Reunited At The King's Court
Kept apart by duty… Reunited by love? Arlette Dryden has never forgotten William Latham, the Royalist soldier who accompanied her to safety while the battle of Worcester raged. Or how her heart broke when he left. Now, it’s the exiled king’s return parade, and stunned Arlette locks eyes with her charismatic cavalier again. She’s still irresistibly drawn to him, but as both have convenient betrothals beckoning, can their long-held passion conquer all?
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Kept apart by duty...
Reunited by love?
Arlette Dryden has never forgotten William Latham, the Royalist soldier who accompanied her to safety while the Battle of Worcester raged. Or how her heart broke when he left. Now it’s the exiled king’s return parade, and stunned Arlette locks eyes with her charismatic cavalier again. She’s still irresistibly drawn to him, but as both have convenient betrothals beckoning, can their long-held passion conquer all?
HELEN DICKSON was born and still lives in South Yorkshire, with her retired farm manager husband. Having moved out of the busy farmhouse where she raised their two sons, she now has more time to indulge in her favourite pastimes. She enjoys being outdoors, travelling, reading and music. An incurable romantic, she writes for pleasure. It was a love of history that drove her to writing historical fiction.
The Master of Stonegrave Hall
Mishap Marriage
A Traitor’s Touch
Caught in Scandal’s Storm
Lucy Lane and the Lieutenant
Lord Lansbury’s Christmas Wedding
Royalist on the Run
The Foundling Bride
Carrying the Gentleman’s Secret
A Vow for an Heiress
The Governess’s Scandalous Marriage
Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk.
ISBN: 978-0-008-90121-9
REUNITED AT THE KING’S COURT
© 2019 Helen Dickson
Published in Great Britain 2019
by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF
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Contents
Note to Readers
Arlette Dryden had been a motherless child when her father and brother took up their swords in support of the Royalist cause, leaving her alone at Mayfield Hall in Oxfordshire in the care of loyal servants. The news of a fresh battle having been fought between Cromwell’s army and Royalists at Worcester meant that Arlette, now thirteen years old, had made it her mission to hide her father’s horse, his precious Hector. A year before, the fine, huge, spirited horse had carried him in battle and brought him home wounded from the Battle of Dunbar, never to take up his sword again. Hector was conspicuous in the paddock. She would have to put him out of sight should marauding soldiers from Worcester come their way.
If passing strangers could be believed, having defeated the Royalists, the Roundheads now posed impending danger, so Blanche, the housekeeper, had told Arlette not to leave the house. She had promised she wouldn’t, but, unable to bear the thought of Hector alone and vulnerable in the paddock, with the thought of a Roundhead sitting on his back abhorrent to her, Arlette knew she must defy Blanche.
Panting and breathless by the time she reached the paddock, which stood away from the house, she had the satisfaction of seeing Hector nibbling the grass. Pleased to see her, the stallion nickered and tossed his black mane, arching his neck. She dared not risk taking him to the stables at the back of the house. They had once housed some fine horseflesh, but the horses had gone long since to serve the Royalist cause. Instead she guided him to a corner of the paddock where a hut was almost invisible behind a clump of overgrown laurel bushes. Urging him inside, where there was hay and water, then petting him and whispering in his ear that he had to be quiet, she went out, closing the door securely, hoping he would be safe.
