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Her Rags-To-Riches Christmas
Laura Martin
A Christmas miracle rescue! But dare she wish for more? Wrongfully-convicted and transported to Australia, Alice Fillips is saved from public flogging by wealthy landowner George Fitzgerald. Working as a domestic servant at his farm feels worlds away from her old life. But as the connection between her and George boils over, she’s torn between her fear of trusting anyone…and the tantalising glimpse of the fresh start this man could offer…
A Christmas miracle rescue!
But dare she wish for more?
A Scandalous Australian Bachelors story. Wrongfully convicted and transported to Australia, Alice Fillips is saved from public flogging by wealthy landowner George Fitzgerald. Working as a domestic servant at his farm feels worlds away from her old life. But as the connection between her and George boils over, she’s torn between her fear of trusting anyone...and the tantalizing glimpse of the fresh start this man could offer...
LAURA MARTIN writes historical romances with an adventurous undercurrent. When not writing she spends her time working as a doctor in Cambridgeshire, where she lives with her husband. In her spare moments Laura loves to lose herself in a book, and has been known to read from cover to cover in a single day when the story is particularly gripping. She also loves to travel—especially to visit historical sites and far-flung shores.
Also by Laura Martin (#uef6f9197-e834-5700-805f-472a8ebe85bb)
Under a Desert Moon
Governess to the Sheikh
A Ring for the Pregnant Debutante
An Unlikely Debutante
An Earl to Save Her Reputation
The Viscount’s Runaway Wife
The Eastway Cousins miniseries
An Earl in Want of a Wife
Heiress on the Run
Scandalous Australian Bachelors miniseries
Courting the Forbidden Debutante
Reunited with His Long-Lost Cinderella
Her Rags-to-Riches Christmas
Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk).
Her Rags-to-Riches Christmas
Laura Martin
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
ISBN: 978-1-474-08961-6
HER RAGS-TO-RICHES CHRISTMAS
© 2019 Laura Martin
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 (#uef6f9197-e834-5700-805f-472a8ebe85bb)
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For Mum and Dad,
and that trip around Australia a decade ago.
Contents
Cover (#u76407477-3cba-583f-9b71-5ab1ad2f1f85)
Back Cover Text (#u1f58ea5a-4408-5223-8f45-53cb79e7c056)
About the Author (#u4afbbb48-25de-5e8b-b092-91a7451b68a3)
Booklist (#udca0527b-f056-598d-bd81-a79f77b5be9e)
Title Page (#u90615315-a781-5c4b-ba9e-7bb448618230)
Copyright (#uc78e196c-b564-54ce-9a90-a82aa3d3215d)
Note to Readers
Dedication (#u31f01204-7f0c-51cc-95ff-5a1c89bb6d52)
Chapter One (#u0caebbdc-9867-5bb6-afba-ad2497faaba6)
Chapter Two (#ud2ad6606-e3ef-56d8-85f8-9c9021e1ec07)
Chapter Three (#uacf7ebd8-8ed7-52fb-aa49-3bddd159af6b)
Chapter Four (#u948f114b-7892-5469-9325-e1fb4b237e65)
Chapter Five (#u6261f9ff-9698-5342-a450-4377e39199fd)
Chapter Six (#u18f1fe54-c532-5a05-92cc-9b01d5cf7389)
Chapter Seven (#litres_trial_promo)
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)
Epilogue (#litres_trial_promo)
Extract (#litres_trial_promo)
About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter One (#uef6f9197-e834-5700-805f-472a8ebe85bb)
Crouching down, George Fitzgerald took a handful of earth and let it trickle through his fingers. The earth here wasn’t like anywhere else in the world—and he’d stopped off in many countries during the long voyage back to Australia. It was thick and fertile and smelt of home. It felt good to be home, good to have the warmth of the sun on his face and the sound of the sea behind him. Three long years he’d been gone and now he was eager to get back to his farm, to get back to a normal life.
Sydney had changed in the time he’d been away. There were more buildings, more people, and as he walked away from the port he felt an optimism for his country that he hadn’t for a long time. It was as though people had finally realised this fledgling colony was here to stay and one day might be more than just a place to send those England had sentenced to transportation.
George was just crossing the road, heading north-west to start the long and dusty journey out of Sydney and back to his farm when he heard a scream so piercing it made him stop in his tracks. Five seconds passed and then ten, then there was another cry, even more desperate than the last. Another and another passed in quick succession, each followed by a loud sob.
Quickly he ran down the street, dodging the children playing and the women bustling through the town, rounding the corner just as he heard another agonised scream. He slowed as he came up against a small crowd, gathered around watching the spectacle in front of them, muttering uneasily. This time the crack of the whip was unmistakable, coming just a fraction of a second before the woman’s cry of pain.
George took in the scene. Tied to a post was a young woman, her age difficult to tell as her head was lolling forward, her face covered by thick tresses of hair. Her dress had been ripped at the back, exposing pale skin crisscrossed with the marks of the whip. Some of the lashes had broken the skin and blood dripped down in crimson droplets. The guard brandishing the whip had a serious expression on his face, but as he drew back his arm for another lash George could see he was relishing the power he held over the woman tied in front of him. She would get no mercy from that quarter.
Before the rational part of his brain could stop him, George sprang forward, parting the crowd and placing himself between the guard and the woman. He shot out a hand, grabbing the whip just before the guard could flick it, stopping it in mid-air. His hand was wrenched forward, but he managed to stand his ground, planting his feet firmly and bracing his shoulders.
For a moment the guard just looked at him with surprise.
‘Move away,’ he growled after a few seconds.
‘She’s had enough,’ George said, his voice calm and his manner polite, but he knew the guard would see the steel in his eyes.
‘What business is it of yours? Move away.’
‘I can’t do that. She’s had enough,’ George repeated.
With a snarl the guard yanked at the whip, trying to unbalance George and send him sprawling into the dirt, but George had a good hold on the leather now and pulled back just enough to show the guard he wasn’t going to be shifted easily.
‘I’ll whip you, too, don’t think I won’t.’
George had no doubt the guard would go through with the threat in a fit of anger.
‘Go fetch someone from the Governor’s office,’ he instructed a young lad standing at the front of the crowd. ‘There’ll be a coin in it for you.’
He watched as the boy scurried off, then turned his attention back to the man in front of him. The guard still hadn’t moved, but every so often would pull on his whip, trying to unbalance George from a distance. He wanted to check on the woman hanging from the whipping post, but did not dare turn around and take his eye off the threat in front of him.
There was a murmuring in the crowd and out of the corner of his eye he saw people step aside as a couple more guards pushed through, coming to investigate the commotion.
Within seconds he was surrounded by four large men, doing their best to tower over his six foot two frame, but failing.
‘Gentlemen...’ George said, knowing they were nothing of the sort. ‘Please step back. Someone from the Governor’s office will be here shortly to sort this mess out, but I wouldn’t want any of you to get hurt before he arrives.’
