Reunited with the Major

‘Brock …’ Samantha said, and felt as if a large hand had squeezed her heart, so that she could not breathe and the pain was almost more than she could bear.

He was saying things that made her long to be in his arms, to taste that sweetness her senses told her she would find there, and yet he had said nothing that made her think he spoke of more than true friendship—the love of comrades in arms.

‘Percy told me once that I could trust you implicitly and I always have.’

‘Samantha, you can have no idea of how I feel …’

Brock gave a little moan of despair and clasped her to him as though he would never let her go. His lips pressed against hers in a kiss of passion and need, and then he suddenly thrust her from him.

‘I want so much to tell you what is in my mind. You are all that any man could desire. But I have no right to speak until … No, this is not fair to you,’ he muttered. ‘You lost the man you loved and now I would ask so much of you—and yet I have no right until this business is settled …’ He smiled oddly. ‘Forgive me, Samantha.’

Praise for Anne Herries

‘Anne Herries has crafted a densely plotted, immensely enthralling and mesmerising historical romantic adventure.’

—CataRomance on Forbidden Lady

‘Pride and Prejudice meets Agatha Christie in this enthralling, captivating and wonderfully passionate Regency romance by award-winning author Anne Herries.’

—CataRomance on Courted by the Captain

‘Another enjoyable romp.’

—RT Book Reviews on An Innocent Debutante in Hanover Square

Reunited with the Major is the final book in Anne Herries’s trilogy Regency Brides of Convenience

Reunited with the Major

Anne Herries

www.millsandboon.co.uk

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 books, although they are mostly about love and romance. She writes for her own enjoyment, and to give pleasure to her readers. Anne is a winner of the Romantic Novelists’ Association Romance Prize. She invites readers to contact her on her website: www.lindasole.co.uk

Contents

Cover

Introduction

Praise for Anne Herries

Title Page

About the Author

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

Extract

Copyright

Prologue

Samantha had felt the tears sting her eyes as she’d seen the grave faces of the young officers who had carried her wounded husband home to her. Every one of them had seemed devastated, torn with genuine grief by the sight of their colonel lying so badly wounded on the makeshift stretcher.

‘We’re so sorry, Mrs Scatterby,’ each of the young men had said in turn before they’d left. ‘It was just bad luck. He was in the wrong place at the wrong time...caught by the blast.’

She’d raised her head to look at them proudly through her unshed tears. She was a beautiful young woman, her hair like pale silk, and her eyes a shade of blue that defied description. Much younger than her wounded husband, she looked vulnerable and in need of a protective shoulder—and not a man there would have refused it had she asked, but she was too proud.

‘I shall not give up,’ she said. ‘He’s still alive. I’ll take him home to England and I’ll nurse him back to health.’

She saw the pity in their eyes, but refused to give way to her grief until they had all gone. Her dearest Percy was clinging to life despite the wounds he’d received in the heat of battle. The doctor visited, taking his time in examining his patient, before turning to her with a shake of the head.

‘I can patch up his wounds, but he has been damaged internally and that I cannot heal. Even if he survives for a few weeks I doubt he will ever be strong again. The best you can do for him is to take him home to an English country house with a garden and care for him until the end. I fear you will find it a trying task for he will be an invalid and in pain.’

‘He took me in when I had nothing,’ Samantha told him proudly. ‘I will care for him while he has breath in his body.’

‘He loved you very much. We all thought him a lucky man, Mrs Scatterby. I have no doubt that if anyone can pull him through it will be you.’

Samantha thanked him.

For some weeks Percy was too ill to move, but then, as the wounds to his leg and shoulder healed, he seemed to improve, though often he was caught by a racking cough that made it difficult for him to breathe.

His devoted wife hardly left his side. During the sea voyage from Spain she spent most of the crossing in their cabin, tenderly caring for his needs. Kind and considerate young officers designated as their escort took them to a pleasant country house. The house had been provided by one of their number and Samantha was assured that she and the Colonel were welcome to stay for as long as they wished.