The Harem Bride by Blair Bancroft

Author:Blair Bancroft [Bancroft, Blair]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Historical, C429, Extratorrents, Kat, harem, sultan, regency historical, regency
Publisher: Blair Bancroft
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

That night, Penny regarded, with considerable resignation, the serviceable cotton nightdress Noreen was holding up. “I wish I might have had some inkling of the earl’s intentions,” she grumbled, “so I might at least have acquired a few brideclothes.”

“’Tis the best I could find, m’lady. I fear you’ve had little thought for yourself these past few years.”

Penny allowed Noreen to slip the plain cotton garment over her head. There was, at least, a bit of lace trim around the high neck and on the edges of the long sleeves. Not that it mattered in the dark. Ignoring Noreen’s protest, Penny ordered her to extinguish all candles before she left the room.

And then she waited . . . her mind inevitably filling with visions of her first wedding night. Her joy that rescue was at hand. Her eagerness to show Jason how well she had learned her lessons. The transparency of the azure shalwar and tunic. Heat stained Penny’s cheeks. She could not have been that foolish child who actually thought Jason loved her. She could not have been Gulbeyaz, who crawled up from the foot of her lord and master’s bed and . . .

O-o-o-h! In anguish, Penny groaned and buried her face in the pillow. Now, in her wisdom, she knew she had thoroughly shocked him. He had turned away from her in revulsion, running back to the safety of his friends as soon as he could. And staying away for nine and a half years . . . until, driven by the necessity for an heir, he had finally acknowledged her existence.

Heirs were good, Penny conceded, shutting out those mortifying images from the seraglio. She could give love to children, and receive it in return. And, if she were very careful not to further offend Jason, they might go on very well. Certainly as well as the many other couples who had marriages of convenience. Yes, she would be exactly what he wanted, a proper English wife who would bear his children, ignore his occasional peccadillos . . .

Well, possibly not. She would consider that another day. For the moment she must remember to be everything she was not on her first wedding night. Cool, calm, resigned to her fate. A true Englishwoman of noble birth.

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