A Minx for a Merchant : Book 5: Primrose: Clean Regency Romance (A Duke's Daughters - The Elbury Bouquet)

by Arietta Richmond

  Her head spun. The Prince Regent wanted to commission a painting – from her? No matter what scandalous, salacious thing he wanted her to paint, she would do it. This would make her reputation as an artist, even whilst adding to the scandal of it.

  “Of course, Your Highness. If you give me an indication of just what sort of… salacious scene you would like painted, I am certain that I will be able to produce it.”

  His eyes twinkled at her in a most improper way, and she felt herself blush.

  “I will be certain to send you a letter, Lady Primrose, with very… explicit… details of what I would like in my painting. I believe that you are soon to marry? Another act of yours which has set the gossips aflame? Where is the gentleman in question?”

  Gabriel stepped up beside her, and very creditably delivered the required deep court bow.

  “Your Highness, I am the lucky man.”

  “Morton, isn’t it? Brother to Porthaven?”

  “Yes, Your Highness.”

  “Well, whatever the gossips have to say about it, your family have proven, over and over, that you have excellent taste. I wish you joy in your union with this very clever woman.”

  With that, he moved on to speak to others present, leaving Primrose feeling rather stunned. For a few moments, there was a clear space before her – then, without warning, half of those present surged forward, all now wanting to speak to her.

  It seemed that the Prince Regent’s obvious approval had suddenly made her acceptable to talk to, scandalous or not.

  The rest of the afternoon went by in a daze of conversations, and Primrose was beyond glad when Mr Featherstonehaugh gently ushered the last of the guests out of the gallery, locked the door, and let down the blinds.

  Sera came to Primrose then, a cup of tea in her hands, and led her to a chair.

  “Sit, have some tea and recover. You did very well. I remember when we first opened, and it was revealed that I was the owner – I was utterly terrified, but it all worked out well in the end. What did Prinny ask you for?”

  “He… he wants me to do a painting for him. Something rather explicitly salacious. He will send me a letter with a description of what he would like. I have no idea how I will manage to get it right – but I could hardly refuse such a commission, could I?”

  Sera laughed, as much amused by Primrose’s expression as her words.

  “You will do it very well, I am quite certain.”

  “But how? I gather that many of the paintings he likes feature naked women in very scandalous positions.”

  “Well… you can always be your own model – there are mirrors, after all. And I cannot see Gabriel complaining about needing to assist you with getting salacious poses correct.”

  Primrose gaped at Sera for a moment, her cheeks heating so much that she had to assume they were an alarming shade of red.

  “That’s… genius – and utterly scandalous of you to suggest. But, I confess, I like the idea – although I do not know how much painting I might get done, in such circumstances – I suspect that I might become unaccountably distracted.”

  They both laughed, and at that moment, Gabriel came over to where they sat.

  “What brings you to so much laughter?”

  Primrose looked at him and licked her lips.

  “I will tell you later. I am entirely sure that you will find it as entertaining as I do.”

  He raised an eyebrow, but left it at that.

  Raphael and Mr Featherstonehaugh joined them, and Sera turned to them.

  “Mr Featherstonehaugh, how many of the pieces did we sell?”

  “Two thirds of them, Lady Porthaven, and there are a couple of clients who will likely come back for more. I suspect that we have set off a new fad in decorating – a tropical and nautical theme.”

  Primrose barely heard the latter part of his words, for the first part had stunned her – they had sold two thirds of her works, all just in one afternoon? It was beyond anything she might have imagined, and a bubble of happiness grew within her.

  She was a successful artist.

  By week’s end, she would be Gabriel’s wife.

  In the three months since she had overheard Raphael and Sera talking at that dinner, her life had been utterly transformed. And all because, at every step of the way, she’d had the courage to do the things she wanted to do, even when they were utterly unsuitable in the eyes of society.

  There was, obviously, much good which could come of being bad.

  Epilogue

  Gabriel stood in the church, deeply aware of the people who filled the space behind him. Their whispers were magnified into a soft tangle of sounds by the vaulted space above, no words comprehensible, just the tones and pattern of it. That there were so many here to see him wed Primrose surprised him – he had thought that many would avoid it, because of the rather scandalous, still, nature of their union. Instead, it appeared that they had come out to see it, almost as an entertainment.

  The space outside the church had been full when he arrived, full of the ordinary people of London, come to see a commoner wed a Lady, in the place where usually it was the aristocracy who wed. He did not care, so long as he did wed the Lady.

  The whispers hushed, and he turned, to see Primrose entering the church. Her gown was a strong light yellow, not so very different from the colour of the flowers for which she was named, overlaid with a very fine net, bearing a scattering of tiny citrine gems, which caught the light from the stained-glass windows and multiplied it.

  The gold of her hair was also enhanced with citrine tipped pins, and she looked quite stunningly beautiful. But most beautiful of all was her smile, when she met his eyes.

  Everything else seemed to fade, and he simply stood, watching her approach him, in awe of her, his heart singing with love. Once she stood beside him, the minister began, and he allowed his mind to be drawn into the words, into the meaning of the moment. He spoke when required, as did she and, finally, they were declared man and wife.

  He felt no different, and yet he felt completely changed.

  As they stepped out into the morning sunlight, the people gathered watched, and friends and family came forward to cast flower petals over them as they made their way to the carriage which would take them back to Elbury House for the Wedding Breakfast. He twined his fingers with hers, and ignored everything but the sensation of her touch.

  If someone had asked him, four months before, what he would be doing now, his answer would have been nothing like what his life had become. That happiness had been so close, and so startlingly easy to achieve, once he had gathered his courage, was something he would always remember, and learn from.

  <<<>>>

  Primrose sat to one side of the Elbury House ballroom, watching the guests. Nearby, Gabriel stood with his brother and sister, talking to their mother. She was tired, but so full of happiness.

  It had been a long day, from when she had risen early to prepare, to now, as the evening closed in, the sky outside shifting to that deep blue purple which presages true darkness. The day had been perfect, and she looked forward to the moment when she and Gabriel would finally get to be alone, even if considering that left her hot and flushed.

  Even the Prince Regent had made a surprise appearance, albeit for a very short time, to wish them well. Her younger sisters had spent much time dancing, and talking to various gentlemen, but Primrose could not say whether either of them favoured any man in particular. Her brother also maintained perfect equanimity, and gave no sign of preference. She hoped that, soon, all of them would find someone to be happy with, as she was happy.

  Gabriel turned, and came to her, dropping onto the chair beside her. She leaned into him, her head resting on his shoulder for a minute as they sat in peaceful silence. His fingers found hers, and she sighed.

  “Do you think that we can leave soon? It may be rather rude of me to wish to escape our guests, but I am certain that my family are more than capable of entertaining them.”

/>   Gabriel pressed a soft kiss to her forehead.

  “I think that we can. I asked Marks to get the carriage sent around – it should almost be ready now. And Millie has gone ahead to Morton House with a rather large load of your possessions. The rest will be sent over tomorrow, or the day after.”

  “Oh! Thank you.”

  He smiled again, and lifted a hand to tilt her face up to him.

  “I’ve been thinking. It is traditional to go on a wedding trip. But, as we’ve only recently returned from travelling, I thought perhaps that we might delay that a little, to give us time to plan something truly worthwhile. What do you think of the idea?”

  “I rather like it – there is so much more of the world to see. But where do you want to go? Do you have any suggestions?”

  Gabriel smiled again, his fingers stroking her face, and brought his lips to hers for a long kiss.

  “I have only one suggestion.”

  “Oh? And where is that?”

  “Wherever you want to paint next.”

  The End

  I hope that you enjoyed

  ‘A Minx for a Merchant’

  After the ‘About the Author’ section of this book, you’ll find a preview of the next book in the series

  ‘An Enchantress for an Earl

  Author’s Note

  Whilst most of my books are set entirely in England, with an occasional short venture into France, and once to America – all places I have been to, and for which I have a good mental picture and a sense of what things were like in the early 1800s - this book ventures further afield, to the Canary Islands – a place I have never been to.

  Which meant that there was a lot of research involved. At some points, I would write a paragraph, realise that I had made an assumption, go do some research, write another paragraph, and so on, over and over. That is one of the reasons that this book has been so long coming, after the previous book in this series.

  So – what is in the book, as a result of that research?

  What is real/ was real back then and what is pure fiction?

  Here are some of the things which are mentioned, which really do / did exist, and some notes about them.

  On Gran Canaria:

  The bees which are almost all black – mentioned in the scene where Primrose is drawing, up in the hills. Canarian Black Bees are a specific species, regarded as endemic to the Islands.

  The city of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria is a very much real city. It is the joint capital of the Canary Islands (with Santa Cruz de Tenerife). The city was founded in the 1300s approximately. The port associated with it has also been there a long time, and is guarded by two forts. The Port is called Puerto de la Luz.

  The Catedral de Santa Ana – was built in the 1500s, by the Spanish. It still stands today, and is a magnificent building, with stunning vaulted ceilings. From the beginning, it has been decorated with beautiful works of art.

  The artist, Juan de Miranda, who is mentioned when Primrose visits the Cathedral, was Canarian born, and became very famous, eventually having works of his on display in many parts of Spain, not just on the Islands. He was commissioned to paint a number of works specifically for the Cathedral. If you look him up, do not confuse him with another Juan de Miranda, who also had a middle name, and was an artist from the Spanish mainland.

  The Guanches – mentioned when Primrose meets the local painter she learns paint making from – are the native people of the Islands. There is significant debate about whether they can be said to still exist, as a separate people, due to the extensive intermarriage with the Spanish over centuries.

  The Ravine – is really there. It is called Barranco Guiniguada. It starts up high (1850 metres above sea level), and runs a length of 22 kilometres down to the sea. In what paintings and drawings I could find of the area in the early 1800s, it is clearly visible. As is the arched bridge I describe in one scene. The illustration I found showed that bridge in the dry part of the year, with some local women sitting on the sands near it, in what would be the river bed, the bottom of the ravine, in wet season.

  The ravine in the city is quite shallow and relatively wide, compared to up in the hills. Today, the last few kilometres of the ravine are completely overlaid by highways, and water flow runs underground in large pipes until it is released into the sea. If you search for Barranco Guiniguada on Google maps, you can see it.

  The roadway running beside it, up into the hills, is my invention – although today, such roads exist, winding through stone built villages, I could find no evidence of exactly what roads existed there, in 1819.

  The dyes – Orchil, also known as Orcein, is a dye made from lichens, which was made in the Islands, and shipped to many parts of Europe. It was used to make red and purple coloured dyes, and was a popular dye because it was a fast dye – it did not require a mordant to ‘set’ it into fabric.

  It is made from the same family of lichens that are used to make Litmus.

  The new dye project that Raphael was working on, using cochineal - Cochineal is made from beetles, which live on a specific variety of the prickly pear cactus. Cochineal dye making was introduced to Spain from the Americas, and established in the Canary Islands around 1825 to 1828. So I have anticipated the real world timeline by a few years. The shift to the new cochineal dyes was driven by the fact that, around that time, the trade in wine and sugar, which had previously sustained the Islands, had suffered from competition, and was becoming uneconomic. The main import to the islands was fabric, as they had little terrain suited to growing fabric making crops or animals – hence the note that Raphael would be supplying them with cloth in trade.

  In England

  The Kings Arms and Royal Hotel in Godalming was built in 1639 on the site of an early inn – which is believed to have been there since the 1300s or earlier. The hotel is still there today, still operating as a hotel. You can look at street view on Google maps and see it, and see the archway of the entrance through into the Innyard – which is, these days, a parking lot. It was popular with the aristocracy in the early 1800s, and was the site of some historic meetings with political significance.

  I hope that you have enjoyed this insight into the settings in the book!

  Arietta Richmond

  About the Author

  Arietta Richmond has been a compulsive reader and writer all her life. Whilst her reading has covered an enormous range of topics, history has always fascinated her, and historical novels have been amongst her favourite reading.

  She has written a wide range of work, from business articles and other non-fiction works (published under a pen name) but fiction has always been a major part of her life. Now, her Regency Historical Romance books are finally being released. The Derbyshire Set is comprised of 10 novels (9 released so far). The ‘His Majesty’s Hounds’ series is comprised of 17 novels, with the last now released.

  She also has a number of standalone novels released, and four other series of novels in development. She lives in Australia, and when not reading or writing, likes to travel, and to see in person the places where history happened.

  Be the first to know about it when Arietta’s next book is released! Sign up to Arietta’s newsletter at

  http://www.ariettarichmond.com

  When you do, you will receive two free subscriber exclusive books - ‘A Gift of Love’, which is a prequel to the Derbyshire Set series, and ends on the day that ‘The Earl’s Unexpected Bride’ begins, and ‘Madame’s Christmas Marquis’ which is an additional story in the His Majesty’s Hounds series.

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  Here is your preview of

  An Enchantress for an Earl

  A Duke’s Daughters –

  The Elbury Bouquet - Book 6 - Violet

  Arietta Richmond

  Chapter One

  “Did you hear the latest gossip, Violet? Westerhazy’s son and heir has been sent down from Oxford. Apparently, he challenged one of his professors in a most inappropriate manner.”

  Lady Violet Gardenbrook looked up from her book, her expression one of horror. Her sister watched her, expectantly.

  “Sent down? How disgusting! Men have no appreciation for the advantages they hold. I simply cannot imagine being given the gift of being able to study, to learn, in a place like Oxford, and being so irresponsible and foolish as to throw that chance away, for the sake of what was probably just some childish bad behaviour!”

  Iris looked at her, amused.

  “You would think that – you would do anything to immerse yourself in a book. Well, perhaps except missing a Ball, although I think that would be a difficult decision for you.”

  Violet threw a cushion at her sister.

  “Just as difficult as if you had to choose between learning a new piece of music, and a Ball.”