Compromising the Marquess Page 28
Leah sighed. “How sad.”
“She had a beautiful singing voice, just like you. My uncle wouldn’t go against his parents’ wishes and marry her without their approval. Instead he set her up as his mistress and never looked at another woman, in spite of being besieged with aspirants for his hand wherever he went. It was his revenge, you see. As far as he was concerned, my father could produce the next heir and if the world didn’t like it, it could go hang.”
Leah laughed. “He sounds like a fine gentlemen.”
“Oh, he is. His mistress bore him several children before her death and I get along well with all of them. He’s made provision for them and would pass on the title to his eldest son, if he could, with my full approval.”
“Presumably that’s not possible.”
“No, it’s not.” Hal laughed. “People explain away his mannerisms as eccentricity, which apparently makes them acceptable. He speaks his mind and can be appalling rude if he doesn’t like someone, as my stepmother has good reason to know. She launched herself on my uncle once, hoping to charm him into favouring her son with financial rewards. The duke chased her away with his stick.”
Leah smiled. “If even half of what you say about her is true, then it’s no less than she deserved.”
Hal pulled her into his arms. “But you have yet to give me an answer. Will you be my wife, sweet Leah, or do you condemn me to a solitary life?”
“You must be very sure of my answer.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, you were adamant about my husband taking my virginity but did so before you proposed.”
“That wasn’t arrogance, if that’s what you’re thinking. Far from being sure of your feelings, I find myself anxiously awaiting your decision. I really didn’t mean to force your hand by compromising you. Had you not come to me, looking so irresistibly lovely, I might have behaved in a more gentlemanly manner and proposed first, as I had every intention of doing.”
His agonised expression caused Leah to explode with laughter. “I do believe you’re nervous, my lord marquess, which must be a unique feeling. Unless I miss my guess, you’re seldom unsure of yourself.”
He grasped her shoulders and stared intently into her eyes. “Don’t keep me waiting, sweet Leah. Tell me at once what’s in your heart.”
She met his dark, anxious gaze and felt her heart swell with love. If he didn’t give a fig for society’s view, what was it to her? Unconventional behaviour clearly ran in his family.
“Yes please, Hal,” she said, gently framing his battered face with one hand and bestowing a butterfly light kiss on his lips. “I would very much like to marry you.”
* * * * *
Author’s Note
The London Times was founded in 1785 by John Waters. As underwriter at Lloyds, he lost severely due to a hurricane in Jamaica. With his remaining resources he purchased the patent rights to a typesetting process and started an advertising sheet, including in it minor news items. He was unable to sell his typesetting process but made enough money from the paper, then called The Daily Universal Register, to survive. He was paid the massive sum of £300 a year to print stories favourable to the government. In 1788 he changed the name to The Times and began to print gossip in an attempt to make the paper more popular. This led to his being fined and put in Newgate for two years over a story he printed about the Prince of Wales.
Was Waters the pathfinder for the tabloid press? There were certainly pamphleteers in the Regency period, printing single sheets that were sold cheaply on street corners featuring sporting events, criminal cases and crim.cons. (Regency speak for “criminal conversations”—a euphemism for adulterous liaisons). However, the type of local newspaper that my villain Morris produces in Compromising the Marquess may or may not have existed. If it did, I like to think that Leah was also ahead of her time, reporting salacious society gossip that all classes of society were anxious to read about, much though they might pretend otherwise.
Lose yourself in more Regency romance from Wendy Soliman.
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About the Author
Wendy Soliman grew up on the Isle of Wight, in southern England. She blames the castles, fabulous old buildings and ancient monuments that surrounded her for her enduring love of history. She started writing stories at an early age and basically never stopped.
Wendy now lives in Andorra, dividing her time between there and the west coast of Florida. She lives with her husband and a rescued dog of indeterminate pedigree. When not writing she enjoys reading other people’s books, walking miles with her dog, drinking decent wine and generally making the most out of life.
Visit her website at www.wendysoliman.com for more details about her and her books.
Also by Wendy Soliman from Carina Press:
Of Dukes and Deceptions
A Scandalous Proposition
The Perfect Impostor
Writing as W. Soliman:
Unfinished Business
Risky Business
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ISBN: 978-14268-9482-4
Copyright © 2012 by Wendy Soliman
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