Along the unmarked trail which followed the edges of the cliffs from Portscatho to the village of Innesford, to the east, Ève could see Uncle Cian and Aunt Eleanore walking arm in arm. Their two children—the long and angular Cian, who looked so much like his father, and little Mary, who was only three—moved ahead of their parents, investigating every bush and thicket lining the cliffs, and peering over the edges. The younger Cian ran ahead of his little sister, which elicited cries and protests from Mary. Uncle Cian called out a command that Cian not wander too far ahead, or too close to the edge of the cliff.
It was a very peaceful scene.
“Let’s just walk,” Richard said. “I’ve done far too little of it, lately.”
He lifted his arm and Ève’s heart shifted once more. She took his arm and let him lead her across the lawn. He made a direct line to where his father sat by the flower beds and rested his hand on his father’s shoulder.
Raymond stirred enough to pat Richard’s hand, although he did not glance up.
Richard said nothing. He moved on, walking slowly.
Dread settled in her heart. Ève lacked the courage to prompt Richard to speak.
The silence grew heavier as they moved down the long garden, and onto the trail itself.
Cian and Eleanore smiled at them, as they moved off the trail, heading for the house. Eleanore lifted her voice and called to the children, telling them to return with them.
Richard moved over to the sturdy wooden railings which guarded the cliff edge and the top of the long flight of steps down to the beach. He put a hand on the wide top of the railing. “Here will have to do,” he decided, looking out at the waves. There was no beach at the moment, for it was high tide. “I haven’t the strength to go any farther.”
Ève’s throat ached. “You should rest.”
“I’ve rested enough.” He turned to face her, one hand gripping the railing. “I’ve put this off for far too long, Ève. I should have spoken weeks ago. I just didn’t know how to…how to even say it,” he admitted.
“But now you do,” she breathed.
He shook his head. “I still don’t know how to say it. It will have to come out as it wants, I’m afraid.”
Ève swallowed. “Say it quickly, then, please. I cannot stand to wait another moment.”
Richard drew in a deep breath. “It’s just that…I don’t know what is to come next, Ève. I know what I want. Only, we got married to do something and we didn’t really get that done—well, we did, but…” Richard ground to a halt and pummeled his fist on the railing. “Damn it to hell!”
Ève put her hand to her torso, her heart aching. “You did what you could and you achieved more than you thought you would. Now, that time is over. That is what you mean, isn’t it?”
“Yes,” he admitted heavily.
Her heart broke. “Then, we are at an end, too.”
Richard jerked, as if she had slapped him. His gaze swung to meet hers. “That is your understanding, then?”
Ève could barely speak for the constriction in her throat. “We were supposed to help each other and we have. You helped me with my work, and I…I think you are happier than you once were. Today is a horrible day, but yesterday was a good day and tomorrow will be, too. And now, here at Innesford, you have found somewhere to be where no one cares who you are. There are even a handful of policemen who know you are not a rotten blackguard, because you proved yourself to them…and that is not a small thing, Richard.”
“No, it is not,” Richard said softly. “You want me to let you go, don’t you, Ève?”
Ève wanted to weep. She shook her head violently. “No!” she cried. “I do not! I know we didn’t discuss it, that it wasn’t part of the agreement we made, but I love you, Richard. I fell in love and I don’t know what to do now. I can’t bear the idea of returning to Paris…!” Her breath hitched, forcing her words to a halt.
Richard closed his eyes. His head bowed.
“I’m sorry,” Ève whispered and wiped her eyes.
“I’m not,” Richard said. He lifted his chin once more. His gaze held hers. There was heat and warmth in his eyes, which reminded her of the languorous days in their tiny apartment and the heavenly nights. “If you are guilty of error, Ève, then so am I. I’ve spent weeks thinking I was the only fool in this arrangement, because I had very unfashionably fallen in love with my wife.”
Ève drew in a sharp breath. Her thoughts stopped. So did her heart. She wanted to shake him and make him repeat himself, just in case she had misheard him.
Richard was smiling, though. “I’ve suspected for a while now that I agreed to your proposal because I was already falling in love. A workmanlike agreement was the only way a blackguard and thoroughly ruined man like me could possibly manage to find love. I had to back into it.”
Ève pressed her hand against her middle even harder. She couldn’t breathe.
Richard gave a soft laugh. “I only knew the enormity of my error when Einaudi told me they had taken you and were holding you captive somewhere. For a moment I could have cheerfully murdered him where he sat smiling at me and become for true the type of man everyone believes me to be. Only, I didn’t, because I knew you would think less of me if I did, and I wanted you to approve of me. I don’t give a damn about the rest of the world, Ève, but your good opinion is worth everything to me. A bullet in the shoulder was not close to a sufficient price.”
Ève took a step closer. “I have always considered you a good man,” she whispered.
“Yes, and that was the first little pebble to roll. I remember the shock I felt when you said that. No one has thought well of me in a very long time, but you did.” He fitted his hands around her waist and drew her closer still, until she had to raise her chin to look at him. His gaze was steady and the heat in his eyes was unmistakable…so was his love.
Ève sighed. “May we be very old-fashioned and be a married couple who love each other?”
“I accept your proposal,” Richard breathed and kissed her.
Everyone on the lawn in front of the house must surely see them standing together beside the cliff railings. Ève didn’t care. She wound her arms around Richard’s neck and wept even as she kissed him.
Richard didn’t seem to mind.
When the sun grew high overhead and lunch was nigh, they reluctantly returned to the house. This time, Richard held her hand. He walked with far greater energy than he had that morning.
Cian and Eleanore stood together on the lawn, facing the house. Richard and Ève drew level with them and saw what they were watching so steadily.
Little Cian and Mary were playing with an old, stained football. Thatcher, the butler, must have brought it from the house, for he stood watching them laughing and kicking the thing, a small smile on his face.
Even more strangely, Uncle Raymond was playing with them. He had removed his jacket and kicked the ball back to them.
Mary shrieked with joy and threw herself bodily upon the rolling ball, hugging it to herself.
Raymond picked her up by the waist. The ball came with her, and he shook her to release it. “I believe that is against the rules, Miss Mary,” he told her.
She just giggled.
Cian snatched the ball out of her hands and ran with it.
“Oh, no, you don’t!” Richard cried. He released Ève’s hand, tore off his jacket and ran after the boy, who gave a shriek of alarmed laughter and ran harder.
Uncle Cian took off his jacket and held it out to Eleanore. “Someone must teach them the proper rules,” he said, and hurried after them.
Eleanore took the jacket and moved over to a cart which stood beside Thatcher. She handed Thatcher the jacket.
The cart held a box of balls of all shapes, sizes and colors, including blood-red cricket balls. A tall crate beside the box had dozens of handles rising from the top. Eleanore selected one of the handles and pulled it out.
At the other end of the shaft was a solid, double-sized hammerhead. “
Do you play croquet at all, Ève?” she asked.
Ève shook her head. “I regret, I do not.”
Eleanore looked pleased. “Mmm. A beginner. What fun! Let me teach you.” She pulled another mallet out of the crate.
Ève glanced over her shoulder. Richard was fighting to kick the football, laughing and shoving his father and uncle and the others with as much enthusiasm as any of them.
Pleased, Ève took the mallet Aunt Eleanore held out to her. “You must teach me the rules, too. I believe it is quite a formal game, no?”
Eleanore rolled her eyes. “Oh, my dear, no. I am going to teach you how the family plays it and those rules…well, they are very different.”
___________________________________
The next book in the
Scandalous Families – The Victorians series.
Her Rebellious Prince
Book 2, Scandalous Family—The Victorians
The Prince kisses her, instead of her twin sister.
Elise never intends to marry. Marriage is far too restricting, in her estimation. Instead, she grasps what freedom there is in running her Great Aunt Annalies’ boarding house. When Danyal, newly crowned Prince of Pandev, kisses her by mistake, her delicately balanced contentment is shattered.
Danyal isn’t in England to find a wife, as society believes. An English wife would offend the Balkan Separatists who threaten his principality. Such a wife would also defeat his desire to separate his family from the stained reputation which dogs it, which the former Prince, his uncle Kosta, was never fully successful in removing.
So why can he not stop thinking about that simple—delightful—kiss, and the woman he held in his arms for only a moment?
___
I just love this series and the books just keep getting better and better. This series takes us on a romp through historical times, which I love.
Grab your copy now:
https://tracycooperposey.com/her-rebellious-prince/
About the Author
Tracy Cooper-Posey is a #1 Best Selling Author. She writes romantic suspense, historical, paranormal and science fiction romance. She has published over 100 novels since 1999, been nominated for five CAPAs including Favourite Author, and won the Emma Darcy Award.
She turned to indie publishing in 2011. Her indie titles have been nominated four times for Book Of The Year. Tracy won the award in 2012, and a SFR Galaxy Award in 2016 for “Most Intriguing Philosophical/Social Science Questions in Galaxybuilding” She has been a national magazine editor and for a decade she taught romance writing at MacEwan University.
She is addicted to Irish Breakfast tea and chocolate, sometimes taken together. In her spare time she enjoys history, Sherlock Holmes, science fiction and ignoring her treadmill. An Australian Canadian, she lives in Edmonton, Canada with her husband, a former professional wrestler, where she moved in 1996 after meeting him on-line.
Other books by Tracy Cooper-Posey
For reviews, excerpts, and more about each title, visit Tracy’s site and click on the cover you are interested in: http://tracycooperposey.com/books-by-thumbnail/
Scandalous Scions
(Historical Romance Series – Spin off)
Rose of Ebony
Soul of Sin
Valor of Love
Marriage of Lies
Scandalous Scions One (Boxed Set)
Mask of Nobility
Law of Attraction
Veil of Honor
Scandalous Scions Two (Boxed Set)
Season of Denial
Rules of Engagement
Degree of Solitude
Ashes of Pride
Risk of Ruin
Year of Folly
Queen of Hearts
Scandalous Families – The Victorians
(Historical Romance Series – Spin off)
His Parisian Mistress
Her Rebellious Prince
Once and Future Hearts
(Ancient Historical Romance—Arthurian)
Born of No Man
Dragon Kin
Pendragon Rises
War Duke of Britain
High King of Britain
Battle of Mount Badon
Abduction of Guenivere
Downfall of Cornwall
Vengeance of Arthur
Grace of Lancelot
The Grail and Glory
Camlann
Kiss Across Time Series
(Paranormal Time Travel)
Kiss Across Time
Kiss Across Swords
Time Kissed Moments
Kiss Across Chains
Kiss Across Time Box One (Boxed Set)
Kiss Across Deserts
Kiss Across Kingdoms
Time and Tyra Again
Kiss Across Seas
Kiss Across Time Box Two (Boxed Set)
Kiss Across Worlds
Time and Remembrance
Kiss Across Tomorrow
More Time Kissed Moments
Kiss Across Blades
Project Kobra
(Romantic Spy Thrillers)
Hunting The Kobra
Inside Man
Heart Strike
Blood Knot Series
(Urban Fantasy Paranormal Series)
Blood Knot
Southampton Swindle
Broken Promise
Vale
Amor Meus
Blood Stone
Blood Unleashed
Blood Drive
Blood Revealed
Blood Ascendant
Flesh + Blood (Boxed Set)
Vistaria Has Fallen
Vistaria Has Fallen
Prisoner of War
Hostage Crisis
Freedom Fighters
Casualties of War
V-Day
The Vistaria Affair (Boxed Set)
Romantic Thrillers Series
Fatal Wild Child
Dead Again
Dead Double
Terror Stash
Thrilling Affair (Boxed Set)
Beloved Bloody Time Series
(Paranormal Futuristic Time Travel)
Bannockburn Binding
Wait
Byzantine Heartbreak
Viennese Agreement
Romani Armada
Spartan Resistance
Celtic Crossing
Beloved Bloody Time Series Boxed Set
Scandalous Sirens
(Historical Romance Series)
Forbidden
Dangerous Beauty
Perilous Princess
Go-get-‘em Women
(Short Romantic Suspense Series)
The Royal Talisman
Delly’s Last Night
Vivian’s Return
Ningaloo Nights
The Sherlock Holmes Series
(Romantic Suspense/Mystery)
Chronicles of the Lost Years
The Case of the Reluctant Agent
Sherlock Boxed In
The Kine Prophecies
(Epic Norse Fantasy Romance)
The Branded Rose Prophecy
The Stonebrood Saga
(Gargoyle Paranormal Series)
Carson’s Night
Beauty’s Beasts
Harvest of Holidays
Unbearable
Sabrina’s Clan
Pay The Ferryman
Hearts of Stone (Boxed Set)
Destiny’s Trinities
(Urban Fantasy Romance Series)
Beth’s Acceptance
Mia’s Return
Sera’s Gift
The First Trinity
Cora’s Secret
Zoe’s Blockade
Octavia’s War
The Second Trinity
Terra’s Victory
Destiny’s Trinities (Boxed Set)
Interspace Origins
(Science Fiction Romance Series)
Faring Soul
Varkan Rise
Cat and Company
&nb
sp; Interspace Origins (Boxed Set)
Short Paranormals
Solstice Surrender
Eva’s Last Dance
Three Taps, Then….
The Well of Rnomath
Jewells of Tomorrow
(Historical Romantic Suspense)
Diana By The Moon
Heart of Vengeance
The Endurance
(Science Fiction Romance Series)
5,001
Greyson’s Doom
Yesterday’s Legacy
Promissory Note
Quiver and Crave
Xenogenesis
Junkyard Heroes
Evangeliya
Skinwalker’s Bane
Contemporary Romances
Lucifer’s Lover
An Inconvenient Lover
Contemporary Romances Boxed Set
Non-Fiction Titles
Reading Order
(Non-Fiction, Reference)
Reading Order Perpetual
Copyright Information
This is an original publication of Tracy Cooper-Posey
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales, is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for third-party websites or their content.
Copyright © 2020 by Tracy Cooper-Posey