The Hidden Heart
T'was a Love to Remember… Lady Gillian de l'Eau Clair would never forget what she had once shared with Rannulf FitzClifford. How could she, when he had disappeared so suddenly, leaving her with nothing but a cryptic message scrawled upon their betrothal contract?Now, four years later, Rannulf had returned under the guise of being a stranger. And though she wanted nothing to do with him, she'd agreed to keep his secret from her guardian. For Gillian could not deny that despite what he had done, Rannulf FitzClifford would always hold her heart.
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Praise for Sharon Schulze’s previous booksThe Hidden Heart“Perhaps you did not realize that this is my private chamber, milord,” Gillian said, her tone cold.Letter to ReaderTitle PageAbout the AuthorDedicationPrologueChapter OneChapter TwoChapter ThreeChapter FourChapter FiveChapter SixChapter SevenChapter EightChapter NineChapter TenChapter ElevenChapter TwelveChapter ThirteenChapter FourteenChapter FifteenChapter SixteenChapter SeventeenChapter EighteenChapter NineteenChapter TwentyChapter Twenty-OneChapter Twenty-TwoChapter Twenty-ThreeChapter Twenty-FourCopyright
Praise for Sharon Schulze’s previous books
The Shielded Heart
“A fine addition to the author’s l’Eau Clair Chronicles, and one that will make readers look foward to more!”
—Romantic Times Magazine
To tame a Warrior’s Heart
“One swashbuckler readers will enjoy.
K.I.S.S. of the Month.”
—Romantic Times Magazine
Heart of the Dragon—1995 Golden Heart Finalist
“A moving and vastly entertaining tale...”
—Old Book Barn Gazette
The Hidden Heart
Harlequin Historicla #484—November 1999
DON’T MISS THESE OTHER TITLES AVAILABLE NOW:
#483 LADY SARAH’S SON
Gayle Wilson
#485 COOPER’S WIFE
Jillian Hart
#486 THE DREAMMAKER
Judith Stacy
“Perhaps you did not realize that this is my private chamber, milord,” Gillian said, her tone cold.
“You must also be unaware that ’tis most unseemly for us to be here unchaperoned.” She met Rannulf’s eyes, tried to ignore the heat she saw smoldering there.
“I suggest you leave at once, before my guardian discovers you here. I am certain he wouldn’t approve.”
Rannulf closed the space between them and leaned close, his breath warm against her cheek. “You never used to mind us being alone together, Gillian. Indeed, I think you welcomed it...welcomed me.”
Jerking back from him, she said, her voice little more than a croak of sound, “You, sir, are no gentleman.”
“And you, milady, knew that already.” He drew closer as his hand crept nearer her chest. “I believe ’twas one of the things you liked best about me.”
Dear Reader,
Welcome to Harlequin Historicals—stories that will capture your heart with unforgettable characters and the timeless fantasy of falling in love!
Sharon Schulze returns this month with the fourth book in her popular L’EAU CLAIR CHRONICLES, The Hidden Heart. Since Sharon’s debut in our 1997 March Madness Promotion with Heart of the Dragon, critics have hailed her work as “rich” and “satisfying.” In this medieval novel, a beautiful noblewoman must guard her heart from the only man she has ever really loved—the Earl of Wynfield, who has returned to her keep on a dangerous secret mission. Watch love begin anew!
Fans of Western romance will no doubt enjoy Cooper’s Wife by Jilhan Hart, the heartwarming tale of single parents—a lonely sheriff and a troubled widow—who marry to protect their children, but find a lasting love. And in The Dreammaker by Judith Stacy, also a Western, two people who are swindled by the same man go into business together to recoup their losses and realize their dreams—when love, the dream of a lifetime, is right in front of them! Award-winning author Gayle Wilson’s latest Regency-style historical, Lady Sarah’s Son, is the heart-wrenching tale of sweethearts, torn apart by tragedy, who come together again in a marriage of convenience and can no longer deny their enduring love....
Enjoy! And come back again next month for four more choices of the best in historical romance.
Sincerely,
Tracy Farrell, Senior Editor
P.S. We’d love to hear what you think about Harlequin Historicals! Drop us a line at:
Harlequin Historicals
300 E. 42nd Street, 6th Floor New York, NY 10017
SHARON SCHULZE
began writing romances while pursuing her first career as a civil engineer, and discovered that confirmed day-dreamer /bookaholics can practice their craft anywhere, even somewhere as unromantic as a wastewater treatment plant. In her writing, she gets the chance to experience days gone by—without encountering disease, vermin and archaic plumbing!
A New Hampshire native, she now makes her home in Connecticut with her husband, Cliff, their children, Patrick and Christina, and her “lovely assistant”—Samantha, a miniature dachshund. In her ever-shrinking spare time she enjoys movies, music and poking around in antique shops.
Readers may contact her at P.O. Box 180, Oakville, CT 06779.
With love and appreciation to my husband,
Clifford— ever and always my hero.
Prologue
The Welsh Marches, spring 1213
Gillian de I’Eau Clair leaned over the curtain wall of I’Eau Clair Keep and stared down at the new grass covering her father’s grave. Nigh two months gone, yet the pain of his loss had scarce eased. And now to find this among her father’s papers! She crushed the unsigned betrothal contract clasped in her hand with all the strength of her aching heart and cursed the man who’d scrawled his stark refusal where his acceptance should have been.
Rannulf FitzClifford—once the friend of the child she’d been, later her heart’s desire. As she had been his, so he’d led her to believe. The date on the agreement remained etched upon her brain—her seventeenth birthday, more than two years past—not long after his visits to I’Eau Clair had suddenly ceased, as if he’d vanished from her world forever.
