Lucianna by Bertrice Small

Author:Bertrice Small [Small, Bertrice]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Historical Romance, Love Story, Romance, Italy, England, Medieval Romance
ISBN: 9780451413741
Amazon: 0451413741
Barnesnoble: 0451413741
Goodreads: 16090596
Publisher: NAL
Published: 2013-09-30T14:00:00+00:00

Chapter 10

Before Robert Minton might even announce it to his servants, they all knew of his impending union. It was obvious when a messenger was sent off posthaste to London to fetch Mistress Pietro d’Angelo’s brother that a marriage was to be celebrated. Argel came to ask if they should prepare for guests, but her master told her no. Their marriage would be celebrated in private, surrounded by the folk of Wye Court.

“Have you no family you would have come?” Lucianna asked.

“My parents were both only children,” he explained. “I’m certain there is someone who can claim a blood tie with me somewhere, but if there is, I know them not. The king is my closest friend. As boys, we had much time together in Brittany, but now he has little time for anything other than ruling England. That is as it should be.”

“I have a large family,” she told him. “Not just my brothers and sisters, but my mother’s family in Venice. Her sisters always felt sorry for her because she was wed to a Florentine merchant, whereas they were married into noble Venetian families. Of course we were richer, but my mother was always generous to them, despite their looking down on her position as my father’s wife.”

“They were glad to accept her generosity, I am certain,” Robert said with a knowing smile.

Lucianna laughed. “Aye, they were, and they always behaved as if it were their due to do so. I remember one aunt who came with my cousin so they might receive the finest silk from my father for the girl’s wedding gown. My aunt would not trust us to send the best. She must come and see which was the more expensive. Bianca and Francesca were gone by then, and my aunt remarked that it was a shame I was not as beautiful as my eldest sister, for I would not find a titled husband. Gentlemen of wealth and position want extraordinary beauties for brides, she told my mother, who could not deny it, as they were then considering a marriage for me with my first husband. I recall my mother telling me to say nothing about the bookseller. She always became extremely aware of her position as Prince Venier’s daughter when she was with her siblings.”

“Your mother will be pleased, then, that you are marrying a rich, titled man,” the earl remarked.

“Are you rich?” she asked. “Having my own wealth, I was not considering yours,” Lucianna told him candidly.

“It is wise not to brag of wealth,” he told her.

“In Florence, everyone knew Alfredo had left me almost everything,” she said. “Families with wealth always want more, and they obtain more by wedding their sons to young women with large dower portions.”

He thought about it for a moment, and then said, “I suppose it is that way everywhere, but I neither need nor want your wealth. I want you, Lucianna, amore mia.”

She believed him. When their marriage contract had been drawn up, Father Paul was somewhat

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