by Cheryl Bolen
Dot rushed to Appleton. He crushed her into his arms. “I’ve been mad with worry,” he said huskily as he pressed kisses to her cherished face. “Tomorrow we marry, my much-treasured love.”
Epilogue
The wedding had been performed and all the breakfast guests had departed—save one: Mrs. James Blankenship. Forrester came up behind Dot, enclosing her in his arms as he nuzzled his face into the hollow of her neck and traced a path of butterfly kisses. “If we’re to reach Hawthorne Manor by dark, Lady Appleton, we must be leaving.”
That was the first time she’d been addressed by her new title, and it made her feel as if she’d just imbibed an entire bottle of champagne. And when he touched her like this, she could hardly think of anything except her physical pleasure and how thoroughly she was in love with this man.
“I need to thank Mrs. Blankenship before we go,” she said.
That lady, dressed in an elegant pale blue gown, came up to the newlyweds. “You’ve no need to thank me.”
“But thanks to your efforts, everyone who matters to us attended our wedding,” Dot said. “Did you even get a moment’s sleep last night?”
Mr. Pankhurst had come to stand beside the widow. “Who could sleep? Even had we not been up half the night with the magistrates who arrested that wicked monster, I would never have been able to purge from my mind the fact he almost killed my daughter.” He eyed Forrester. “I owe everything I possess to you, my lord.” His eyes grew moist. “I can’t tell you how much it means to me that my only child will be as cherished by you as she has always been by me.”
“Thank you, sir, for entrusting her to me. There’s not a happier man in the kingdom than I am today.”
“I just might be,” Mr. Pankhurst said, giving the widow an amused glance as he slipped his arm around her. “Mrs. Blankenship—Helen—has done me the goodness to consent to wed me.”
Dot flung herself at her father. “Oh, Papa! That is, indeed, wonderful news. Now I shan’t worry about leaving you.” Then she turned to Helen Blankenship. “I am so happy for both of you.”
“I shall be very happy to become a member of the Pankhurst family. With each invitation I wrote out throughout the night, I kept thinking how you’re to now be my daughter, and I was doing what any mother of the bride would be doing.”
“I am very grateful,” Dot said. “You certainly contributed to this being the happiest day of my life.”
An impatient look on his face, Forrester looked heavenward. “Now that it’s settled we are the happiest four persons in all of England, will you oblige me, my dearest bride, by leaving now?”
Dot looked up at him. “There’s just one more matter.”
“Uh oh,” he said.
“Instead of my kitties coming to Hawthorne Manor in the luggage carriage, can they ride with us?”
He gave her a stern look. For a few seconds. Then he broke into a smile. “You’ve caught me in a charitable mood. After all, it was one of your d---, er, darling cats who brought us together.” He leaned into her and brushed her lips with his. “And besides, I am powerless to ever refuse you anything, my beloved vixen.”
They finally said their farewells and got into her husband’s coach. He pulled her close. No words were necessary. Two hours of marriage could hardly make them feel as one, but that is precisely how she felt at that moment.
She’d never felt more loved. She knew he hadn’t been in love with her when he asked her to marry him. Even over the next several days after she accepted his offer and they spent time together, he was not in love with her. But during those days he had grown to love her. Her dreams were just fulfilled quite a bit sooner than she had expected.
There was so much she admired about him, but she thought his complete honesty with her was perhaps what she treasured the most. Last night, after the injured Henry Wolf had been arrested, Forrester told her the whole story about how Ellie had cheated to strip him of his fortune. He confessed that he had initially only been interested in Dot’s dowry, but that the longer he was with her, the fonder he became of her.
He admitted that at the second assembly he finally began to desire her in the way a man desires a woman. Then after they had visited the decayed church, the worry he felt toward her was so paralyzing he knew it would destroy him if anything happened to her.
And just before he had kissed her goodnight, he’d revealed how tortured he’d been all the way back from London, worrying he would lose her.
“Forrester?”
The pad of his thumb wove circles on her hand. “Yes, love?”
“Have I told you how madly I love you?”
He pursed his lips. “I don’t believe you have.”
She drew even closer, settling her hand on his thigh. “I do.”
An amused expression on his face, he playfully asked, “Do what?”
“I love you. I have loved you almost from the moment we met.”
He yanked her into his arms for a most passionate kiss.
Which was interrupted when Lover Boy leapt across the carriage and dug his claws into the back of Forrester’s jacket.
“I do believe Lover Boy is jealous of your attentions to me,” she murmured.
“Wretched cat.”
But he did not permit the animal to deprive him holding his wife in his arms for another exceedingly tender kiss.
The End
Win a $50 Gift Certificate
I hope you enjoyed Once Upon a Time in Bath. If you did, would you please consider posting a review by the book's listing at the site where you might have read it? If you do, please send me an email at [email protected] and I will enter your name in one of my quarterly drawings for a $50 gift certificate to an eBook retailer of your choice. Each time you review one of my books, let me know, and you will get another entry for each review. There will be a drawing each quarter.
Thank you from Cheryl Bolen
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The Brides of Bath Series
If you enjoyed reading Once Upon A Time in Bath, you may also enjoy the other six installments of The Brides of Bath series.
The Bride Wore Blue
(The Brides of Bath, Book 1)
Cheryl Bolen's writing draws you into her fast-paced story. 4 Stars – Romantic Times
Cheryl Bolen returns to the Regency England she knows so well. . .If you love a steamy Regency with a fast pace, be sure to pick up The Bride Wore Blue. – Happily Ever After
* * *
For six long years Thomas Moreland has dreamed of the beautiful young noblewoman who rescued him from death. While amassing his fortune in India, not a day passed he did not recall Felicity's fair loveliness, did not recall the silken tones of her sweet voice, did not desire to possess her.
Now a widow, Felicity Harrison does not recognize the handsome nabob as the young man left for dead by highwayman years earlier. Though she wants nothing more than to snub the arrogant man who promises to rescue her family from financial ruin in exchange for presenting his sister to Society, she cannot snub him. She must force herself to bear his company. But the longer she is with him, the more she has to force herself to remain true to her dead husband's memory. Why is it the humbly born Thomas Moreland possesses more nobility that any man of her class? And why is it she finds it harder and harder to mourn a dead man when Thomas's virility awakens her deepest desires?
With His Ring
(The Brides of Bath, Book 2)
Texas Gold's Runner-up for Best Historical Romance 2002
Highly recommended. – Under the Covers
Cheryl Bolen does it again! There is laughter, and the interaction of the characters pulls you right into the book. I look forward to the next in this series. 4 Stars – Romantic Times
With His Ring is a good book. Once you start reading you will not want to put it down. . .The s
econdary characters are a blast. They will have you laughing right along with Glee's stunts. – The Romance Readers Connection
If you liked Cheryl Bolen's first installment in her Brides of Bath series set in Regency England, you'll like this one. With His Ring has plenty of sensuality. – Happily Ever After
* * *
Glee Pembroke has turned down countless offers of marriage because she has secretly been in love with her brother's best friend, Gregory Blankenship, all her life. When she learns Gregory will lose his considerable fortune if he's not wed by his twenty-fifth birthday, she persuades him to enter into a sham marriage with her. What he doesn't know is that she plans to win his heart. She will do everything in her power to make him happy—including mimicking the ways of a "fast" woman since he's noted for alliances with women of that sort.
Why did he ever allow himself to marry the maddening Glee? He'd thought they would have great fun, but at every turn, she exasperates him. Why does she persist in wearing the bodice of her dresses so blasted low? Why do other men persist in flirting with her, his wife? And why in the blazes has his heretofore complacent life been turned upside down by this sham marriage? He finds himself longing for a real marriage, but for reasons he cannot divulge, that can never happen.
The Bride’s Secret
(The Brides of Bath, Book 3)
A story of healing, forgiveness and change that will make readers cheer. – Romantic Times
* * *
Since his commanding officer in the Peninsula took a bullet meant for him, James Moore, now the Earl of Rutledge, feels responsible for the dead man's young son and the boy's exquisite mother, Carlotta Ennis—so responsible that he offers to marry the lavender-eyed beauty. Though their marriage was not to be a love match, Carlotta's torturing presence has James yearning to make her his true wife.
Though she did not love his lordship, her desperate situation forced her to accept his proposal. Little did she know she would come to crave being with him, would hunger for his every touch. If only she could be worthy of the fine man she's married, if only she can keep him from learning her dark secret . . .
To Take This Lord
(The Brides of Bath, Book 4)
"Wonderfully Crafted... Highly recommended... 5 stars." – Huntress Book Reviews
"Bolen's writing... creates the perfect atmosphere for her enchanting romances." –
Romantic Times
"Bolen does a wonderful job building simmering sexual tension." – Booklist
* * *
Even though it's been two years since his cherished wife died on childbed, George Pembroke, the Viscount Sedgewick, continues to rely on liquor to blunt his grief.
Worried about him and his children, George's sisters urge him to ask spinster Sally Spenser—a longtime family friend—to help care for his daughter and son. Sally's the perfect person. She's of high birth (but has no money) and she adores Lord Sedgewick's children. It's her deep love of the motherless children and fear that their father might marry an unfeeling stepmother that prompt Sally to consider George's proposal. Even though it will be unbearable living under the roof of the man she loves and knowing she can never have him.
Love In The Library
(The Brides of Bath, Book 5)
The Beauty and the Scholar. . .
Certain the "smart" Steffington twin is the person who can help her recover her late husband's nearly priceless stolen Chaucer manuscript, Catherine Bexley tearfully persuades the scholar to assist her. A deal is struck. She's particularly pleased that the Doctor of Letters is not interested in seducing her because she's finished with men (owing to her late husband's multitude of unfortunate alliances with. . .doxies). Regaining the manuscript and its subsequent sale will give her independence to ensure she never has to marry again.
Once he learns the poor, delicate widow is in danger of losing her heavily mortgaged home if they cannot find the valuable hologram, Dr. Melvin Steffington vows to do everything in his power to restore the rare Canterbury Tales to her. It's obvious the pretty little thing needs a man to help her. Not normally the twin to take note of pretty little things, Melvin can't help but to observe that Mrs. Bexley's physical appearance is much like the beauties so admired by his twin brother.
He hadn’t counted on the fact he would have to pose as her husband as they race against the banker's ticking clock. He hadn’t counted on the mysterious thief attempting to kill him. Most of all, he hadn't counted on how close he would become to the lovely widow or how the kissing of said widow would become the most pleasant experience in his entire seven and twenty years. . .
A Christmas in Bath
(The Brides of Bath, Book 6)
All the characters from the first five Brides of Bath books will be serving up some Christmas cheer, while Glee Blankenship sharpens Cupid's arrow.
Unbeknownst to scholarly Jonathan Blankenship, his sister-in-law Glee has decided this Christmas he needs a little push to make him see that his dear friend of four years, Miss Arbuckle, will make his perfect mate.
Cheryl Bolen’s Books
Regency Historical Romance:
The Brides of Bath Series
The Bride Wore Blue
With His Ring
The Bride’s Secret
To Take This Lord
Love In The Library
A Christmas in Bath
Once Upon A Time In Bath
The Deceived Series
A Duke Deceived
His Lady Deceived
The Lords of Eton Series
The Portrait of Lady Wycliff
The Earl, the Vow, and the Plain Jane
Last Duke Standing
House of Haverstock Series
Lady by Chance
Duchess by Mistake
Countess by Coincidence
Ex-Spinster by Christmas
Brazen Brides Series
Counterfeit Countess
The Wedding Bargain
Oh What A (Wedding) Night
Miss Hastings’ Excellent London Adventure
A Birmingham Family Christmas
The Regent Mysteries Series
With His Lady's Assistance
A Most Discreet Inquiry
The Theft Before Christmas
An Egyptian Affair
Pride and Prejudice Sequels
Miss Darcy’s New Companion
Miss Darcy’s Secret Love
The Liberation of Miss de Bourgh
My Lord Wicked
Christmas Brides (Three Regency Novellas)
Marriage of Inconvenience
Romantic Suspense:
Falling For Frederick
Texas Heroines in Peril Series
Protecting Britannia
Murder at Veranda House
A Cry In The Night
Capitol Offense
World War II Romance:
It Had to Be You
American Historical Romance:
A Summer To Remember (3 American Romances)
Contact Information
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.cherylbolen.com
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Blog: Cheryl’s Regency Ramblings
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