âI do not believe it would be a good thing for you to dance with Lord Coleridge too often,â Mrs Henderson said, coming up to her.
âHe is a perfect gentleman, Helene, and well likedâbut you must not set your heart on him. He mixes in circles that we shall scarcely enter, my dear.â
âI am very certain he would not do for me, Mama,â Helene replied primly, though a little voice at the back of her mind told her that she was not telling the whole truth.
She did like Lord Coleridge, more than she was prepared to admit, but of course it would not do at all. He was a member of the aristocracyâand she had vowed long ago that she would never give her heart to anyone who might break it as her mamaâs had been broken.
Anne Herries lives in Cambridgeshire, where she is fond of watching wildlife and spoils the birds and squirrels that are frequent visitors to her garden. Anne loves to write about the beauty of nature, and sometimes puts a little into her booksâalthough they are mostly about love and romance. She writes for her own enjoyment, and to give pleasure to her readers. She is a winner of the Romantic Novelistsâ Association Romance Prize.
Recent novels by the same author:
MARRYING CAPTAIN JACK
THE UNKNOWN HEIR
THE HOMELESS HEIRESS
THE RAKEâS REBELLIOUS LADY
A COUNTRY MISS IN HANOVER SQUARE>*
>*A Season in Town trilogy
And in the Regency series The Steepwood Scandal:
LORD RAVENSDENâS MARRIAGE
COUNTERFEIT EARL
And in The Hellfire Mysteries:
AN IMPROPER COMPANION
A WEALTHY WIDOW
A WORTHY GENTLEMAN
Author Note
This is the second in my A Season in Town mini-series. Amelia Royston has invited Helene to stay with her for the season. Helene knows that she must marry well, and she is very attracted to Lord Coleridge, but she does not think he could possibly be interested in a girl like her. However, it seems that someone is bent on causing him harm, perhaps taking his life, and Helene is instrumental in preventing one such attack. Can she and Max discover who is behind these attempts, and can they find happiness together?
Amelia is feeling a little low, because it seems that Gerard has forgotten her and the love they once shared. She will have to settle for living alone and inviting her friends to stay, because she could not contemplate marrying anyone else.
Book Three is Amelia and Gerardâs tale. I hope you will enjoy these stories, and I thank all my readers for their continued support. Please keep writing to me at linda@ lindasole.co.uk
âOh, no, you donât!â Max Coleridge said as the urchin attempted to pluck a kerchief from the pocket of his companion. His hand shot out, grasping the dirty boy around his wrist with a grip of iron. âThat is thieving, my lad, and it will land you in prison. You will end with your neck stretched at the nubbing cheat if you continue this way.â
âLet me go, guv,â the boy whined. âI ainât done nuffinâ bad, honest I ainâtâbut I ainât had nuffinâ ter eat fer a week!â
âIndeed?â Maxâs right eyebrow arched. âShould I believe you, I wonder? And what should I do with you supposing that I do?â
âLet the ruffian go and be done with it,â Sir Roger Cole advised. âI dare say he deserves to be handed over to the beadle, but it requires far too much effort.â
âYour trouble, my friend, is that you are too lazy,â Max replied with a smile that robbed his words of any offence. âNo, I shall not let the boy goâhe would simply rob someone else and eventually he will die in prison or at the ropeâs end.â His grasp tightened about the ladâs arm. âTell me your name, lad. I shall take you home and tell your father to keep you off the streets.â
âMe nameâs Arthur,â the boy muttered sullenly. âI ainât got no home nor no farvver or muvver neivver. Ainât got no one. Let me go like the gent said, sir. I wonât trouble you no more.â
âNo family at all?â Arthur shook his head and Max sighed. âUnfortunately, if I let you go, you would trouble my conscience far more than you imagine. I shall take you with me. You are going to school, Arthurâwhether you like it or not.â
âSchool? Wotâs that?â Arthur asked and wiped his running nose on his sleeve. He eyed the large man suspiciously. âYou ainât one oâ them queer nabs, are yer?â
âI am certainly not,â Max denied with a wry smile. âIf you are hungry, you will like schoolâyou will be fed three times a day, if you behave yourself.â
âFood fer nuffinâ?âArthur stared at him suspiciously. âWotâs the catch, guv?â As to be a catch. No one does nuffinâ fer nuffinââ¦â
âNo, I dare say they do not where you come from,â Max said. âIn return, you will have to give up a life of crimeâand grimeâand learn a tradeâ¦â
âI ainât goinâ up no chimneys!â
âGood grief, I should hope not,â Max said. âYou might like to be a carpenter or a groom, perhapsâor even a politician?â