Enticing Her Unexpected Bridegroom Read online

  Their unexpected marriage will either end in rapture... or ruin.

  London, 1814

  Sarah Jardin has been quite dreadfully in love with David Rochester her whole life. As the youngest of five daughters, her family and society neglect her. She’s outspoken, brash, and terribly ungraceful. In short, not at all a lady...until she’s taken under the benevolent wing of Lady Lancaster and invited to join the Young Ladies Garden Society.

  But Sarah’s new life—filled with the mysteries and intrigues of high society—is interrupted by an unexpected scandal. Her scandal. In a moment of kindness, David comforts her...and they are discovered and forced to marry. Even as the newlyweds must come to terms with their new arrangement, they find themselves drawn into the investigation of a dangerous conspiracy.

  With life and love on the line, their unexpected marriage will either end in rapture...or ruin.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

  Copyright © 2016 by Catherine Hemmerling. All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce, distribute, or transmit in any form or by any means. For information regarding subsidiary rights, please contact the Publisher.

  Entangled Publishing, LLC

  2614 South Timberline Road

  Suite 109

  Fort Collins, CO 80525

  Visit our website at www.entangledpublishing.com.

  Scandalous is an imprint of Entangled Publishing, LLC.

  Edited by Stacy Abrams

  Cover Design by Erin Dameron-Hill

  Cover Art by Period Images

  ISBN 978-1-63375-399-0

  Manufactured in the United States of America

  First Edition January 2016

  Table of Contents

  Foreword

  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

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Discover more from Catherine Hemmerling Taming Her Forbidden Earl

  Romancing His English Rose

  Tempting Her Reluctant Viscount

  Don’t miss out on more Scandalous romance… Duchess Decadence

  Misadventures in Seduction

  The Improper Bride

  The Affair

  This book is dedicated to my real-life hero and love, David Hammons. Thanks for seeing past my tall, klutzy ways and my generally uncensored mouth. You are always on my side and make me feel beautiful every day. I love you always.

  Foreword

  Everyone is familiar with the tales of Robin Hood, right? But did you know the stories are based on actual history?

  It’s true.

  Persons in disguise or with blackened faces who “thieved” in the forests of Waltham led to the induction of the Waltham Black Acts. In the beginning, these men seemed to be modeled on the criminal activities of the famous band of Roberdsmen, followers of Robert, or Robin Hood, who committed great outrages in the reign of Richard the First on the border of England and Scotland. Eventually the Roberdsmen inspired others to pillage the rich, and the Waltham Black Acts were passed by the Parliament of Great Britain in 1723 during the reign of King George I in response to these deer poachers and bandits now known as the “Wokingham Blacks.” It made it a felony (that is, a hanging offense) to appear armed in a park or warren, or to hunt or steal deer, with the face blackened or disguised.

  Ostensibly, the Black Act was passed to deal with the growing issue of poaching from private parks and land owned by the king started by our good “Robin Hood.” In retrospect, however, the Black Act appears to have been specifically designed to target Britain’s poorest, such as vagrant wanderers and people who were desperate enough to poach from private parks for food.

  In addition to poaching, the Black Act also covered entering private lands with weapons, cutting down trees, establishing gardens on private land, and committing acts of vandalism such as arson.

  As the popularity of the Black Act grew (among the peerage and other landowners at least), people could find themselves executed for a wide range of minor, bizarre, and sometimes ridiculous offenses, such as: stealing a handkerchief, writing on London’s Tower Bridge, or in the case of this story, cutting down an old apple tree.

  Not much is known about the circumstances surrounding the hanging of William Potter, except that he was the last known person to be executed under the Black Act. He was found guilty of “damaging an orchard” in 1814…and for that he was condemned to die.

  Although the name William Potter and the unfortunate way he died are being used in this book, the rest of the story is otherwise entirely fiction and meant for your entertainment only, much like the tales of Robin Hood.

  It is only fitting, therefore, that our hero and heroine take a page from those old stories and do what they can to help the poor and discourage the rich, wouldn’t you agree?

  Prologue

  I would rather be a unique individual, however odd, than someone so boring and predictable as to be considered “normal.”

  —The Duke of Lancaster

  Thirteen-year-old Sarah stood in the corner of the grandest hall in which she had ever been. Surrounding her were dozens of children from the most influential families of the ton. And never had she felt more out of place.

  She stood out like a sore thumb. Too tall, too awkward, too unfortunate. Her dress was too short and clearly a couple of years out of style; her hair was a boring brown, her eyes a dull gray, and even standing perfectly still, Sarah was afraid she was going to break something.

  She invariably did.

  At some point, no matter where she was or what she was doing, something broke. Usually something priceless and irreplaceable…

  “What am I doing here?” Sarah muttered to herself, looking around for some means of escape.

  “You are here to celebrate my birthday, of course!” a voice replied from just behind her.

  Turning around, Sarah came face-to-face with the most beautiful girl she had ever seen. She had lovely golden hair, sparkling aquamarine eyes, and she was the perfect height for her age. She was absolutely grace personified.

  “Hello,” the angelic creature said, “I am Hannah Rochester. And you are?”

  Sarah was unable to speak for a moment, a rare occurrence indeed, but quickly found her tongue and blurted out, “You are so pretty!” Then she paused and added suspiciously, “Why are you speaking to me?”

  Hannah looked at Sarah agape before bursting into laughter. “That is quite the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me! Thank you for the compliment. And I spoke to you initially because it was the polite thing to do. Now, however, I think we are meant to become the closest of friends. No other person of my acquaintance is quite like you. You must please tell me your name.”

  “Sarah. My name is Sarah Jardin,” Sarah replied automatically, still astonished that this lovely girl wanted to be he
r friend.

  “The Honorable Sarah Jardin! Of course,” Hannah said gaily, “I have been wanting to meet you.”

  “You have?”

  “Yes, for some time now.”

  “Whatever for?”

  Laughing again, Hannah leaned in to confide softly, “Many of the girls here talk about you, Sarah…”

  “Oh, that doesn’t surprise me in the least,” Sarah muttered under her breath.

  Hannah continued unimpeded. “They say you are odd, awkward, rashly spoken, and altogether improper…”

  Waves of humiliation swept over Sarah, and she wanted nothing more than for a hole to open beneath her and the earth to swallow her. She had always suspected that was what the other, more popular, girls were whispering about her, but never did she think she would hear it said to her so blatantly. And by someone she thought might want to become her friend.

  “…and that was all I needed to hear,” Hannah prattled on, “because, truth be told, I don’t particularly care for those other girls. A bunch of simpleminded ninnies, if you ask me. But you sound intriguing. I like intriguing and unique people. And now here you are!”

  Hannah beamed at Sarah, clearly pleased with the way the day was turning out.

  Sarah blinked and did a mental double take. What had Hannah just said?

  “You…don’t like the other girls?”

  “Not especially. Why, do you?”

  “Good Lord, no!” Sarah replied. “They are awful.”

  “See?” Hannah giggled. “I knew you were a kindred spirit.”

  And that was when it struck Sarah. This lovely young girl actually and truly liked her. She, the clumsy, discomfited Honorable Sarah Jardin, youngest daughter of the Viscount Clarendon and general all-around blight on the face of society. It was rather remarkable, that. And completely wonderful.

  Smiling for the first time since laying eyes on Hannah, Sarah said, “I think you may have the right of it, Hannah. We are going to be the best of friends.”

  Clapping her hands joyfully, Hannah spun around in a graceful twirl. Then something seemed to catch her eye. Looking over her shoulder to see what had stopped Hannah’s celebration, Sarah saw the most handsome boy she had ever laid eyes on.

  He was close to her age, maybe a little older, with the same golden-colored hair and blue-green eyes as Hannah, but most importantly, he was tall. Taller than Sarah, even. Only by a mere inch or so, but as she had never met anyone her age taller than her, Sarah was mightily impressed.

  “David,” Hannah called out. “Come and meet my new best friend.”

  Scrunching up his face in annoyance, David nevertheless clopped over to where Hannah and Sarah were standing.

  “David,” Hannah began upon the boy’s arrival, “this is Miss Sarah Jardin, my new best friend. Sarah, this is my older brother, Baron David Rochester the next Earl of Rochester.”

  “Hello,” David mumbled. “It’s very nice to make your acquaintance.”

  Her heart in her throat, Sarah could hardly believe this boy, the brother of her new bosom friend, was speaking to her! Perhaps this new friendship of hers would prompt a friendship of sorts with the brother, as well. One could only hope…

  “You are so very tall!” burst out of Sarah’s mouth unbidden, as most things did when she was nervous or excited, and she clapped her hands over her mouth. Why, oh, why had she said that?

  Burning with embarrassment, she quickly said, “I mean, er, it’s nice to meet you too…David.”

  But the damage had been done. Hannah was sniggering, and David looked appalled.

  “Would you rather I weren’t? Tall, that is?” David asked through clenched teeth.

  “No!” Sarah exploded, before taking a breath and explaining more calmly. “I have just never met anyone our, ah, age who was taller than myself. It is a rather, er, nice change of pace.”

  Nodding absently, David turned away and looked at his sister. “Yes, she is the friend for you, Hannah dear. You are both completely batty.”

  And with that, he turned on his heel and stalked away, probably cursing a plague upon the entire female population.

  Mortified, Sarah said to Hannah, “I didn’t mean to insult him, I just…sometimes I just say things…I can’t seem to help myself,” she finished lamely.

  Hannah patted Sarah’s arm gently. “Please don’t let it concern you. My brother is at that age. Nothing you could have said would have impressed him. Nothing I ever say does, either, and as I think we are both rather remarkable, it must be he who is defective. ”

  Said with a succinct nod, Sarah couldn’t help but feel better. It was nice to have a champion for once.

  “Of course, that doesn’t stop all the girls of my acquaintance falling over themselves to impress him,” Hannah continued. “I lose oh-so-many friends as a result.”

  “Why is that?”

  “Because he breaks their hearts! And somehow that is my fault.” Hannah shook her head. “I warn you now, if you find yourself ‘in love’ with my brother, please simply leave me out of it.”

  Hannah was so clearly disgusted by the idea, Sarah couldn’t help but laugh. She was beginning to think this might just be one party she was actually going to enjoy.

  And enjoy it she did. With Hannah by her side, everything seemed infinitely more fun. For the first time, she wasn’t alone in some corner where she was sure everyone was watching her and feeling sorry for her, the girl with no friends. Now, they could all see that at least one person liked her, wanted to talk to her, wanted her opinions. And that person being the most attractive girl in the room was even more of a coup.

  At a party full of vindictive and entitled girls, one took any leg up one could get.

  Later in the day, after filling up on sweets and fun, the party guests, both children and parents alike, gathered around a huge pile of gifts to watch Hannah open their offerings. Sarah was proud to have been asked to sit next to her and help her with the task. And even more exciting was that David was stationed just to her left as requested by his mother. There was something thrilling about just being near him that Sarah didn’t fully understand.

  As each gift was revealed, Hannah oohed and aahed appropriately before handing the present to Sarah to stack neatly behind her. Sarah worked hard to do a good job, even going so far as to separate the gifts into like piles. Hair ribbons, reticules, caps, and gloves together; books, stationery, and writing implements together; and so on.

  So involved in her task, Sarah didn’t always register who gave Hannah what; not that it was her job to do so, Hannah’s mother was carefully writing the list of gifts and givers for the thank-you cards to be sent later, nor did she fully realize how intrigued David was with her efforts to do a good job for his sister.

  This new friend of Hannah’s fascinated David. Most girls of his acquaintance would have looked at the gift themselves, judged it lacking in some way, and then just tossed it behind her before moving on to the next. But this Sarah girl was treating each present as if it were a priceless treasure. David found that he rather liked that. It was nice to see there were some girls who thought of more than just themselves. Hannah was like that, too—thoughtful; though David would never admit such out loud. Perhaps Sarah was a good friend for his sister.

  But then it happened.

  Hannah had handed Sarah a delicate figurine of a swan in flight given by Lavinia Brudenell, the meanest, snottiest, most spiteful girl in all of London; perhaps even the world. Surely she only gave such a gift because she knew it would be the most beautiful and therefore reflect positively on her; because Lord knew she couldn’t give two figs about Hannah. Hannah, who was “too smart for her own good and actually liked to read!” David had often heard from his sister’s peers.

  That said, however, it was a stunning gift. It was done in near translucent porcelain with the tips of the wings and beak dipped in the purest of gold. It was truly exquisite, even in David’s disdainful opinion.

  David watched as Sarah took great care
with the object. She carefully set the swan in its own spot some distance away from the other gifts. She clearly did not want to take the chance of something falling on it.

  Just moments later, though, Sarah was handed a pink parasol ready for categorizing. With a single absent-minded swing, Sarah hit the edge of the figurine with the end of the small umbrella and it tipped over. Not hard, just a gentle flop over to one side, but it was enough to cause one wing to snap off.

  David watched as the tears welled up in Sarah’s eyes, and he felt his soul break a little. It came as a surprise to him that he should care one way or another—the chit was just another inconsequential friend of Hannah’s—but in the next moment, he heard himself say, “Oh, darn!” And he reached over to sweep up the broken pieces of the figurine into his hand, holding them out for everyone to see. “I’m sorry, Hannah. I wasn’t watching myself and I accidentally broke your gift.”

  Sarah gasped loudly and saw David flash her a warning look.

  Quickly closing her mouth, Sarah realized in an instant what he was doing. He was taking the blame for her. But why?

  And then she found out.

  “What!” Lavinia screeched, leaping over the other partygoers until she was by David’s side. Taking the pieces in her hands, she hissed, “Do you have any idea how much this cost, you imbecile?”

  “No. Was it expensive?” David asked, the picture of innocence.

  “Was it expensive?” Lavinia exploded. “My father could buy and sell your entire family if he so desired…of course it was expensive. I am certain it is the most expensive gift here!”

  Now what Lavinia said was true, Sarah could admit, the girl’s father, the Duke of Cardigan, was a very wealthy man, and the little figurine was probably the most expensive gift there, but talking of such things was beyond the pale, and Sarah could see that Lavinia’s parents were mortified by their daughter’s actions.

  Apologizing profusely, Lord Cardigan made his way over to his daughter and began removing her forcefully from the party, but apparently not before Lavinia saw the grateful smile Sarah gave David.