Shipmate: A Royal Regard Prequel Novella by Mariana Gabrielle

Author:Mariana Gabrielle
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: historical romance, sailing, regency, regency romance, arranged marriage, mariana gabrielle, royal regard, sailing home series

***

The lamp on the bedside table slowly illuminated. “I’d like to think you were having a tryst with Lord Holsworthy because you have fallen in love, but I think it too much to ask. Where were you the night before your wedding?”

“I’m finally tired, Charlotte. Can I not just lie back down?” Bella removed and hung her cloak and the gown she had thrown on over her nightrail before she left the inn. “Should you not be in your husband’s bedchamber, not mine?”

“As though I would allow you to spend this night alone. Where did you go?”

Bella pulled back the covers on the bed and prepared to slide in next to Charlotte, but when she twisted wrong and winced, Charlotte asked, “What is it?”

Bella’s eyes slid to the side, and Charlotte sat up straighter. Her sharp eyes traveled from Bella’s messy hair to her shaking hands, to the spots of high color surely blazoning her cheeks. “They are here, aren’t they? I knew Uncle Jasper wouldn’t just leave you alone. And one of them hit you.”

Charlotte threw back the bedclothes, ready to storm the door, but Bella said, “Stop, Charlotte. You knew my father would appear with his hand out for the bride price. You all agreed to let things rest until after we sail.” Bella lowered herself to the mattress and tucked her feet underneath the quilt. “Get back in bed. Beginning tomorrow, I will be subject to no one’s will but my husband, his God, and his investors. I will be out of my father’s reach forevermore.”

Slowly, Charlotte returned to the bed, tucking her legs underneath her and leaning against the headboard. “Do you have wounds that need tending?”

Bella stretched her stiff shoulders. “No. Nothing out of the ordinary.”

“You should tell Papa and Lord Holsworthy.”

“Everyone will discover the Smithsons are here in the morning, if they turn up for breakfast, and I daresay Lord Holsworthy will uncover my bruises before the ship reaches open sea. By then, it will be too late for him to return me as defective.”

“Defec—? You. Are. Not. Defective.” Charlotte hugged Bella tightly, inadvertently pressing against the new bruises until Bella hissed a breath through her teeth. Charlotte jerked back. “I’m so sorry, dearest. I wasn’t thinking.”

“You will say nothing to anyone, for I will not have my only chance to escape them cry off at the last minute. Especially when it will make my father want to take his lost funds from my hide.”

Charlotte smoothed Bella’s nightrail. “Are you not… well… you do not seem nervous. I was anxious as a cat, and so is every bride I have ever seen.”

Bella let her head fall onto her cousin’s shoulder. “I am resigned, Charlotte, and not unhappy. Lord Holsworthy is kind and thoughtful and will be a good husband. He believes I have some unfulfilled promise, which is an appealing notion, though I don’t really credit it. And he removes me entirely from my father’s sphere.” She grasped Charlotte’s hand. “You, on the other hand, will still be very much nearby.

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