Historical Hearts Romance Collection Read online

  Historical Hearts Romance Collection

  Scottish Highland Romance and Regency Romance

  10 Book Box Set

  ©2018 by Sophia Wilson and Blair Keith

  All rights reserved. No part of this may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior written permission.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are a product of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, or to businesses, events or locales is completely coincidental.

  The Duke's Redemption

  The Duke's Indiscretion

  The Duke's Deadly Secret

  The Duke's Dark Desire

  The Disappearing Duke

  The Highlander’s Dark Secret

  Highland Jewel

  The Highlander’s Revenge

  Highland Betrayal

  Highland Heartbeat

  The Duke’s Redemption

  ©2018 by Sophia Wilson

  All rights reserved. No part of this may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior written permission.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are a product of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, or to businesses, events or locales is completely coincidental.

  Chapter 1

  Selina knew of one thing all her life and that was this: the only thing that mattered in the world was what she thought of herself as opposed to what the society thought. The society was a bitter old place with zero acceptance for anyone that dared to step out of the imaginary box that it had created. That is something Selina Nott had done the minute she had disagreed to marry Vladimir Vince upon her father’s request.

  Vladimir was nothing like Selina. She had known him all her life for they had always been neighbors. The only reason her father had wanted to marry off his only daughter to his neighbor’s son was because he owed him a debt that he did not have the means to pay. Which is what drove him to strike a deal with Vladimir Vince Sr. John Nott would marry his only daughter to Vladimir Jr. in exchange for his debt to be forgotten for good. To him it had seemed like a good deal. He had set everything in motion, which was until the day he told Selina of his plans.

  “What do you mean I am betrothed to Vlad?” Selina had asked visibly appalled by her father’s words. She could feel the blood in her ears boiling, causing her to hear it course wildly across.

  “You heard me, child. I have promised your hand to Vladimir. Your engagement is at the end of this week,” Father had said with a firm tone to his words that told Selina there was no room for discussion.

  “What do you mean you have promised my hand? It wasn’t yours to promise!” Selina had said back with fuming anger – she had never been one to back down to something she thought was wrong and she was not about to start today.

  “Are you in love with another then?” Father had asked Selina, looking at his own daughter with an accusing expression on his face.

  This had made Selina look back on her life. She was twenty-one years old and had never been much interested in men. It wasn’t that she didn’t want love; it was just that nobody had ever caught her eye. This, she couldn’t tell her father. He would never understand her desire to find love out of her own free will. She didn’t want to be bartered away for debt. Debt that wasn’t even hers to begin with! Father was forcing his choice upon her and he was forcing Vlad upon her when she couldn’t stand either one of those things.

  She wasn’t average looking, this much she was aware of. The eyes that followed her everywhere she went made quite sure to assure her confidence in the way that she looked. Apart from her porcelain skin, she had eyes that could stop any man in his tracks for they were as blue as the deep oceans. She didn’t have a shortage of proposals; she just didn’t want any one of them. She was okay on her own.

  “I don’t love anyone. I won’t, however, stand for you condemning me to a life that is to pay for your decisions, Father. I deserve free will,” Selina said without meeting her father’s eyes.

  “Look at me and tell me that you would deny this proposal even if it meant that your siblings and parents would be debt free forever,” Father had said, giving her a dangerous ultimatum that bordered on emotional blackmail.

  Selina met his eyes with tears in her own which meant that the argument was over. She was not one to shed tears a lot but this was a decision that was very difficult to make. She had indeed made up her mind. She knew that her father wouldn’t have it. But this was her life to live how she pleased – it was her right to pursue her passions and not be sold in marriage just to pay off a debt that she had no part in.

  “Very well then. If you must do this then I want you to get out of my house because if you don’t want to play a role in this family then you are no longer welcome in this house,” he had said as he turned his back on Selina.

  This had come as a shock to Selina. “Father,” she had begged, “if you do this, where will I go to stay? This is my home,” she had said with an intense sadness in her eyes.

  “That is your own concern, not mine. If you have made your mind, so have I. You have until noon tomorrow to pack up your things and to find another place to stay.”

  As her father walked out of the courtyard, Selina had stood still as she had hoped the time would, too. But life was never that easy, was it? Hours had gone by while she stood there under the sun unmoving.

  That was until Mrs. Nott, Selina’s mother, had come to escort her back under the shade in the hopes of changing her mind.

  “Darling, please! You have to marry Vladimir. Your father and I are counting on you to do this,” Mother had said in between breathless sobs.

  Selina had just stood there staring as she tried to make sense of why her mother refused to accept what had already happened. She knew her father. Once he made a decision, it was permanent and nobody could change his mind. Even if Selina was to accept Vladimir’s proposal right now and beg for her father’s mercy, he would not dare to look at her ever again. What was done was done.

  “Where would I go..,” Selina said to her mother in a small child like voice.

  Mrs. Nott looked at her face with mixed emotions. What first started out as pain on her face turned into confusion which turned into denial which eventually turned into understanding.

  “Your grandmother has left her apartment to you. Father intended to sell it to pay off his debt but it is the only other property we own aside from this house. You could go stay there for as long as you need. You’ll be safe there, Selena,” her mother had said as her lips trembled with pain.

  Selena had always been her baby girl. Her mother had always taken her side against her father. But now things had gone too far. This, her mother could not prevent. As Selina thought, what was done really was done.

  Selina headed up to her room as she was followed by her hand maid Jemma.

  “Would you like me to help you pack?” Jemma had asked with a brave face but Selina could see that she, too, couldn’t bear the thought of Selina leaving the house.

  Oh the irony, she thought. Had Selina agreed to marry Vladimir and was moving out because she was married, everyone would be bidding her farewell with a happy face whereas she would be the only one feeling quite dead inside. But now that she was leaving because she had stood up for herself, everyone was treating her as if she were committing a bad crime.

  Selina had always been quite forward in nature, always saying what was on her mind and never giving a care about what anyone thought of her but right now what pained her the most was that her own father
had shunned her simply because she didn’t want to be bartered away for his debt. Was that such a terrible thing to have done?, she thought.

  “There is one thing you can do, Jemma,” Selina had said.

  “Anything,” Jemma said with nothing but loyalty in her eyes for the Nott family.

  “Come to live with me at my grandmother’s house. I would hate to be living in such a big house alone,” Selina had lied. She was quite aware that she was asking Jemma to tag along simply because she would remind her of home.

  Jemma had agreed of course.

  ---

  It had been three months since that incident at the Nott house in Northampton. Selina had found the means to support herself although it angered her father so much so that he had forbidden Mrs. Nott from ever seeing Selina again.

  Growing up, Selina was taught how to play the piano much like her nine brothers. But she was the only one out of the lot that played because she enjoyed it unlike the rest of them who simply played because they were forced to. She had then landed a job at the community hall where she would play piano at the registered events. The job paid her handsomely enough so that she could afford to manage the house as well as take care of her hand maiden who had proven to be her best friend through all that Selina had endured.

  Selina felt the absence of her family like a festering wound that grew in size with every passing day. It kept her awake at night. One time when she was playing at a charity gala, she saw her family dining with the Vince family. It had warmed her heart to see her family so much that she had decided to go over to say hello but once she did, her father had turned his face away with such hatred in his eyes that it had broken Selina’s heart once again.

  This had caused her to abandon the event and go home. She cried like she never had before but decided that she would never let her heart dictate her path again.

  Chapter 2

  Miss Lavender Shaw was notorious for throwing her lavish parties that had the best food, bouquets upon bouquets of flower arrangements, the most melodious live music you had the chance to hear in all of town and of course, as a beautiful consequence, the place would be crawling with the most high class social butterflies of the town.

  Miss Lavender had attended one of the previous ball’s that Selena had performed for and she had been so taken by the skill, that she had personally come up to her after the show and extended her an invitation to come play for her ball the next week.

  Selina was nervous but somehow Miss Lavender had the ability to even make strangers feel like home in her company. Miss Lavender’s late father had been a Lord and so she had grown up in considerable wealth and glamour but rather than conforming to the usual and accepted prissy and haughty rich lady stereotype, she had proven to be quite the contrary.

  In fact, all her employees deemed her as a pleasant personality to work with and Selina shared the same opinion. However, this made her all the very more eager to impress this lady with her piano playing skills at the ball. Although Selina was quite confident in her skills as a pianist and a performer, she still wanted to outshine all her previous performances and so she had worked hard for this event all week.

  And then the day finally arrived.

  Inspired by the sheer impressive reputation of Miss Lavender’s balls, Selina had dressed herself up extra nice for the occasion. Donned in a pastel pink satin dress that clung to her girlish frame, Selena entered the venue and was almost taken aback by the extravagant luxuries this ball afforded. She saw that apart from her performance, Miss Lavender had also hired another band to entertain the guests with the violin and keep up the musical variety. Even though in the three months since she had left home, she had performed many times in this venue but none was as lavish as this.

  She scoped the vicinity and a man donned in black suddenly blocked her path, as he looked at her through his looking glass, “Dear lady, are you Miss Selina Nott?” he asked her in a rather posh accent.

  She nodded. Even though she was happy to get the opportunity to live out her performing dreams and escape the clutches of matrimonial obligations with Vladimir, she was still not satisfied; for she wanted to reach heights with her craft and someday be at a position where she no longer had to introduce her name when she walked inside a room.

  Slowly, the venue started to fill up with guests as they arrived - most joyously and in the best of moods - the servers catered to their needs and Selina took a seat behind the piano and batted out her tunes and melodies for them to hear.

  But as her fingers danced against the porcelain shade keys of the piano, her eyes wandered around the room and drank in the various faces that presented themselves before her. She saw the crowd was definitely well-endowed and some of the guests had that general air of pomposity that she duly despised in the air around them.

  Selina knew such people all too well and she knew Vladimir was most definitely one of them – the name still brought bile to rise up in her throat whenever she thought about it but it was a memory of a distant past and it was best to be just forgotten.

  She saw faces she was already acquainted with at other parties and she saw new ones. But then there was one specific figure that her eyes scoped out at the corner of the room and observed as she played her melodies.

  She had been noticing this man all evening; tall and handsome, he was attracting a lot of female attention around him. She had noticed many women encircle him – keeping their eyes on his every move, much as she was doing right now – and then finally go up to him and strike up a conversation. However, she noticed his response was unlike most men she saw.

  While most men that attended balls such as these were already quite entitled and self-assured to the point where they loved getting their gigantic egos stroked by women, this man was proving to be quite opposite in observation.

  In fact, Selina noticed how he almost dodged the attention of women and then quietly retired to a corner to not engage in conversation, and rather be on his own lonesome instead.

  “Selina!” she heard her name being called with extra fervor as she finished playing her last piano set for the day. It was Miss Lavender that was calling her.

  “Oh, my dear,” Miss Lavender stood in front of her and almost gushed, “That was beautiful! Everyone loved your performance – such beautiful talent for a young lady such as yourself,” she praised her.

  Selina felt her cheeks heat up and she managed to crack a smile in return, “Thank you very much, Miss Lavender,” she replied, “And even more so for the opportunity to play at one of your balls – I hear you are quite selective in your choice of musicians.”

  Miss Lavender waved her hand steadily, “I enjoy art in its true form by those who know how to craft it,” she said, “But enough of that! Come, you must meet some of my guests. They all love you,” Miss Lavender had suddenly grabbed Selina by the wrist and was now pulling her through the hordes of people.

  Indeed, Miss Lavender introduced her to many of her guests – giving an impressive introduction each time - and in that moment, Selina found herself being attached to this woman who she had just met – in a strictly maternal fashion; for she missed her mother, Mrs. Nott, immensely and found her essence in Miss Lavender.

  “Duke!” Miss Lavender suddenly called out while Selina was still by her side, “Joshua Windham!” Miss Lavender reiterated more urgently.

  The man turned around and Selina noticed he was the same gentleman she had been observing who was ignoring the attention of other women during her set.

  But unlike his treatment with those other women, he very enthusiastically came forward and greeted Miss Lavender.

  “Duke! My boy – you do surprise me every day with just how handsome you are,” Miss Lavender gushed as though he was her own son.

  The Duke just took her compliment as graciously as he could and then his gaze flickered over to Selina for one half of a second before flitting right back to Miss Lavender.

  Selina looked back in disbelief – what was the issue with this
man? His cold demeanor – it seemed – extended to every female in the room apart from Miss Lavender, whom it seemed he considered a motherly figure.

  But this short exchange was enough for Selina to formulate an opinion on him – she looked at him with her hooded eyelids and branded him to be arrogant and pompous, much like the rest who considered themselves too good for the company of others.

  “Dear boy, Joshua, may I ask what it is that you are doing sulking in that horrible corner when you can be enjoying the atmosphere and the music much like the rest of my guests?” Miss Lavender asked him.

  He raised one of his eyebrows as though the answer should be obvious. “I take little pleasure in balls, my lady, do excuse me,” he said still addressing Miss Lavender and not so much as batting an eye at Selina.

  Miss Lavender gasped, “What a thing to say! Do you not like the music and the social aspect! The dancing – what is there not to love about the dancing!” she drilled him.

  “I find greater pleasure in contemplation and conversation about things more meaningful than such vapidity,” he continued.

  Selina’s eyes darted from him to Miss Lavender – she could not believe how rude this man was being to the ever so lovely Miss Lavender and yet the woman herself was yet to bat an eyelid, as she still maintained her cheery expression.

  “No, no,” Miss Lavender scolded him promptly, “I cannot stand you being so stoic – you must dance!” she ordered.

  The band started to play a faster composition and Miss Lavender’s face lit up and her eyes fell upon Selina.

  “Selina!” she called out her name, “Let this gentleman accompany you to the dance floor,” she said.

  But Selina was unimpressed by his mannerisms. “Clearly, Miss Lavender, this gentleman has no appreciation for the music or the people, so why must you force him?” she said starkly.