She only went to collect some more books.’

  ‘I could lock the door...’

  ‘Stop it!’ She laughed as he curled his arms around her waist, pulling her tightly against him. ‘Don’t you have a shipyard to run? Besides, I’d have thought you’d be tired after this morning.’

  Robert grinned wickedly. ‘I’d have thought so to, but I can’t seem to get enough of you these days. I think I’m still making up for lost time.’

  She raised her hands to his chest, half-heartedly fending him off. ‘There’s something I need to tell you anyway.’

  ‘Mmm?’ His lips traced the curve of her throat. ‘I’m all ears.’

  ‘It’s about Harper’s yard. Violet says he’s found another buyer.’

  ‘I know.’

  ‘You know?’

  His mouth trailed an idle path up her neck towards her mouth. ‘There’ve been rumours for the past month.’

  ‘And why didn’t you tell me?’

  ‘Because we’ve had far more interesting things to talk about.’ She could hear the smile in his voice. ‘And because I don’t care, remember?’

  ‘Are you sure?’

  ‘I’m positive. Marriage is far more distracting than I’d anticipated. If I’d bought Harper’s, then I’d have had to spend even more time at work and for some reason I prefer to be at home these days.’

  ‘I prefer that, too.’

  ‘Good. And since we’re telling each other things, you ought to know that I had a visit from the local magistrate this morning. He says they won’t be investigating Sir Charles’s death any further.’

  ‘So they’re going to declare it an accident?’

  ‘They already have. There were enough witnesses who saw him point the gun at me before he fell. Percy’s testimony about his state of mind helped, too.’

  ‘You’re quite his champion these days, aren’t you?’

  ‘Credit where it’s due. He’s turned out to be an excellent clerk.’

  ‘I’m glad he decided to stay in Whitby.’ She pressed her forehead against his with a sigh. ‘And I’m relieved it’s all over. Maybe now we can find out what a normal marriage feels like.’

  ‘You know there’ll still be talk.’

  ‘I’m getting used to it.’ She shrugged. ‘Why? Do you think some people will still blame you?’

  ‘Maybe, but it’s n
o great loss. The people who matter know the truth. The rest were always going to hold my past against me anyway.’

  Though thankfully not hers as well, Ianthe added silently. Sir Charles had taken that secret with him.

  ‘Besides—’ grey eyes smouldered into hers ‘—there are benefits to being a social outcast. Now that I’ve regained the thoroughly disreputable reputation I deserve, nobody bats an eyelid at how much time I spend with my wife. It’s quite liberating really.’ He trailed a hand suggestively down her back. ‘We might not be the most respectable couple in Whitby, but we’re certainly the most interesting. Now will you give me one kiss at least, or is that too scandalous for you?’

  ‘You know I don’t care about such things any more.’ She smiled gleefully. That was true. In the past few months, Robert had positively encouraged her to be scandalous. If she wasn’t careful she’d give in to him now and really shock poor Violet. Tenderly, she wrapped both arms around his neck, kissing him so deeply that she felt both their bodies start to respond.

  ‘There’s always my office.’ Robert’s voice was dangerously tempting. ‘If you’d care to stop by for a visit this afternoon? My desk is bigger, after all.’

  ‘Perhaps.’ She smiled against his mouth. ‘What exactly did you have in mind?’

  A shocked squeak caught them both by surprise.

  ‘Oh, Violet!’ Ianthe dropped her arms and cleared her throat hastily. ‘We were just... That is...’

  ‘I was just saying goodbye.’ Robert made an ironic bow. ‘Though I ought to put that ladder away first. Excuse me, Miss Harper.’

  ‘I’m sorry, Violet.’ Ianthe covered her face with her hands, peeking through her fingers with embarrassment as the door closed behind him.

  ‘Next time I’ll remember to knock.’ Violet giggled. ‘I should have known better than to leave the two of you alone together.’

  ‘Oh, dear. Are we really so shocking?’

  ‘You’re perfectly incorrigible, but you seem very happy together. That’s what matters, isn’t it?’

  ‘You’re right. I never imagined I could feel this happy.’ She beamed. ‘Thank you for the books, by the way, but doesn’t your father mind you coming here to help with the school? I know he doesn’t approve of me any more.’

  Violet flushed guiltily. ‘He doesn’t know. He’s bedridden most of the time now. I tell him I’m out making calls.’

  ‘What if he finds out?’

  ‘Then I suppose I’ll have to tell him the truth. It won’t matter for much longer anyway.’

  ‘Is he so very poorly?’

  ‘Yes, but it’s not that.’ Violet’s voice shook slightly. ‘He says he’s arranged a match for me.’

  ‘A marriage?’ Ianthe gasped in amazement. She wouldn’t have thought the old man would ever let Violet go. ‘Who to?’

  ‘That’s the worst part. He won’t tell me. He just expects me to agree.’

  ‘When?’

  ‘After the funeral.’

  Ianthe blinked in confusion. ‘Whose funeral?’

  ‘His. He says it won’t be long and I think he’s right. He has everything planned out. I know he’s doing it out of love, because he wants to be sure I’m taken care of, but I just wish that he’d ask me what I want for once.’

  Ianthe bit her lip. She had the strong suspicion that Mr Harper had never known what love was. Now it seemed he intended to keep on controlling his daughter even after he was gone. The thought sent shivers down her spine. No matter how overly romantic her own parents had been, at least they’d given her the freedom to choose her own path—even if she had made a faltering start on it. All of the bitterness she’d felt towards them was gone, replaced by a dawning suspicion that they might have been right all along...

  ‘Can’t you just refuse?’

  Violet shook her head. ‘No one says no to my father. But I was thinking...’ Her words trailed away as Robert came back into the classroom.

  ‘What were you thinking?’ Ianthe prodded her.

  ‘It doesn’t matter.’ Violet’s face took on an oddly determined expression. ‘I ought to get back before he misses me. I’ll see you tomorrow. Good afternoon, Mr Felstone.’

  ‘Something I said?’ Robert lifted his eyebrows quizzically as Violet brushed past him. ‘She looked like she was about to cry.’

  ‘I think she was, but I’ll tell you about it later.’ Ianthe heaved a regretful sigh, wishing there were something she could do to help. ‘Are you finished?’

  ‘With the ladder, yes. With you, not even close. And now I have you all to myself again, you were saying something before about having a normal marriage. Care to define those terms?’

  She gave him a pointed look. ‘I thought we agreed that marriage wasn’t a business.’

  ‘Shame. You know I always enjoy negotiating with you.’

  ‘Negotiating?’ She pursed her lips and clasped her hands in front of her, putting her respectable mask back on again. ‘Honestly, Mr Felstone, who would have thought that the hard-headed businessman I met on that train would turn out to be so thoroughly disreputable?’

  ‘Insatiable, too.’ He gathered her into his arms.

  ‘Relentless.’

  ‘Irresistible?’

  ‘Perhaps.’ She brushed her lips against his.

  ‘I think we’re both different people now from the ones we were that day.’ He cupped her face in his hands. ‘I like us better this way.’

  ‘Maybe we’re the same people we always were underneath. We just needed each other to bring them out.’ She gave a dazzling smile, letting her real self shine through. ‘And there’s nothing remotely respectable about either of us...’

  * * * * *

  If you enjoyed this story,

  you won’t want to miss Jenni Fletcher’s

  enchanting Historical Romance debut,

  MARRIED TO HER ENEMY

  Keep reading for an excerpt from SURPRISE BRIDE FOR THE COWBOY by Lauri Robinson, the first book in MAIL-ORDER BRIDES OF OAK GROVE.

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  Surprise Bride for the Cowboy

  by Lauri Robinson,

  the first book in MAIL-ORDER BRIDES OF OAK GROVE

  Prologue

  “We won’t go.” Mary McCary wrapped her fingers around the bars separating her from Sheriff Willard Freiday and
his spit-polished shiny badge. “We simply refuse.”

  “You can’t refuse,” he replied.

  She squeezed the bars a bit harder as his grin grew as smug as a cat lying in the sun. “Yes, we can. You can’t make us become mail-order brides.”

  He shrugged. “No, I can’t, but I do have orders from Mayor Winsted that you two either agree to go to Kansas as mail-order brides or the town will press charges against you.”

  Mary kept the growl that rumbled in her throat as quiet as possible. She’d figured all the bottles of tonic that Mayor Winsted’s wife kept buying would eventually get them in trouble, but not so much they’d be jailed, or exiled. Still, that had happened before. Da had gotten them kicked out of towns all across Ohio and a good portion of Pennsylvania. Or they’d left before they could get kicked out. “We didn’t do anything illegal,” she insisted.

  “You are behind these bars because you don’t have a permit to sell those bottles of snake oil your father made. I’d have thought that stuff was all gone by now. He’s been dead going on a year.”

  Disrespecting her kin was a sure way to get her riled up, but the good sheriff had already done that. “Our father died six month ago, Sheriff, and if anyone is pressing charges, it should be us. That stagecoach ran Da over in broad daylight.”

  “Your father was drunk off his own concoction and stumbled in the stage’s path. There was nothing the driver could do. The judge already told you that.”

  Her temper made the top of her head burn. “It’s a medicinal tonic. McCary’s Finest Recipe Tonic, and of course the judge says there was nothing anyone could do. He’s the stage driver’s brother. Furthermore, I already showed you Da’s permit. You have it.”

  “Which doesn’t have your names on it, does it?”

  “This town wouldn’t give us a permit even if we asked,” Maggie piped in.

  “My sister is right,” Mary pointed out. “This town has never been overly friendly to any of us McCarys.”

  The sheriff grinned. “All the more reason you should appreciate the efforts the mayor is taking. Oak Grove is a growing community in Kansas and needs women to marry some of the already prosperous men settling in that area.”