His Not So Sensible Miss (A Gentleman's Guide to Once Upon a Time - Book 3) (31 page)

“
What happened?” Emily sat
forward in her seat.

“
The young gentleman
explained the circumstances to the young lady before asking her to
marry him.

“
She refused, didn’t she?”
Emily guessed.

“
Yes.” Ellings chuckled.
“The young man then spoke with the girls’ father. The father
trusted in the sincerity of this gentleman and gave permission for
the two to be married.”

“
Did he force the girl to
marry?” Dillon asked.

“
No, but the father allowed
the groom to kidnap the bride and take her to Gretna Green. They
married in Scotland and never returned together. The girls’ father
visited often, as did the man’s older brothers. He never spoke to
his own father again, nor did he ever let him know where he was
because shortly after his marriage the two middle sons died. He
knew his father would stop at nothing to see that his sons did
their duty.”

“
What do you mean they
didn’t return together?” Emily asked.

“
The young woman died seven
years later, leaving one child. The gentleman took his daughter and
returned to England.”

“
Did he make peace with his
father?” Emily asked.

“
No. The son didn’t even try
to contact his father.”

“
What did he do then, or is
that the end of the story?” Dillon asked, becoming uncomfortable
and wondering exactly what the purpose was if there was no happily
ever after ending.

“
He took a post at Oxford
under the name he had assumed in Edinburgh, where he had also
taught at the university.” Ellings looked pointedly at Emily, who
slowly sank back into her chair. Dillon also turned to her as this
information became clear.

“
My father was a nobleman?”
Emily asked in a quiet voice.

“
He wasn’t just any
nobleman.” Ellings smiled. “He was my younger brother.”

For the longest moment Emily stared at
Ellings in shock. “Why didn’t he ever tell me? Why didn’t
you?”

“
When your father met your
mother and married, he told me that for the first time in his life
he was free and completely happy. As the years passed, it became
more and more evident that he had made the right decision. His
wish, no dream, was that you grow up with the same freedom. As your
uncle, I could place you in society where you could meet the
highest of rank to the lowest. Your father wanted you to have it
all without the trappings that go with a title. He was determined
that the man who would marry a mere professor’s daughter was
marrying for love and not connections.”

“
You are actually my uncle,”
Emily whispered.

“
There were so many times I
wanted to tell you but I had promised your father that I would hold
my silence until you married. Please don’t hate us for the betrayal
or be angry.”

“
I cannot ever hate you.
Though I am stunned at this moment, I’m sure I’m not angry
either.”

Ellings seemed to finally relax at this
assurance.

“
Noah knows, doesn’t he?”
Dillon questioned. The overprotectiveness Dillon sometimes
witnessed from a mere friend was becoming all too clear.

“
Yes. He learned after his
father died.”

“
Why?” The couple asked in
unison.

“
Noah’s father visited once
at school. His father was the only parent to recognize my brother.
Apparently the two had been friends once and had attended school
together. Felding, the father, promised to keep the secret. He was
also named guardian to Emily if something were to happen to me. The
role was passed to Noah when he inherited.”

After some moments Emily spoke. “I only
wish I would have known a few months back. Matters would have been
easier.”

“
That is the very reason we
weren’t told,” Dillon clarified. “I had to be tested.”

“
I’m glad you understand. I
just wish I could see your mother’s face when she finds
out.”

“
You are welcome to join me
when I tell her.” Dillon grinned.

“
That won’t be possible for
your mother will learn of this with the rest of London. Over her
breakfast with the morning gossip rag. Noah is writing the article
as we speak.”

Dillon let out a laugh as he envisioned
his mother sitting in the elegant dining room, the fragile china
cup at her lips as she read the news of his nuptials to the duke’s
niece.

“
Now that this is behind us,
it is time to discuss the real marriage settlement.” Ellings opened
the desk drawer and pulled out some documents.

“
Your Grace, it is not
necessary that you settle anything else on us,” Emily sat forward
in protest.

“
Yes, it is dear. It will be
yours or actually Dillon’s now. I sincerely hope you accept your
rightful dowry. Your father wanted it this way.” He lifted up the
first document, but addressed her once again. “And please, call me
uncle. I’ve waited so many years to hear it from you.”

“
Very well, Uncle.” Emily
sighed.

“
There are two properties
which are not entailed.” Ellings began. “It is my wish, with the
full agreement of the male heir, that each daughter be given one of
these estates.”

Emily’s eyes popped open in
surprise.

“
Claresta’s is on the
southern coast, near Dover. It happens to be her
favorite.”

“
She loves the ocean and the
beaches.” Emily smiled. “Is it the one with the
lighthouse?”

“
Yes, it is. Which estate do
you love best, and always have?”

Emily’s brows knit in confusing for a
moment. “Payton Abbey?”

“
Yes.”

He turned to Dillon. “I hope you enjoy
being a sheep farmer and can understand the textile business
because this is now all your responsibility.”

Dillon couldn’t respond. How did one
respond to such an enormous, unexpected gift?

“
The profits from this
estate have been going into a trust for Emily since her father
passed away. It is quite enormous and I don’t believe you need your
position with me any longer, nor will you have the
time.”

“
Thank you, Your Grace.”
Dillon wasn’t sure the shock would ever wear off. Not only was he
now married to the woman he deeply loved, but all worries for their
future had disappeared as well.

A Summons From His
Grace

Regency Christmas Summons
Collection 4

© 2011 Jane Charles, Olivia Kelly,
Phyllis Campbell

In JANE CHARLES’s
Compromised for Christmas
, Miss Elizabeth Whitton craved excitement and adventure.
Unwilling to endure one boring Season after another, she convinces
her uncle in the Home Office to let her work for him. * John
Phillip Trent has been spying for the Home Office in the stables of
Tuileries as Jean Pierre Bouvier for more than two years, his only
English contact – Lisette Renard a servant girl inside the palace.
* When a summons from the Duke of Danby slips through the proper
channels, both Elizabeth and John’s covers are compromised. To
escape the palace and France with their lives, they’ll have to
depend on each other and the miracle of Christmas.

~ * ~

In OLIVIA KELLY’s
It Could Only Be You
,
Harry Connelly has crossed an ocean
and pushed his half-healed, battle weary body to its limits to
confront the man who stole the life he should have had; his
grandfather, the Duke of Danby. Wounded, Harry collapses in a
small village’s church, and is nursed back to health by the vicar's
beautiful daughter, Lily Beaumont. A man haunted by the demons of
war, he should know better than to become involved with such an
innocent but he cannot stay away from her. Harry's forced to
make a decision. He can wield his decades old anger and bitterness
against his grandfather, to compel him to acknowledge the damage he
caused, and demand that the duke make monetary amends. Or he can
turn his back on the past, and create a future with the woman he is
beginning to think he cannot live without.

~ * ~

In PHYLLIS
CAMPBELL’s
Becoming a
Lady
, Dorothy Paxton is not pleased when a
handsome Englishman walks into her inn and announces he's taking
her back to England to reunite with the grandfather who turned his
back on her years ago. Her escort, Calvin Seton, bribes her by
paying her brother's doctor's bills, and soon she's on the ship
sailing for London. Little by little, Calvin's charm softens her
heart. While her lady's companion teaches her to become a lady,
Dorothy is secretly wishing Mr. Seton would do some teaching of his
own...in his bedroom. Yet she must control her desires or she's no
better than her mother who succumbed to a nobleman, only to have
him leave her. Dorothy will not repeat history. Or will
she?

HIS IMPETUOUS DEBUTANTE

(A Gentleman’s Guide to Once Upon a
Time – Book 1)

Chapter 1

April, 1810

London, England

Lady Phoebe Johansen stood
at the top of the grand marble staircase and looked down on the
throng of people mingling at the Sanderson Ball. There were well
over one hundred people in the room. Her stomach clenched and her
fingers tightened on the arm of her step-brother, Noah, Marquis
Felding. He patted her gloved hand in what she assumed he probably
thought was a comforting manner. It wasn’t and Phoebe feared she’d
be ill. It would not do to cast up one’s accounts in front of
the
ton
at the
first ball of the Season. On the other hand, she would be noticed,
and ruin any chances of securing a husband. Perhaps becoming ill
had its benefits.

An array of colors swarmed
before her eyes. Pastels on the pretty, young debutantes, and
bolder colors on the matrons. Phoebe longed to wear a gown of deep,
emerald green, but it would be scandalous to do so at the age of
twenty while still unmarried. If she ever did marry, that would be
one of her first purchases. The problem lay in the
if
. Noah promised not to
force a union with a man who cared only for her dowry. Her mother
added that unless Phoebe curbed her reckless nature, Noah may not
have a choice.

It wasn’t that she was against the
union, and children would be wonderful, it just wasn’t practical.
Who would take care of Mother and Phillipa, her youngest sister,
once Noah and her other sisters married? Someone needed to remain
home and she would not leave the care of her family in the hands of
servants. If only Noah and her mother would agree, she could simply
enjoy her Season and get on with her life.

Noah squeezed her hand and she looked
up at him. “Are you ready?”

She wanted to scream no, and run from
the room. “Don’t forget your promise to me.” She wanted that last
assurance before she stepped into the lion’s den, that he would not
make a contract without her input. She also idly wondered if her
father would have given her the same promise, but he died little
over a year ago, right before she was originally to make her debut.
Also, if her father were still here, her concerns would be more
focused on finding the right husband and not so much on her
mother’s and sister’s futures.

“
Do you promise to heed
Victoria’s warning?” He countered as he began to lead her down the
stairs.

Noah’s father had married Victoria when
Noah was only seven and she insisted Noah call her by her first
name because she never wanted him to think she was trying to take
the place of his own mother. “Of course,” she snapped. “Besides,
what could possibly happen at a ball?”

Noah stopped and turned to her. “Do not
make light of anything your mother warned of.”

The urgency and seriousness of his tone
took her back. “I promise, I don’t. I’ll try and remember all the
rules mother drilled into my head these last weeks.”

“
See that you do.” Once
again he began to lead her down the stairs. An attractive couple
stood at the bottom and watched their approach. As they came
closer, Phoebe amended her opinion. The woman wasn’t just
attractive, she was beautiful. Her auburn hair and clear blue eyes
gave her a striking appearance. The gentleman beside her was tall,
his dark hair streaked with grey, though his face was as youthful
as Noah’s. As Phoebe was introduced to the Earl and Countess of
Meadows, the woman leaned in. “You can call me Janine and this is
Martin.” She bestowed a warm friendly smile on Phoebe, her eyes
glittered.

The Earl took her hand and
bent to kiss it. Janine linked their arms, led Phoebe away from her
brother, and began introducing her to the
haute monde
.

* * *

Taylor Qualls, Lord Sandlin, stood with
a group of friends, waiting for Felding to make an appearance with
his reckless sister. When pressed, Felding simply explained that
Lady Phoebe was naïve, saw only the best in everyone and that he
was afraid she wouldn’t recognize the danger of a situation until
it was too late. Felding was probably just overly protective since
this was his first of four younger sisters to be presented, all for
whom he was responsible.