The Landlocked Baron (The Six Pearls of Baron Ridlington Book 1)
Page 20
So she worried. She couldn’t help it…she loved her Ridlington brothers and sisters in law, as much as if they were her own. More actually, since Paul—what she could recall of him, never engendered such warm emotions as these.
Lastly, there was Simon. Standing tall in his clerical suit, dark coat and white stock a lovely complement to the colorful dresses of the local ladies who surrounded him. He was always popular, but even more so now that the Ridlington fortunes were on their way to being restored and his congregation growing.
He smiled and laughed, patted children on the head, bowed to their mothers and slapped their fathers on the back. He was, in effect, the ideal Vicar. And he was obviously enjoying this sunny day as much as anyone.
Rosaline’s heart swelled with happiness as her eyes roamed around the scene before her. She’d traveled a long way herself to get here, but in the end, it had been worth it all. There wasn’t a doubt in her mind.
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Simon was about ready to dart behind a rhododendron bush and breathe in some silence for a little while. Never had he had so many ladies approach him with recommendations for a housekeeper.
The Rectory was a neat cottage next to the Ridlington Church. Simon had managed to put it into some kind of order, and occupied a comfortable suite of rooms on the first floor. But there were also a couple of guest rooms for visiting clerics, and the ground floor boasted a study, a large salon, a small parlor and a respectable dining room. Not to mention the servants’ quarters.
So of course he needed a housekeeper.
Since he didn’t have a wife.
And why every woman in the village seemed to think that anyone he picked for a housekeeper was instantly on a potential list of brides, he had no damn clue. It was getting harder every minute for him to point that out.
Eventually he managed to slide away from an intense conversation about the suitability of feathers on hats for a Sunday service. Dodging behind several shrubs and then slinking out to the drive, he was alone at last and able to draw breath.
Heading for the stone bench in the shade of the massive elm tree at one end of the stretch of gravel, his steps crunched on the stones and the birds sang loudly as they announced the onset of mating season. Pretty much like the ladies of the village, he thought with a wry twist of his lips.
A louder crunch and a jingle sounded behind him and he turned, stepping onto the grass as a horse and rider approached.
A woman, by the looks of her, veiled to keep the dust from her face, and neatly dressed in a simple riding habit of dark blue.
She rode up to him, and pulled the horse to a halt. Instinctively reaching for the bridle, he called out a greeting.
“Good day to you, Ma’am. Have you come to enjoy the Fair? ‘Tis a perfect day for it…”
Deftly, she unhooked her boot from the saddle and kicked free of the stirrup, sliding down to the ground with a little bounce.
Then she lifted her veil and smiled at him.
“Indeed I have, Vicar. ‘Tis a lovely day indeed.”
Simon stared, his heart thudding, his breath almost gone. It took several moments for him to regain the power of speech.
“Tabby?”
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You’ll be able to find out what happens with Simon, Tabitha and the rest of the Ridlingtons as the series continues.
Next up? St. Simon’s Sin – Book Two in the Six Pearls of Baron Ridlington series.
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About Lady Beresford…
In the course of this tale, I needed to establish the importance of the women rescued by Edmund. I did not wish to use a real character, since I couldn’t find any that were actually spies in France, although I’m sure there were more than a few. So I took the liberty of using Lady Bessborough’s sister, Charlotte Spencer. Charlotte was a real sister, but sadly did not survive childhood. In this story, she has survived…and I like to imagine that the Spencer family and her sister would have appreciated the woman she had become. Their position in Society was unassailable, and the entire family was close to the Crown. Richard Brinsley Sheridan, best known for his plays, was also Secretary of the Navy for several years and an intimate of the Prince Regent. Thus his affair with Lady Bessborough brings together the factors I considered important to this story…the Navy, the importance of Lady Beresford to the Prince, and that Whitehall would be willing to use her as a “front” for the rescue of their girl, Tabitha Worsley-Ellsmere, the quietly brilliant spy.
About the Author
Sahara Kelly is always happy to explain to editors that her spelling errors aren’t really errors, since she was born and raised in England, where an extra “u” is quite in order. She likes to think it adds colour to her writing. Sadly, it’s not a widely held belief in the United States, so she’d like you to know she still retains a lot from her English childhood even though you won’t see much of it in her spelling.
Arriving in America with her almost-complete collection of Leslie Charteris’ Saint novels and a passion for Monty Python, Sahara’s new life eventually expanded to include a husband, offspring, citizenship, and a certain amount of acclimation to her new surroundings. (She still cherishes that extra “u” though.)
After more than two decades of writing, Sahara is now enjoying the greater freedom offered to authors by the rapidly expanding self-publishing scene and looking forward to many more such experiences. Being freed of restraints has opened doors—for Sahara and many other writers. There are now no impediments; no obstructions barring the path from writer to reader. Which is, in many ways, exactly as originally intended when that first storyteller sat on a rock outside her cave, tugged her bearskin around her shoulders and smiled at her kids across the open fire with the words “Once upon a time...” (or however it sounded several million years ago.)
To find out more about Sahara Kelly and her writing, please drop by her website and visit her at:
Sahara Kelly (Website – http://www.saharakelly.com)
This is where Sahara shares none of the intimate details of her life, but will present you with a list of books she'd like you to buy so that she can go do research on a beach in Aruba and be pampered with massages accompanied by drinks with umbrellas in them. She’ll send you a postcard. Thank you.
When not dreaming of lazing on tropical beaches, Sahara has a relatively active social presence on the Internet. Take a look:
Follow Sahara on Twitter: http://twitter.com/SaharaKelly
Friend her on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/sahara.kelly
See what she’s blogging about: http://writersaharakelly.blogspot.com
Follow me on BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/sahara-kelly
You can stay on top of what’s on the way from Sahara’s fertile imagination by subscribing to her newsletter and keeping up to date with everything going on by clicking here. (http://eepurl.com/bxpvp) She doesn’t send them out too often, so you won’t be swamped with unwanted mail. Sahara loathes that and refuses to inflict it on anyone else so you can go ahead and subscribe without worrying about it.
Also By Sahara Kelly
(*- co-written with S.L. Carpenter)
The Mistletoe Marquess
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The Gypsy Gentlemen Series
Honor and Secrets
Control and Compassion
Endings and Beginnings
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Oh My Laird!
Deverell’s Obsession
The Fifth Wife
Julia and the Devil
Discreet Madness
The Viscount and the Witch
Miss Foxworth’s Fate
Feels So Right*
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Whole Lotta Love Series
Love in the Cards*
Love on the Road*
Love Under the Lights*
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Happy Endings*
With a Little Help from my Friends (with Ciana Stone)
Letting Off Steam
Winding Her Up
&nbs
p; Stripping Her Gears
My Renaissance Romance
Hired Help*
Open House
So Into You*
Faerieland needs YOU
My Wish
My Prize
My Hero
Showing Off*
And many more…
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Several of the above titles were co-written with friend and writing partner S.L. Carpenter. Together, they have a dozen or so books available, each featuring their trademark touches of humor and heat. Their most recent releases are a contemporary romance - a bundle of their very first three books now available together – Feels So Right, a collection of strange fairy tales – Happy Endings - and the Whole Lotta Love series.
These, and a whole bunch of Sahara Kelly’s other books, can be found online for your Kindle eReader or your Kindle reader app. If you participate in Kindle Unlimited, you can read these books for free. Quite a few are also in print. No excuses, people. You can add her stories to your bookshelves physically or digitally. Go get ‘em.
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Sahara would like to mention that she and S.L. Carpenter co-own a small business, and have been up and running for five years. They have blended another of their shared passions — art — and formed an online graphics business focusing on the complicated world of writers. If you’re interested in seeing what they get up to when they’re not writing something twistedly hot and sexy, they’d like to invite you to come visit their company at the link below and check out some of the amazing cover art currently being created by S.L. Carpenter. They’re certainly never bored…
P and N Graphics, LLC
Happy Reading…