To save his family from ruin, Lord Appleton’s prepared to sacrifice his happiness to marry a peculiar heiress, but more than his happiness is at risk when sinister forces try to come between him and his cat-loving fiancée.
(Brides of Bath, Book 7
Cheryl Bolen
Copyright © 2020 by Cheryl Bolen
Once Upon a Time in Bath is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the author.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Epilogue
The Brides of Bath Series
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Prologue
Ellie Macintosh was apprehensive about meeting with Henry Wolf today. A nastier piece of work had never darkened the door of Mrs. Starr’s gambling establishment, where Ellie had served as a hostess for the past three years.
When Mr. Wolf had first approached Ellie about meeting with him after work the previous night, she had most persistently turned him down. She still vividly recalled the bruises on poor, foolish Sally Smythe when that unfortunate hostess had the misfortune of meeting the wicked man after work one night.
Besides, Ellie wasn’t that kind of girl. She dealt the Vingt-et-Un pasteboards night after night, but she never mingled with the patrons outside of Mrs. Starr’s. And of all the men who frequented the gaming parlor, none was more repugnant to her than Henry Wolf.
One seeing him for the first time would admire the well-dressed man who was possessed of large physique and even larger fortune. It wasn’t until one came face to face with him that one realized something was off.
It wasn’t his extraordinarily white skin contrasting with his raven-black hair that struck a discordant note. Nor was it his pale green almost translucent eyes. She could not articulate why this man with an outwardly inoffensive appearance brought to mind a fox salivating at the hen house before ripping into his prey.
Her resolve not to meet with him crumbled when he told her she could name a public place in which to meet with him in the light of day—and such a meeting could make her a hundred quid richer. A hundred quid! It took her more than half a year of working six nights a week to earn that much money. The least she could do was listen to what the man had to say.
She suspected he might have designs on her. Along with the other hostesses—all hired for their beauty—she was accustomed to being admired by the patrons.
One thing was for certain. There wasn’t enough money in all of England to induce her to become this lecherous man’s fancy piece. She would rather grovel for crumbs in a debtor’s prison.
At noon, she saw him making his way across Sydney Gardens toward her. Her heartbeat drummed. If Beelzebub inhabited Bath, she fancied he would be possessed of pitch-black hair with pale green eyes set in a strikingly white, white face. Like Henry Wolf’s. She shuddered.
“Ah, Miss Macintosh, you have done me the goodness of meeting with me here today,” he said by way of greeting her.
Careful not to offer her hand as she did not want to touch this sinister man, she merely nodded. She began to have an even worse feeling about this meeting. Why had she come? He wouldn’t be requesting this tête-à-tête were his proposal noble. “What is it I must do for the hundred guineas?” she asked.
“All I am asking is that you cheat.”
Why would he want her to cheat? Henry Wolf was a very rich man already. Her chest rose and fell. “I ’ave no idea how to go about cheating.”
“Oh, but I think you do. That’s why I selected you, Ellie. You’ve been at Mrs. Starr’s longer than any of the other girls. I know Mrs. Starr has shown you how to mark certain cards. I’m only asking that you use your considerable expertise to help me.”
Her eyes widened. “But you’re a wealthy man, Mr. Wolf. I could lose me job for ’elping you.”
“But you wouldn’t be helping me to win, Ellie. You’d be helping another man to lose.”
She swallowed. Perhaps she wouldn’t lose her job for that. If a man lost, Mrs. Starr would just become richer. And happier.
Still, it was a wicked thing to do. Her eyes met his. At the sight of those chilling eyes, she looked back down. “Is there a particular man you want me to cheat?”
“Indeed there is. I mean to destroy Lord Appleton.”
She gasped. “Lord Appleton! But he’s so nice . . . everyone admires him. He’s a great favorite.”
A look of sheer evil crossed his face, and his voice was guttural when he spoke. “I will make it two hundred if you put a little potion in his drink.”
“I am not going to poison Lord Appleton!”
“I’m not asking you to. The potion won’t hurt him. It will merely cloud his judgment, making it easier for you to see that he loses. I mean to ruin him.”
Even though she was sickened by repulsion toward this man, she managed a defiant look. “And if I don’t?”
“I will ensure that Mrs. Starr throws you out on the street. What else are you fit for, Ellie?”
Tears welled in her eyes as she shook her head.
He pressed a fistful of coins into her hands. Then he gave her one more thing. A ladies’ ring. Ornately scrolled silver enclosed its large blue stone. “Lift the stone, Ellie,” he commanded.
The stone lifted on a tiny hinge, and a small amount of dark liquid sloshed inside its hidden receptacle.
“You should be able to slip a few of those drops into Appleton’s brandy without anyone seeing you.”
Now she knew how Judas
