by Lauren Royal
“Most of the justices are corrupt, remember? There are at least a dozen of them in this county. And more than a few respect my father. Those who were appointed before the regicide remember when the Earl of Trentingham was a very powerful man.” Though he felt a little sick to his stomach, he forced a confident smile. “I’m sure Father can direct me to a justice who will happily write our names in his register even though you’re a few days shy of sixteen. I’ll give him money, and he’ll conveniently forget to ask your age. And it will be done. And you will be safe.”
“And you will be miserable.”
“I will not. You’re my friend. My best friend. I’ve always suspected that marriage to a friend might be the best sort of marriage anyhow.”
That wasn’t true—he’d never suspected anything of the kind. But it sounded good, didn’t it? He’d said it so earnestly that it sounded good to him.
“I don’t know…” She was weakening.
“Come here.” He rose and brought her up with him, moving slowly so as not to startle her. Holding her hands, he felt nothing special, nothing exciting, nothing new. Not even the little spark he felt with other girls, with the villagers’ daughters who’d chased him in his youth, and the ones he’d later chased himself. Being near them had been thrilling. Being near Creath was…pleasant.
He was planning to marry her, but she was still just Creath Moore, his childhood friend.
Gently, he tilted her face up and pressed a chaste kiss to her lips, and still he felt nothing special.
But kissing her hadn’t felt bad, either. It felt nice. Comfortable. And he couldn’t abandon her to her cousin Sir Leonard, a man who made her shiver with cold in a conservatory heated by four fireplaces.
She was sweet and kindhearted, and she didn’t deserve such a fate. “Will you marry me, Creath?”
“I suppose so.”
“Pray try to contain your excitement,” he said with a forced laugh. “Let’s go tell my parents.”
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ABOUT LAUREN & DEVON ROYAL
LAUREN ROYAL decided to become a writer in the third grade, after winning a “Why My Mother is the Greatest” essay contest. Now she’s a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of humorous historical romance novels. Lauren lives in Southern California with her family and their constantly shedding cat. She still thinks her mother is the greatest.
DEVON ROYAL is the daughter of romance novelist Lauren Royal. After attending film school, she wrote an award-winning TV comedy pilot and spent several years working in digital video production before turning her focus to fiction writing. Devon lives in Southern California with her husband. She also thinks her mother is the greatest.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Our heartfelt thanks:
To Ian Franklin and Michelle Griffiths, State Apartment Warders at Hampton Court Palace, for directing us to the right places, and, in Ian's case, giving us incredibly useful information.
To Philip Sidebotham, Adrian Moles, and Tiffany Green at Sir Christopher Wren's House Hotel in Windsor, for graciously allowing and assisting two crazy authors to poke around and take photos of Wren's house.
To Amy and Rick Tanaka, for their expert advice on matters architectural.
To The Landmark Trust, for making it possible for our family to actually live at Hampton Court Palace for a week (how awesome is that?).
To Brent, Blake, Darci Dipo, Dan Mehefko, and Anna Pione, for helping us explore Hampton Court Palace through many different perspectives.
To Andrew Metz, for the videotape on Hampton Court's history.
To Barry Waller, for converting the videotape on Hampton Court's history so that we could actually watch it.
To Alison Bellach Sonderegger, for sharing a laugh with Lauren over the yipping in the hotel room next door and then challenging her to put it in a book.
To our Chase Family Readers’ Group, for their enthusiastic support.
And, last but certainly not least, to all our readers, whose wonderful emails, Facebook posts, and tweets inspire us to write more books.
Thanks, everyone!
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THE GENTLEMAN’S SCANDALOUS BRIDE by Lauren Royal & Devon Royal
Published by Novelty Books, a division of Novelty Publishers, LLC
205 Avenida Del Mar #275, San Clemente, CA 92674
COPYRIGHT © Lauren Royal & Devon Royal 2016
ISBN-10: 1-63469-058-3
ISBN-13: 978-1-63469-058-4
3rd Edition, July 2017
Cover by Kimberly Killion
Book Design by Typesetter For Mac
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be used or reproduced or transmitted in any manner whatsoever, electronically, in print, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of Lauren Royal, Devon Royal, and Novelty Books, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Authors work months or years on their books and need to feed their families, just like you do. This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. Thank you for respecting the hard work of these authors.
Learn more about the authors and their books at LaurenandDevonRoyal.com.