Isabelle waved back. ‘I will,’ she called out, very much hoping she would be invited.
The coach lurched forward and the princess fell back, hopefully into the arms of her waiting prince.
‘A hoyden to the last,’ a dark voice murmured in her ear. ‘He’ll have his hands full, but I don’t doubt he is up to the task.’
She jerked around, a palm to her fast-beating heart. ‘Nikki. You startled me.’ Blast, she’d used his first name. She glanced around, but they were alone in the shadows apart from the footman at the door and a stablehand sweeping the cobbles. ‘Are you mad? What if someone sees us?’
‘Mad for you, Isabelle. A royal bird told me I would find you here. Come, my carriage awaits us.’ He cupped her face in his hands and kissed her lips. ‘I want you, Isabelle.’
‘You said you had nothing to offer. What has changed?’
‘I’ve made my fortune.’
Nonplussed, she stared at him, until the import of his words made sense to her scrambled brain. ‘Gambling? Who did you ruin?’
His face hardened, became almost demonic in the light of the torchères beside the gate. ‘What? You cry pity for those who profited from the war without setting foot out of doors. Many good men died for their gain. I simply taxed them a little. No man is ruined. No tradesman or nobleman is blowing out his brains on my account.’
‘And when your luck runs out, what then?’
‘I’m not a fool, Isabelle. I’ve bought an estate close to my grandmother in Sussex. I’m tired of being homeless. Weary of death and destruction. Here in England, with you, I believe I can find peace.’
‘What of Russia?’
‘There is nothing left for me there.’
‘And if I come with you, what will I be? Your mistress? One of your women, Nikki?’
He flashed a boyishly wicked grin. ‘If you wish. Though I’d far rather you married me.’ He pulled her close and their lips melded in a mind-numbing kiss.
As always, she melted into his strong embrace.
‘I love you, Isabelle,’ he finally murmured against her mouth. ‘Please, honour me by becoming my wife.’
The words broke down her defences. Her heart fluttered wildly as his blue eyes gazed back at her with laughter in their depths and something else besides. Hope, and yes…love.
Another carriage pulled up beside the gate. A footman jumped down and opened the door.
‘Come away with me, Isabelle,’ he whispered with tempting seduction.
She gazed at him, stricken. ‘I want to say yes. I do, with all my heart. But what of my family. My father. We must seek his blessing.’
‘Now you are timid? You? My naughty adventurous girl who braved a stable full of soldiers in the dark?’
‘That was different. I was angry.’
He smiled. ‘Remind me never to anger you again. Trust me, sweet. It is all taken care of. Your father has given his permission and your parents even now are travelling to my grandmother’s house along with the vicar and assorted guests. I have the licence in my pocket. We are to be married two days hence.’
‘You arranged it all without a word to me?’ Laughter fought with annoyance. ‘’Pon rep, it is very high-handed of you, sir.’
He gave a half laugh, half groan. ‘I couldn’t speak of it. I gave my word to Leo I would do nothing until his knot was safely tied. He feared I would cause a scandal. Believe me, waiting for this moment has been killing me.’
‘Oh, Nikki,’ she sighed. ‘What if my father had said no?’
‘Then I would have whisked you off to Scotland, as I am sure Prince Leo guessed.’
‘I’d far rather visit Paris than Scotland.’
‘We will, love. All in good time.’ He tilted her chin up and looked into her eyes. ‘So is it a yes, Isabelle, my love, my own true heart?’
‘Yes. Heavens help me, yes. I loved you the first moment I saw you, but I believed you didn’t care.’
His hands cupped her cheeks; his lips brushed hers briefly. ‘I will always regret my part in that foolishness and I beg your forgiveness. But I cannot regret its bringing us together. I love you, Isabelle, and will care for you always, if you will allow.’ He smiled down at her. ‘Since neither of us our bound by the whims of our royal masters any longer, it is time we followed our own path. Come away with me now. Your family is waiting.’
Shaking her head, she laughed up at him. ‘I’ll come, because I love you, Nikki, but when we are wed, you must promise a lighter hand on the reins than you have shown this night. I’ll not tolerate commands.’
‘I will be your slave in all things, if you will stop arguing and get into the carriage.’
Still laughing, she let him help her in, as Leopold had helped his princess minutes before. The carriage moved off. She settled into the squabs and stared at him, so handsome, so strong and proud in the light from the lamp suspended above the door. The man about to become her husband. ‘Do you think they will be happy?’
‘Who?’
‘The prince and princess.’
‘No doubt about it. The prince is as besotted with Charlotte as I am with you.’
He pulled her onto his lap and nibbled at her lips and, when she laughed, deepened the kiss.
‘Besotted?’ she murmured when they broke apart thoroughly breathless.
‘Utterly,’ he said, and kissed her all over again.
Epilogue
November 8, 1818
Isabelle held her three-month-old baby boy in her arms, looking down into his sleeping face with love and an ache in her heart for the news they had received two days before.
She looked up as her husband of eighteen months entered the nursery. ‘Did you see Prince Leopold, Nikki?’
His face was sombre, etched with deep lines around his mouth. ‘I did. He is inconsolable. It happened so fast, he didn’t even have time to bid her goodbye. To lose both child and mother, it is beyond reason sad. She and the babe are to be interred at Windsor in a day or so. I will go to the funeral. For Leo.’
With a heavy sigh Nikki sat beside her on the sofa and took the sleeping infant from her arms. He looked into the child’s face with a sombre expression. ‘If I had given any thought to the danger, I would have prevented this.’
‘My darling, would you deprive us of one of the greatest joys on earth?’
‘If it meant losing you, I would. I saw from Leo’s face, he felt the same.’
‘Sweetheart mine, I could just as easily be run over by a carriage on the streets of London—would you lock me indoors?’
He looked at her moodily. ‘It’s just so unfair. They loved each other. They were so damned happy. He told me she called him Doucement because—’ his voice cracked a little, and he swallowed ‘—he always said, “Doucement, chérie,” when she became too excited in that way she had. She calmed instantly, he said. And she made him laugh, when he has so little laughter in his life. They were good for each other. They would have ruled this country well.’
She put an arm around his shoulders and pulled him close, until he rested his dark head on her shoulder gazing down at their child in his arms. She stroked his hair. ‘I know, Nikki, I know. They brought us together. But we who knew them best will never forget them.’
Author Note
When reading my history books for the background to this story, I was struck how closely the story of Princess Charlotte and her prince mirrored that of her cousin, Princess Victoria, even though it did not end as well. Since Prince Leopold, later the King of the Belgians, was the man who guided Queen Victoria and the prince during their early marriage, I have the sense that he and Charlotte might well have ruled England very well indeed, had she survived the Prince Regent.
My story, while factual in the details surrounding Charlotte, her engagements and her wedding, takes poetic licence with how Isabelle and Nikki fit into those events. Isabelle is a combination of ladies surrounding the princess at this time, including Miss Knight and her bosom beaux Margaret Mercer Elphin
stone, who acted as a go-between by passing on letters for Charlotte when her father tried to keep her incommunicado. The princess, like any young girl of seventeen, did engage in several flirtations during this period and, shockingly, Prince Augustus did meet with her privately. The flight to her mother at Connaught House was a major scandal, with the public supporting the princess against the Prince Regent.
While I gathered information from many sources, most of what you read here comes from my imagination and I hope you enjoy this glimpse into my version of history. If you want to contact me, I can be found at http://www.annlethbridge.com.
Ann Lethbridge
On April 29th 2011 the world will be waiting with bated breath for Prince William and Kate Middleton to say ‘I do’!
The bells at Westminster Abbey are chiming, the carriage is waiting and THE dress has finally been unveiled… So join Her Majesty by dusting off your best hat as you prepare for the wedding of the decade!
To celebrate this historic event, Mills & Boon have created a special ebook collection:
Royal Weddings
…through the ages
Read about the future king’s ancestors and the people who helped bring their
special days together.
7 couples, 7 marriages, 7 stories for you to enjoy!
What the Duchess Wants by Terri Brisbin
Eleanor, Duchess of Aquitaine and Henry of Anjou (future Henry II), 1152
Lionheart’s Bride by Michelle Willingham
King Richard and Princess Berengaria, 1191
Prince Charming in Disguise by Bronwyn Scott
Prince George and Caroline of Ansbach, 1704
A Princely Dilemma by Elizabeth Rolls
George, Prince of Wales (future Prince Regent/George IV) and Princess Caroline of Brunswick, 1795
The Problem with Josephine by Lucy Ashford
Napoleon and Archduchess Marie-Louise of Austria, 1810
Princess Charlotte’s Choice by Ann Lethbridge
Princess Charlotte and Prince Leopold, 1816
With Victoria’s Blessing by Mary Nichols
Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, 1840
So if you can’t wait until the 29th for your royal wedding fix…download one now!
Ann Lethbridge has been reading Regency novels for as long as she can remember. She always imagined herself as Lizzie Bennet, or one of Georgette Heyer’s heroines, and would often recreate the stories in her head with different outcomes or scenes. When she sat down to write her own novel, it was no wonder that she returned to her first love: the Regency.
Ann grew up roaming England with her military father. Her family lived in many towns and villages across the country, from the Outer Hebrides to Hampshire. She spent memorable family holidays in the West Country and in Dover, where her father was born. She now lives in Canada, with her husband, two beautiful daughters, and a Maltese terrier named Teaser, who spends his days on a chair beside the computer, making sure she doesn’t slack off.
Ann visits Britain every year, to undertake research and also to visit family members who are very understanding about her need to poke around old buildings and visit every antiquity within a hundred miles.
Look for Ann Lethbridge’s duet
Rakes in Disgrace
The Gamekeeper’s Lady
May 2011
More Than a Mistress
June 2011
Also available from Harlequin® Historical and Ann Lethbridge
The Rake’s Inherited Courtesan #941
Wicked Rake, Defiant Mistress #992
and in Harlequin Historical Undone! eBooks
The Rake’s Intimate Encounter
The Laird and the Wanton Widow
One Night as a Courtesan
Unmasking Lady Innocent
ISBN: 978-1-4592-0420-1
Princess Charlotte’s Choice
Copyright © 2011 by Michèle Ann Young
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher.
All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.
This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
® and ™ are trademarks of the publisher. Trademarks indicated with ® are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Canadian Trade Marks Office and in other countries.
www.eHarlequin.com
Princess Charlotte's Choice Page 4