Rake's Wager. Miranda Jarrett
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Название: Rake's Wager
Автор: Miranda Jarrett
Издательство: HarperCollins
Жанр: Историческая литература
Серия: Mills & Boon Historical
isbn: 9781472040381
isbn:
Praise for bestselling author
Miranda Jarrett
“Miranda Jarrett continues to reign as the queen of historical romance.”
—Romantic Times
“A marvelous author…each word is a treasure, each book a lasting memory.”
—The Literary Times
“Ms. Jarrett always delivers a memorable story peopled with memorable characters…. You can always count on Ms. Jarrett to gift us with something intelligent, new and vibrant.”
—Romantic Times
Acclaim for Miranda Jarrett’s previous titles
The Golden Lord
“Sexual tension runs high. There are…secrets to be kept, mysteries to be solved and a traditional ending in which sharing truth wins true love.”
—Romantic Times
The Silver Lord
“The characters and plotting are very good and deftly presented.”
—Affaire de Coeur
The Very Daring Duchess
“A vibrant, passionate story, richly told. The Very Daring Duchess will sweep you away to an eighteenth century world of power and danger.”
—USA TODAY bestselling author Jo Beverley
The Captain’s Bride
“Deliciously entertaining, Miranda Jarrett’s The Captain’s Bride blends a swift, rollicking romance between two unlikely characters with a richly textured understanding of the seafaring life.”
—New York Times bestselling author Mary Jo Putney
Star Bright
“Ms. Jarrett’s ability to always draw the reader into a fast-paced tale peopled with likable and realistic characters and a thrilling plot is a crowning achievement.”
—Romantic Times
Rake’s Wager
Miranda Jarrett
MILLS & BOON
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Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Epilogue
Chapter One
Woodbury, Sussex, England
1806
C assia Penny sat with her spine pressed tight against the ladder-back chair, her fingers squeezing her handkerchief into a soggy linen knot in her lap. The cheap black bombazine for grieving cut into her throat and wrists, the cloth so hot and wrong on this early spring day that she could feel the sweat inside her gown trickling down her arms and between her breasts and along the backs of her knees above her garters. Though she kept her head high like her two sisters on either side of her were doing, her eyes burned from weeping, and it would take next to nothing to make her cry again.
She was only twenty, yet she felt as if part of her life had died, too. Nothing would ever be the same again, not for any of them.
Mr. Grosse, the solicitor, sat at her father’s now empty desk, using one finger to square the stacked papers of the will into tidy precision.
“I regret to say that your lives must change, ladies.” He heaved a mournful sigh appropriate for the day. “Though that should come as no real surprise, considering your father’s vocation.”
“We know our father was a country vicar, Mr. Grosse,” Amariah said, each word clipped sharp, the way they always were whenever anyone dared cross Cassia’s eldest sister. “We are humbled and awed by the legacy which he has left behind on this earth, and the reward that is certainly now his in heaven.”
Unimpressed, Mr. Grosse looked at her over his glasses. “Alas, Miss Amariah, such good works accumulate little interest in the bank, and your father’s generosity made it impossible for him to save.”
“Father was a kind, good, fine gentleman, Mr. Grosse,” Cassia protested, rising to her feet, “and I—we—won’t hear you say otherwise!”
At once Bethany’s hand found Cassia’s arm, gently pressing her back into her chair. “Mr. Grosse is only stating the truth, Cassia. Father never did worry about acquiring worldly goods, just as we never expected him to leave much of an estate.”
“But we never expected him to die this soon, either.” Cassia sank back into her seat, once again fighting back her tears. Father had been only forty-five; who would have guessed that so great a heart would stop so suddenly, there while he pulled the first spring weeds in the kitchen garden?
“That is why we’ve already begun to plan our future, Cassia.” Amariah’s smile was sad, true, but also filled with a confidence that Cassia СКАЧАТЬ