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One Week To Wed
Laurie Benson
One stolen night……leads to unexpected wedding vows!Part of The Sommersby Brides: widowed Lady Charlotte Gregory believes she’ll never marry again after losing her husband—until meeting dashing Lord Andrew Pearce brings her respectable lonely world back to vibrant life! Left alone one night, they give in to their desires—only to find their secret passion leads to shock, scandal…and a sudden marriage of convenience!
One stolen night...
...leads to unexpected wedding vows!
Part of The Sommersby Brides: widowed Lady Charlotte Gregory believes she’ll never marry again after losing her husband. Until meeting dashing Lord Andrew Pearce brings her respectable, lonely world back to vibrant life! Left alone one night, they give in to their desires only to find their secret passion leads to shock, scandal...and a sudden marriage of convenience!
The Sommersby Brides miniseries
Book 1—One Week to Wed
Look out for the next books, coming soon!
“Delightfully unexpected plot twists, with lively dialogue and witty repartee.”
—RT Book Reviews on The Unexpected Countess
“This adventure and treasure hunt romance is a charmer.”
—RT Book Reviews on The Unexpected Countess
LAURIE BENSON is an award-winning Regency romance author, whose book An Unexpected Countess was voted Harlequin’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 (#u6665ad2a-e880-5d1e-8684-6d8a02f82d2b)
Secret Lives of the Ton miniseries
An Unsuitable Duchess
An Uncommon Duke
An Unexpected Countess
The Sommersby Brides miniseries
One Week to Wed
And look out for the next two books
coming soon
Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk).
One Week to Wed
Laurie Benson
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
ISBN: 978-1-474-07385-1
ONE WEEK TO WED
© 2018 Laurie Benson
Published in Great Britain 2018
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.
® and ™ are trademarks owned and used by the trademark owner and/or its licensee. Trademarks marked with ® are registered with the United Kingdom Patent Office and/or the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market and in other countries.
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
For Terry:
To every incredible challenge you’ve responded with unbelievable strength. If I could write your happy-ever-after, I’d leave out all the bad stuff.
Thank you to my wonderful editor Linda Fildew, my team at Mills & Boon, and my agent Courtney Miller-Callihan. Hugs to Lori, Mia, Jen, Harper, Anabelle and Michele, for everything. Thank you to my family for your love and support. And thank you to my readers. For those of you who asked for Andrew’s story after you read
An Uncommon Duke, this is for you.
Contents
Cover (#u456f1197-0a33-53eb-a3f7-b534258bb116)
Back Cover Text (#udb05d19d-56b2-5849-97cb-660ac2a945e9)
About the Author (#u422edefa-4b08-5f77-94db-4ddfdfcbbab6)
Booklist (#ub3a63470-42a6-51b8-bdf7-39441f58ea3a)
Title Page (#ucb213d2e-8c62-525d-b909-5242737d94ed)
Copyright (#u4973cd51-77f0-528c-ab25-8b8481694b8e)
Dedication (#u3dd89ec4-a65c-56e0-8e27-1e05a8da3468)
Chapter One (#ud725ff08-3fb6-5531-b7aa-8b4de0067b0e)
Chapter Two (#u305ff3df-7d4b-556d-96ef-23b5be338906)
Chapter Three (#u151c37ee-f8cf-586c-a048-daaf707d8d52)
Chapter Four (#u3f87348e-a346-5109-ad44-dd162318aac2)
Chapter Five (#u460cd8bd-a2ca-5dd1-8a75-c0de69fee35b)
Chapter Six (#udf7d2cb3-2c02-58f7-9312-797ebb745379)
Chapter Seven (#u2abc3884-ab0c-51fb-9774-efb1edf7b465)
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)
Epilogue (#litres_trial_promo)
Author Note (#litres_trial_promo)
Extract (#litres_trial_promo)
About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter One (#u6665ad2a-e880-5d1e-8684-6d8a02f82d2b)
Mayfair, London—1819
There was no mistaking the inviting look in the eyes of the widow as she studied Lord Andrew Pearce across the coffin of her dead husband.
In a stealthy manoeuvre, Andrew shifted his leg and ground the heel of his boot into his brother Gabriel’s foot, determined to scuff the impeccable black leather. It would serve him right for dragging Andrew here. In true ducal fashion Gabriel exhibited no reaction, aside from the slight clench of his jaw.
It was all his brother’s fault Andrew was being subjected to this. As the eldest, Gabriel had informed his brothers it was their family’s duty to pay their respects, even though they all hated the man.
It was the thing to do. It was only proper.
And Andrew was counting the minutes until it was over.
Being this close to a dead body was hard enough, bringing back memories he would just as soon forget. But the attention from the widow of the newly deceased Twelfth Duke of Skeffington in addition to that was making this unbearable.
At nine and twenty, Elizabeth, the Duchess of Skeffington, was only two years younger than Andrew. With her thick black hair, big brown eyes and graceful figure she was considered by many to be a diamond of the first water. However, Andrew wasn’t attracted to her. Even knowing she was going to be a very wealthy widow did little to make her any more enticing.
She was a woman who appeared obsessed with rank and prestige. As the brother of a duke, he had experienced his fair share of people who were interested in him only for his family connections. And as a duchess in her own right, he assumed her prejudice against families of lower status was one of the reasons she always seemed interested in him. There were very few ducal families in Britain. Her choices were limited. However, he didn’t want a wife.
The Duchess slipped a wayward tendril of black hair over her ear and offered him a shy smile. If Gabriel noticed her attention had been fixed on Andrew since they entered the room, he gave no indication. However, Monty, on his other side, pressed his knee firmly into Andrew’s leg. At least one of his brothers was aware of his plight.
‘You have our condolences, Elizabeth,’ Gabriel said, over the murmur of voices from the other mourners in the ballroom that was darkened with black cloth around the windows.
Her attention finally shifted away from Andrew to Gabriel, and she gave his brother a polite smile. ‘Thank you for coming to pay your respects. It’s no secret you and Skeffington were on opposing sides on many issues through the years.’
‘We were. His death did come as a shock, even with his advanced age. He just addressed the House on Monday.’
Monty tilted his head and eyed the outline of the short thin body lying before them under the shroud. ‘Forgive me, but I’ve not heard what caused his demise. Was he suffering from an illness?’ Andrew’s younger brother asked.
‘He choked on a chicken bone during dinner. The footmen were not able to save him.’ It was said with such a calm demeanour, one had to wonder if she had been present to witness what must have been a ghastly event.
Andrew’s heart began to pound harder. He knew what it was like to watch someone die. Taking a step back, he looked away from the dead body in front of him and tried to push the memories out of his head. Over the years he had become adept at locking them away, but this was bringing them all back. He should have refused to come today.
As if he realised Andrew was ready to bolt from the room, Gabriel made a move to end the conversation and Andrew’s torture. ‘Well, I’m sure there are many others here who wish to pay their respects. We will not keep you any further.’
Andrew’s sense of unease at being around this much death was starting to lift. Until the Duchess stepped around the coffin and called softly to him as he turned to walk towards the door with his brothers.
He squeezed his eyes shut before turning to face her. ‘Yes, Your Grace?’
She gave him a small smile as she started to blush. ‘You may call me Elizabeth. We’ve been acquainted with one another for twelve years.’
‘But I’d never presume to be on such intimate terms with you.’ It was paramount he stated that, since he had no intention of becoming so familiar with Skeffington’s widow.
