A Bachelor Still
by
Rebecca Hagan Lee
Published by Amber House Books
Smashwords Edition
Copyright 2015 by Rebecca Hagan Lee. All Rights Reserved.
Cover design by Control Freak Productions
Cover Photo by Period Images
Cover Background Copyright Dm_Cherry (Used via license of Shutterstock.com)
Published by Amber House Books, LLC
http://www.amberhousebooks.com
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Table of Contents
Copyright Page
Table of Contents
A Bachelor Still Blurb
Praise for Rebecca Hagan Lee
Books by Rebecca Hagan Lee
Dedication
Charter of the Free Fellows League
Prologue
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
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-one
Chapter Twenty-two
Chapter Twenty-three
Chapter Twenty-four
Chapter Twenty-five
Chapter Twenty-six
Chapter Twenty-seven
Chapter Twenty-eight
Chapter Twenty-nine
Chapter Thirty
Epilogue
About the Author
Books by Rebecca Hagan Lee
Whisper Always Sneak Peek
A Bachelor Still
Book 5 of the “Free Fellows League”
What’s a sworn bachelor to do when forced to wed the woman of his dreams?
Liana McElreath is in need of a hero. After her father bargains away her innocence to settle a gambling debt, she stands at the altar, about to be wed to the worst sort of villain. The last man she expects to come charging to her rescue is the Marquess of Courtland, her brother’s dearest friend and the last remaining Free Fellow.
Alexander Courtland has no desire to be leg-shackled for life to some society miss. But nor can he stand idly by and watch as the lovely Liana is sacrificed at the altar of matrimony. When he decides he has no choice but to step into the role of her bridegroom, he vows to give her his name, but not his heart.
Alex soon finds that heart softening beneath Liana’s tender touch. And once a man starts to realize he may be at risk of losing the love of a lifetime, how is he to remain…A Bachelor Still?
The “Free Fellows League” Series includes BARELY A BRIDE, MERELY THE GROOM, HARDLY A HUSBAND, TRULY A WIFE, A BACHELOR STILL and CLEARLY A COUPLE (a novella in TALK OF THE TON)
Praise for the “Free Fellows” League and Rebecca Hagan Lee
“Tender, enthralling romance straight from the heart!”—Eloisa James, New York Times bestselling author
“Sparkling romance and passion that sizzles…Rebecca Hagan Lee taps into every woman’s fantasy!”—Christina Dodd, New York Times bestseller
“Merely the Groom is a perfect 10!”—Romance Reviews Today
“Merely the Groom is another wonderful story in the Free Fellows League Series!”—The Romance Reader’s Connection
“Barely a Bride is a wonderfully charming tale. Intelligent and witty!”—Romance Reviews Today
“Barely a Bride is a superb novel!”—The Best Reviews
“Barely a Bride is simply luscious!”—The Romance Reader’s Connection
Books by Rebecca Hagan Lee
Free Fellows League Series
Barely a Bride
Merely the Groom
Hardly a Husband
Truly a Wife
A Bachelor Still
Mistresses of the Marquess Series
Once a Mistress
Always a Lady
Ever a Princess
Borrowed Brides Series
Golden Chances
Harvest Moon
Something Borrowed
The Counterfeit Bride
Twice Blessed: A Borrowed Brides Novella
A Hint of Heather
Whisper Always
Dedication
To my Free Fellows League readers who have waited so patiently for Alexander Courtland’s story.
Thank you.
And to all of my friends from the
Moultrie-Colquitt County YMCA Water Workout Classes
who listened, contributed, and supported me.
My deepest gratitude.
May you all have love, give love and teach love…
Anelle Lane
Barbara Barber
Bernadette Kerr
Bernice Horne
Betty Slay
Betty Cobb
Betty Shefflett
Bill Stone
Bobby Williams
Carol Palmer
Carolyn Rabon
Charles Horne
Della Twedell
Dixza Turner
Donald Adams
Donna Thomas
Doris Holton
Doris James
Dottie Bynum
Duncan Sinclair
Edna Gibson
Elze Hall
Emily Casteel
Geraldine Williamson
Glenda Bivins
Gwen Deselle
Helen Robinson
Helen Harrison
Inez Knight
Isabella Brooks
Jackie Flowers
Jan Sinclair
Joe Tye
Johnnie Tatum
Joyce Foster
Joyce Seymour
Joyce Smith
Joyce Tye
Joyce Barber
Judy Holton
Kathy Warner
Larry Coleman
Larue Norris
Lillie Jones
Loretta Tucker
Lou Lampman
Mary Singley
Mary Dumas
Mary Ann Stone
Mary Jane Nicholson
Mary Jane Burgess
Odelle Cato
Patsy Norman
Pearl Horne
Pennie Casteel
Rachel Green
Roger Norman
Rose Cochran
Sammy Larry
Sandra Young
Terrie Bridges
Tommy Watson
And as always,
Steve
Official Charter of the Free Fellows League
On this, the seventh day of January in the year of Our Lord, we, the sons and heirs to the oldest and most esteemed titles and finest families of England and Scotland, do found and charter our own Free Fellows League.
The Free Fellows League is dedicated to the proposition that sons and heirs to great titles and fortunes, who are duty bound to marry in order to beget future sons and heirs, should be allowed to avoid the inevitable leg-shackling to a female for as long as possible in or
der to fight the French and become England’s greatest heroes.
As charter members of the Free Fellows League, we agree that:
1.) We shall only agree to marry when we’ve no other choice or when we’re old. (No sooner than our thirtieth year.)
2.) We shall agree to pay each of our fellow Free Fellows the sum of five hundred pounds sterling should any of us marry before we reach our thirtieth year.
3.) We shall never darken the doors of any establishments that cater to ‘Marriage Mart’ mamas or their desperate daughters unless forced to do so. Nor shall we frequent the homes of any relatives, friends, or acquaintances that seek to match us up with prospective brides.
4.) When compelled to marry, we agree that we shall only marry suitable ladies from suitable families with fortunes equal to or greater than our own.
5.) We shall never be encumbered by sentiment known as love or succumb to female wiles or tears.
6.) We shall sacrifice ourselves on the altar of duty in order to beget our heirs, but we shall take no pleasure in the task. We shall look upon the act in the same manner as medicine that must be swallowed.
7.) We shall install our wives in country houses and keep separate establishments nearby or in London.
8.) We shall drink and ride and hunt, and consort with our boon companions whenever we are pleased to do so.
9.) We shall not allow the females who share our names to dictate to us in any manner. We shall put our feet upon tables and sofas and the seats of chairs if we so choose and allow our hounds to sit upon the furnishings and roam our houses at will.
10.) We shall give our first loyalty and our undying friendship to England and our brothers and fellow members of the Free Fellows League.
Signed (in blood) and sealed by:
The Right Honorable Griffin Abernathy, 17th Viscount Abernathy, aged nine years and two months, eldest son of and heir apparent to the 16th Earl of Weymouth.
The Right Honorable Colin McElreath, 27th Viscount Grantham, aged nine years and five months, eldest son of and heir apparent to the 9th Earl of McElreath.
The Right Honorable Jarrod Shepherdston, 22nd Earl of Westmore, aged ten years and three months, eldest son of and heir apparent to the 4th Marquess of Shepherdston.
League member added on this seventh day of January in the year of Our
Lord, 1812:
Daniel, 9th Duke of Sussex, aged six and twenty years and eight months,
League member added on this seventh day of January in the year of Our
Lord, 1813:
Jonathan Manners, 11th Earl of Barclay, aged six and twenty years and ten months,
Alexander Courtland, 2nd Marquess of Courtland, aged five and twenty years and one month.
Prologue
“There is no more sure tie between friends than when they are united in their objects and wishes.”
–Marcus Tullius Cicero, 106-43 B.C.
Shepherdston Hall
Bedfordshire, England
7 January, 1813
“You’re no doubt wondering why I asked you here today,” Jarrod Shepherdston, fifth Marquess of Shepherdston, said to Alexander Courtland, second Marquess of Courtland, as the two of them, along with Griffin Abernathy, first Duke of Avon, Colin McElreath, twenty-seventh Viscount Grantham, Jonathan Manners, eleventh Earl of Barclay, and Daniel Sussex, ninth Duke of Sussex, sat in the spacious wood-paneled study in Shepherdston’s magnificent county seat near the tiny village of Helford Green.
Sitting on a comfortable leather chair, Alex straightened his legs before the hearth, warming the soles of his boots and the icy toes encased in the fine calf leather. The morning had been raw with cold and damp and the afternoon was proving just as miserable. After a long horseback ride from his country house in Buckingham on roads made too wet and treacherous for a coach, he had been frozen to the marrow and covered in a fine sheen of ice, and was finally beginning to thaw out. Alex smiled. The fact that he had made the trip at all was a measure of his regard for Shepherdston and the other men present. Ordinarily, nothing short of a direct summons from His Majesty the King or the Prince Regent would have budged him from his cozy library on a day like this. Yet he’d jumped at the opportunity to travel through inclement weather for these men.
Part of the reason for the journey was a keen sense of curiosity.
The last time this particular group of gentlemen had approached him—several months past—the situation had included a deadly threat and all the ingredients for scandal and ruination for those involved. Alex had experienced more excitement that day than he had in his entire life. He’d been thrilled that they had asked for his assistance and honored that they had trusted him with so delicate a matter.
Alex could no more resist today’s invitation than he had been able to refuse the last one. He was puzzled as to why Shepherdston claimed to have invited him when the Duke of Sussex had actually issued the invitation to him to appear at the Marquess of Shepherdston’s country home. It wasn’t often that one peer of the realm invited guests to another peer of the realm’s country house. But that was just one of the things Alex liked about this particular group of men. They tended toward the unexpected and he had yet to find their company boring.
Alex met Shepherdston’s piercing gaze as he replied, “The thought has crossed my mind. Especially since Sussex invited me to your country house instead of his own.”
The Duke of Sussex shrugged. “Privacy is a problem at my county seat as my mother—following family tradition—is in residence during the yuletide holidays.”
“Mine is a bachelor household since I have no mother,” Shepherdston explained, “or any close family. Therefore my privacy and that of my guests, is guaranteed.”
“Besides,” Viscount Grantham added, “Shepherdston Hall is conveniently located for all of us. None of us need travel to the far reaches of any county to get here.” He grinned at Alex. “I’m afraid the same cannot be said of my ancestral pile…”
Since everyone in the ton knew Grantham’s ancestral home was situated in the border country near Edinburgh, Alex nodded in agreement. Shuddering at the thought of having to travel any farther than necessary in this wretched weather, Alex was glad Shepherdston Hall was conveniently located to his country house, too.
“You did me a favor, a few months back,” Grantham continued, “a favor for which I am exceedingly grateful. And you’ve never asked for anything in exchange, nor breathed a word of what transpired to any of your acquaintances.”
The favor of which Grantham spoke involved the foiling of a plot by French spies to kidnap Grantham’s bride and hold her for the ransom of her father’s fleet of merchant ships. Alex and Jonathan Manners had leapt at the opportunity to render assistance to Grantham and had willingly offered their services when Sussex approached them separately at White’s and discreetly asked a favor of them. Alex and Barclay had been slight acquaintances at the time, generally aware of the other’s identity and station in life, but mixing in different circles.
A few months ago, they had been virtual strangers.
They had since become great friends and boon companions.
“I don’t gossip,” Alex said. “Or make small talk or dinner conversation out of other men’s personal business.” He glanced at the Earl of Barclay. “And I didn’t act alone. As you know, Barclay was right beside me lending aid where it was needed. As far as I can tell, he’s never breathed a word about the incident to anyone, either.”
“That’s why we invited the both of you here today,” Shepherdston replied with a nod to Barclay acknowledging his contribution. “Grantham, Avon, and I have known Barclay since we were boys. Barclay occupied the cot next to mine when the four of us were students at The Knightsguild School for Gentlemen.” Jarrod paused long enough to share a glance with Barclay. “We were aware of Jonathan’s steadfast character. With the exception of sharing bits of harmless information with his cousin, Sussex, Barclay has kept our secrets for decades. But you…”—he turned
his gaze back to Alex—“were an unknown quantity and something of a mystery, being several years our junior and with a different circle of friends and acquaintances. We took a risk with you having known you by name and general reputation only.” He grinned at Alex. “Imagine our delight at discovering that you possess the attributes of bravery, loyalty, honor, friendship, and absolute discretion we were seeking.”
“Those are rare and highly valued traits in a town like London,” The Duke of Avon said, stretching his legs out in front of him in a valiant attempt to ease the throbbing of his injured hip and thigh. He’d suffered a nasty saber cut and several other wounds during the Battle of Fuentes de Oñoro, become a national hero, and been rewarded with a dukedom upon his return to England. But Griffin Abernathy had paid a high price for his elevation in rank from viscount to duke. He’d almost died from his injuries and everyone in the room knew they pained him still, especially in raw weather like this.
Alex moved his chair to the left, allowing Avon more access to the heat from the fire. Wordlessly reaching for the brandy decanter, Shepherdston filled a glass and offered it to Avon.
Avon accepted.
“Valued by whom?” Alex demanded. “In my experience, the opposite is true. London society is a notorious hotbed of gossips and scandalmongers. The ton thrives on gossip and speculation and innuendo.”