Wanted, Mail-Order Mistress by Deborah Hale

Author:Deborah Hale
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Historical romance, Fiction, Romance, Historical, Romance & Sagas, General
ISBN: 9780263876048
Publisher: Harlequin Mills & Boon, Limited
Published: 2010-09-15T07:00:00+00:00

Shame and outrage warred within Bethan as she ran up North Bridge Road. She had no idea where she wanted to go, except to get out from under Simon’s roof. Discovering that he’d never intended to marry her had not humiliated her half as much as his hostile, demeaning proposal. He’d called her daft and he was right. What a green little fool she’d been to think he could care for her and they might possibly be happy together!

She could have understood him being angry over her lapse in honesty and how it had caused this terrible misunderstanding. But his reaction had been so much worse than that. Simon’s marriage offer made it brutally clear that he mistrusted and despised her. He thought so little of her that he’d expected her to jump at his proposal even after he declared he had never loved her and never would.

Though part of her had been tempted to become his wife on whatever terms he offered, her pride refused accept a proposal that he’d tossed at her feet with such blatant contempt. To do so would only prove that she was as conniving a creature as he believed her to be.

But how would she survive if she did not wed him and how would she keep all this from hurting Simon’s daughter?

Preoccupied with such thoughts, Bethan did not notice a pair of sepoys until she was almost on top of them. They seemed every bit as startled by her sudden appearance.

“Who is there?” one of the soldiers barked while both quickly raised their rifles. Their bayonets bristled in the dim light of distant street lamps.

She jumped back with a squeak of alarm. “My name’s Bethan Conway. I…I look after Mr Grimshaw’s daughter.”

The moment she mentioned Simon, the soldiers hastily lowered their weapons.

“Pardon, memsahib!” they cried in a tone of frantic apology. “It is not safe for a lady to walk alone at night. You must go home now, please.”

The thought of slinking back to Simon so soon after she’d flounced off troubled Bethan more than any danger she could imagine.

“I just want a bit of air.” She backed away rapidly. “Don’t fret about me. I’ll be fine.”

Slipping off into the shadows, she told herself the soldiers wouldn’t dare risk firing at her. To her relief, she was right.

The encounter forced her to pay more attention to her surroundings. Thinking about her predicament would have to wait until she found a quiet spot to rest.

She gave the lights of the military encampment a wide berth and soon felt the ground beneath her feet sloping upwards. Trees loomed up around her and the scent of spices enfolded her. This must be the experimental garden she’d glimpsed that evening Simon took her for a drive up Government Hill.

Remembering it made her imagine she could hear the soft beat of a horse’s hooves nearby. She realised it was more than a fancy when she heard the beast blowing out a loud breath.

As she hurried away from the sound, Simon’s voice rang out.

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