~Lady Genia Brierley is trapped by poverty. Lord Wessington's return to society coincides with a time of crisis in her pitiable family. He offers himself as her rescuer. She can only wonder why...~
Lady Iphigenia Brierley is trapped by a poverty that she must conceal from the beau monde. She lives on the fringes of society, satisfying her hunger at the ton parties to which she is invited and gambling to obtain money for clothing. The Marquess of Wessington is wealthy beyond her imagining, and has a respected and admired place in society. His return to London from travels abroad coincides with a time of crisis in her pitiable family. He offers himself first as her friend, then as her rescuer. Finally, he asks for her hand in marriage. But the question to which Genia requires an answer is...why?
~A grievously wounded Peninsular War veteran and a shy young woman facing a loveless future discover more than the attractions of Bath as they spend their days exploring its streets.~
On his return from the Peninsular War, grievously wounded and troubled in spirit, Alexander Quainton decides that an insouciant manner is the best way to avoid the pity he abhors. Exercising his damaged body with daily walking excursions proves an excellent way of avoiding social engagements. Carolina Finmere, shy and no more than passable in looks, has failed in three seasons to attract a suitor.
For three months, they tramp Bath and its surrounding hills together, gaining in strength and--unwittingly--in intimacy. When September comes it is time to part, unless they admit their love for each other. Carolina knows she must initiate the declarations of devotion, for Alexander is convinced that a man so damaged is no fit mate for a gently bred woman. How can Carolina love someone so scarred and deformed as he?
Plucking up her courage, Carolina declares her love for Alexander. Will he admit his for her, or will his fear of seeing revulsion in her eyes put paid to their blossoming love?
~The last thing Clementina wants is to fall in love, but then she meets Major Gideon Rhyle. If she accepts his help, can she fail to accept his love? ~
Clementina, eldest daughter of the Marquess of Cheriton, has always been able to solve her family's little problems and discontents. Now the widowed Countess of Carmelth, Clemmie finds herself facing problems she cannot solve alone. Someone is trying to harm her young son, and her brother is missing in action following the Battle of Waterloo. Major Gideon Rhyle may be able to help, but his assistance becomes another problem. For Clemmie falls in love with him and he, wounded and facing an uncertain future, is thoroughly ineligible for marriage.
~A vicar's sister and a 'nabob' fresh from India find that the Great Comet of 1811 heralds new love and a welcome change.~
A comet, they say, signals change. In a picturesque village in Cambridgeshire, India Pottersby did not think the Great Comet of 1811 would change anything in her quiet life as the vicar's sister. And she was content for it to be so. A difficult life had brought her at last to security with her younger brother in his vicarage, and she had no desire for alteration. Peter Trevayne had likewise come to harbour in the shire after fifteen profitable years in India. His purchase of Fencombe Hall created a stir in the neighbourhood. Speculation was rife, and the doyenne of local society made no secret of her mistrust of the stranger.
Comet watching introduced India to Trevayne, and her preparation of 'comet wine' intrigued him. But nothing could come of their friendship unless the community--and India--could accept change.
~Miss Emilina Brook, sent by necessity on a coach journey, meets young Dr. Secord Cardew who, she thinks, could be her heart's companion. Or could he?~
Necessity dictates that Emilina Brook supplement her family's income by accepting a position as music teacher in a young ladies' academy. Fate decrees that she meet Dr. Secord Cardew while journeying by stagecoach to the school in a distant town. Dr. Cardew is in turn charming, unkind, amiable, callous, appealing, and occasionally rude. Emilina is drawn to him, but the real Dr. Cardew is a mystery. Is he a worthy admirer or does he have insuperable flaws?
~When Lady Genevra Haven becomes lost in the back corridors and staircases of Almack's, she needs courage and ingenuity as well as charm and confidence, to avoid social ruin and salvage her successful debut.~
Her gloved hand covered her mouth. "Oh I do apologize. I quite thought..."
"'Tis of no matter what you thought, ma'am. I shall be delighted to aid you in any way I can. Captain Farley O'Doyle, at your service, miss. Sure and you are the loveliest lady I have had the honour of encountering this evening. What does your mama look like, m'dear? If she's as lovely as yourself, we sh'll have no difficulty locating her. In the ballroom, you say?" He placed her gloved hand on his arm, and inexorably drew her toward the staircase. "We'll just go upstairs, and pause perhaps in the tea room."
Politely, Genevra tried to regain her hand, but found it held fast. "Oh, but, I, no I had rather go directly to the ball room."
The soldier obliged her to mount the stairs at his side. Genevra had no wish to make a scene by pulling away from him, and as she wanted to gain the upper floor anyway, she saw no advantage to immediately disengaging herself from his company. Nevertheless she watched for an avenue of escape. What is an Irishman doing in a Dragoons dress uniform? she wondered, with an edge of hysterical laughter.
"Truly, I must rejoin my mother, Captain," she said as soon as they gained the upper vestibule.
"Nonsense. Now that we're here, let me obtain for you a little orgeat or negus. You look a little flushe and flustered. We don't want your mama to think you've been upset, now do we? You are Miss ...?"
"Lady Genevra Haven." As soon as she said her name, Genevra realized she had been foolish. She wondered if this unlikely soldier might be the sort of fortune hunter her mama had warned her against. And now she had given him her title and her name. He might make free of both to her disadvantage.
There was a small crowd in the refreshment room, but she had no hope of recognizing anyone she knew. Indeed she could see no one clearly at all. She thought quickly. "Perhaps, Captain--yes, please, I do think some orgeat would be very welcome."
"Come with me then, m'dear," he urged her.
"Ohhhh," Genevra pressed her free hand to her brow, and gracefully sat down on the nearest chair. "I feel quite faint, Captain."
The man had perforce to release her other arm, and he peered at her suspiciously.
"Just a little orgeat," she said again.
He seemed to recognize that he had no choice but to do her bidding. She watched his red coat disappear into the crowd. After waiting a long moment, she stood and moving swiftly, slipped from the room.
~Julia Clemence knows that personal freedom is just as important as political or state freedom. Now she has to convince the man she loves and her family that she is right--and gain for herself the freedom to love.~
Julia Clemence had loved Simon Mancroft-Martley her entire life, but when she was sixteen and he twenty-one, he had bought a commission and gone to war. He had been gone nearly five years, and on his return an unexpected encounter in the village church convinces Julia that he loves her as she does him.
But Simon has lost an arm in battle, and is determined not to burden her with a crippled husband. Her parents concur with his decision, and she is forbidden to consider him eligible. Julia, by their actions and his, is denied the freedom to accept or decline an offer of love and marriage.
Her stratagems to achieve liberty fail, and she loses hope. But in the parish church that has been her solace, Simon admits the truth of her many arguments, and gives her the freedom to choose her future--with him or without him.
~Lord Stadbroke's three daughters have come to Portia Crossmichael's school to learn. But it is Portia who receives the education--in love and joy and, most difficult of all, in loss.~
Portia Crossmichael is content with her life. She owns her own school close to London, and finds pleasure and satisfaction in educating the young ladies whom she is employed to teach. The companionship of her artist step-brother and her friends--some of whom she employs as teachers--enlivens her quiet days. Nothing, it seems, will disrupt the quiet tenor of her life. She has reckoned without the advent of Ingram Perrington, Lord Stadbroke, and his three daughters. He, freed in the past five years by the deaths of a domineering mother and an unreasonable wife, has been enjoying the delights of the metropolis. The viscount has a low opinion of women, and does not know how to deal with his girls as they mature. Portia finds herself becoming deeply attached to his daughters--and to him--knowing familiarity can only lead to heart-break.
Her equanimity is further strained by the advent of her step-father Harold Dent. He demands money and threatens to destroy the school--their livelihood--with scurrilous lies if they do not pay him for his silence.
Torn between truth and blackmail, growing affection for Stadbroke's daughters and an escalating interest in the viscount himself, Portia faces the loss of all her dreams. What lessons must she learn? And will they be happy ones?
~Can a deception ever be harmless? Tansy Evens is convinced it can be. Grace Whitton is willing to be persuaded. Rufus Evens, Baron Evenswood, is not at all certain. Who is right?~
s a deception ever harmless? Can dishonesty ever be justified? Tansy Evens thinks so, as does milliner Grace Whitton. The scheme they propose will harm no one and will provide them with a basis for introduction to the high society of London. Their deception will afford well-born Grace an opportunity to take her rightful place, if only briefly, and it will supply Tansy with a brief, dazzling season. To Tansy's brother Rufus, the Baron Evenswood, it offers nothing at all. However, he is convinced to take part against his better judgement. But their plan does not allow for the complications created by new friends, new loves, and old family connections. No deception can take place without harm to someone. And this one may have grave consequences for all.
The 5th Earl of Torgreave, Rupert Manningford, has conceived a desire to reform his rakish ways and become a model aristocrat. His careful plans are destroyed however when Miss Cordelia Tyninghame of Edinburgh arrives unexpectedly, by the connivance of his housekeeper, at his London home. Unwittingly Delia's arrival reveals a remarkable secret; their lives will be forever altered by that secret and the love they discover.
