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Mrs Sommersby’s Second Chance
Laurie Benson
She’s played Cupid for others Now she’s met her own unlikely match! Part of The Sommersby Brides. Widowed society matchmaker Mrs Clara Sommersby thinks handsome self-made businessman Mr William Lane is just the man for her neighbour’s overlooked daughter. He’s successful and confident, if somewhat emotionally distant, until suddenly—shockingly—his attention turns to Clara herself! She thought her days of romance were over, but is this dashing younger man intent on giving her a second chance?
She’s played Cupid for others
Now she’s met her own unlikely match!
Part of The Sommersby Brides. Widowed society matchmaker Mrs. Clara Sommersby thinks self-made businessman William Lane is just the man for her neighbor’s overlooked daughter. He’s successful and confident, if emotionally distant, until suddenly—shockingly—his attention turns to Clara herself! She thought her days of romance were over, but is this younger man intent on giving her a second chance?
LAURIE BENSON is an award-winning Regency romance author, whose book An Unexpected Countess was voted Mills & Boon’s 2017 ‘Hero of the Year’ by readers. She began her writing career as an advertising copywriter. When she isn’t at her laptop, avoiding laundry, Laurie can be found browsing antiques shops and going on long hikes with her husband and two sons. Learn more about Laurie by visiting her website at lauriebenson.net (http://www.lauriebenson.net). You can also find her on Twitter and Facebook.
Also by Laurie Benson (#u75f4568f-8407-5714-a0b0-45f922e8c629)
Secret Lives of the Ton miniseries
An Unsuitable Duchess
An Uncommon Duke
An Unexpected Countess
The Sommersby Brides miniseries
One Week to Wed
Convenient Christmas Brides
His Three-Day Duchess
Mrs Sommersby’s Second Chance
Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk).
Mrs Sommersby’s Second Chance
Laurie Benson
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
ISBN: 978-1-474-08926-5
MRS SOMMERSBY’S SECOND CHANCE
© 2019 Laurie Benson
Published in Great Britain 2019
by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF
All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.
By payment of the required fees, you are granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right and licence to download and install this e-book on your personal computer, tablet computer, smart phone or other electronic reading device only (each a “Licensed Device”) and to access, display and read the text of this e-book on-screen on your Licensed Device. Except to the extent any of these acts shall be permitted pursuant to any mandatory provision of applicable law but no further, no part of this e-book or its text or images may be reproduced, transmitted, distributed, translated, converted or adapted for use on another file format, communicated to the public, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher.
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www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
Note to Readers (#u75f4568f-8407-5714-a0b0-45f922e8c629)
This ebook contains the following accessibility features which, if supported by your device, can be accessed via your ereader/accessibility settings:
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For my editor, Linda Fildew,
for trusting me with this idea and for
frequently making me smile with your notes.
Thank you to Harper St George for being there, and
to Anabelle Bryant for listening to me work through
this plot on that long road trip. Shout out to my
agent, Courtney Miller-Callihan, and to my team at
Harlequin Historical. To my friends, who understood
when I disappeared to write this. Thanks for your
patience. And to my family. I’m grateful for you every
day. Finally, thanks to my awesome readers! For those
of you who said Clara deserved to find love again,
regardless of her age, this one’s for you.
Contents
Cover (#u4ae2cc96-8068-57e0-9c4e-53fff7246716)
Back Cover Text (#ua8a36543-9bed-545f-bd79-ec3093099c91)
About the Author (#ubbb3410d-2d5e-5dc1-b3fc-c7260e02df94)
Booklist (#u57e42daf-149a-5c39-8e1b-d308bea87451)
Title Page (#u592d8b26-6776-50e8-9d7b-ccb5d4e3f76c)
Copyright (#ucd47e3cd-3599-5926-b409-d52eeddd08df)
Note to Readers
Dedication (#uf307445c-65f0-5725-8a3e-2946c77afdb8)
Chapter One (#u260ba372-438c-56bf-8a35-a5c609b03d8b)
Chapter Two (#u04cd116e-b045-5a89-8d16-769d167675bc)
Chapter Three (#u5bc48e0f-92c7-5fd4-ac60-2f8a170e1160)
Chapter Four (#ud33a7fab-6da4-51c3-a1d6-d43f57a2e6b2)
Chapter Five (#u1d004131-9b2e-5eda-a5e0-6ef2d2a213df)
Chapter Six (#ue04a9d00-9c08-5893-977a-a6940dd48fd2)
Chapter Seven (#ub12bab25-aac0-55ea-a034-26216212d5aa)
Chapter Eight (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Nine (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Ten (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Eleven (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twelve (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Thirteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Fourteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Fifteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Sixteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Seventeen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Eighteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Nineteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty-One (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty-Two (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty-Three (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty-Four (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty-Five (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty-Six (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty-Seven (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty-Eight (#litres_trial_promo)
Epilogue (#litres_trial_promo)
Historical Note (#litres_trial_promo)
Extract (#litres_trial_promo)
About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter One (#u75f4568f-8407-5714-a0b0-45f922e8c629)
Bath, England—1820
It wasn’t as if a small sip of water was capable of changing one’s life. In all the years Clara Sommersby had stood in the Pump Room to have her daily drink, she had never witnessed anyone perform such an intense inspection of a glass of the spa’s mineral water.
She had seen the tall blond-haired gentleman accept the empty glass from the attendant and approach the fountain out of the corner of her eye. Many people entered Bath each day to stay for an extended amount of time to take advantage of the waters in hopes of alleviating their ailments. There were also those who came to the fashionable town to experience the noted assemblies and various entertainments. She would firmly place this gentleman in the latter category.
While Clara normally took note of newly arrived visitors, this morning she awoke with a soreness in her lower back and had only been thinking of a long soak in the thermal baths to hopefully relieve her discomfort—until she saw this man swirl the water in his glass and sniff it as one would do while studying a glass of wine.
As he held the glass up and brought it to his eye, he caught her staring at him through the clear liquid. Too amused to look away, Clara tried to flatten out her smile. The gentleman across from her cleared his throat and went back to studying the contents of his glass.
‘The water is an exceptional ancient vintage,’ she offered, not even bothering to hide the amusement in her voice. ‘It might be a bit odd on the palate at first, but people have been praising its quality for ages.’
He lowered the glass and the faint spark in his blue eyes told her that he understood her jest. ‘I was simply trying to determine the mineral content.’
‘Are you a connoisseur of water, then, or perhaps a scientist of some sort?’
