“Most of the justices are corrupt, remember? There are at least a dozen of them in this county. And more than a few respect my father. Those who were appointed before the regicide remember when the Earl of Trentingham was a very powerful man.” Though he felt a little sick to his stomach, he forced a confident smile. “I’m sure Father can direct me to a justice who will happily write our names in his register even though you’re a few days shy of eighteen. I’ll give him money, and he’ll conveniently forget to ask your age. And it will be done. And you will be safe.”
“And you will be miserable.”
“I will not. You’re my friend. My best friend. I’ve always suspected that marriage to a friend might be the best sort of marriage anyhow.”
That wasn’t true—he’d never suspected anything of the kind. But it sounded good, didn’t it? He’d said it so earnestly that it sounded good to him.
“I don’t know…” She was weakening.
“Come here.” He rose and brought her up with him, moving slowly so as not to startle her. Holding her hands, he felt nothing special, nothing exciting, nothing new. Not even the spark of desire he felt with other girls, with the villagers’ daughters who’d tumbled him in his youth, and the ones he’d later tumbled himself. Being near them had been thrilling. Being near Creath was…pleasant.
He was planning to marry her, but she was still just Creath Moore, his childhood friend.
He tilted her face up and pressed a chaste kiss to her lips, and still he felt nothing special.
But kissing her didn’t feel bad, either. It felt nice. Comfortable. And he couldn’t abandon her to her cousin Sir Leonard, a man who made her shiver with cold in a conservatory heated by four fireplaces.
She was sweet and kindhearted, and she didn’t deserve such a fate. “Will you marry me, Creath?”
“I suppose so.”
“Pray try to contain your excitement,” he said with a forced laugh. “Let’s go tell my parents.”
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ABOUT LAUREN ROYAL
I decided to become a writer at the age of eight, after winning a “Why My Mother is the Greatest” essay contest and having my entry published in a major newspaper. Seeing my words in print was a thrill! But everyone told me it’s too hard for novelists to get published, so after college I spent fourteen years as the CEO of my own jewelry store chain before writing my first book. A mistake? Maybe…but my first heroine, Amethyst, was a jeweler, so at least I took advantage of that wise old saying, “Write what you know.” And I learned a good lesson: Don’t let other people tell you what you can or can’t do!
I write humorous historical romance mostly set in England and Scotland in the 17th and 19th centuries (Restoration and Regency periods). I’ve been oh-so-lucky to see my books hit bestseller lists all over the world, including the New York Times and USA Today lists, making this second career a real dream come true. I live in Southern California with my family and our constantly shedding cat, and I still think my mother is the greatest!
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
My heartfelt thanks:
To Ian Franklin and Michelle Griffiths, State Apartment Warders at Hampton Court Palace, for directing me to the right places, and, in Ian’s case, giving me incredibly useful information.
To Philip Sidebotham, Adrian Moles, and Tiffany Green at Sir Christopher Wren’s House Hotel in Windsor, for graciously allowing and assisting a crazy author to poke around and take photos of Wren’s house.
To Amy and Rick Tanaka, for their expert advice on matters architectural.
To The Landmark Trust, for making it possible for my family to actually live at Hampton Court Palace for a week (how awesome is that?).
To my kids Brent, Blake, and Devonie, and their friends Darci Dipo, Dan Mehefko, and Anna Pione, for helping me explore Hampton Court Palace through many different perspectives.
To Andrew Metz, for the videotape on Hampton Court’s history.
To Barry Waller, for converting the videotape on Hampton Court’s history so that I could actually watch it.
To Alison Bellach Sonderegger, for sharing a laugh with me over the yipping sex in the hotel room next to ours and then challenging me to put it in a book.
To my Chase Family Readers Group, for their enthusiastic support.
And, last but certainly not least, to all my readers, whose wonderful e-mails, Facebook posts, and tweets inspire me to write more books.
Thanks, everyone!
THE JEWELS OF HISTORICAL ROMANCE
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