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The Abducted Heiress
Claire Thornton
Should she trust this dangerous rogue?Lady Desire Godwin’s gentle existence is rudelyinterrupted when a handsome brigand crosses theparapet of her rooftop garden. She watches, dismayed, asthe impudent stranger is carried off to jail.As the Great Fire rages across London, Jakob Balstonuses the confusion to escape. He fully expects that Desirewill have already fled town. Only, she is still there, at themercy of the flames and…alone.Is his intention rescue or abduction as he rows them bothto safety upstream? He must surely be after her wealth,because no man could possibly want a woman asscarred as she….City of FlamesSmoldering desire at the heart of a burning London
He was a hardy rogue. What did he want with her?
“Am I to be your hostage?” She thought of the chest full of money.
“No,” said Jakob.
“Then why do you want me?” she asked, bewildered.
“I don’t want you,” he replied curtly.
Desire caught her breath. His sharp response cut straight through her defenses, hurting her where she was most vulnerable. She knew full well that her most attractive feature was her inheritance—but it was a long time since she’d been reminded of that quite so brutally. It didn’t matter that Jakob was a brigand who’d just escaped from prison. He was still a handsome man who had no doubt enjoyed many beautiful women.
Shamed and humiliated, she turned her face into her shoulder in an instinctive effort to hide her scarred cheek from her abductor.
It was only when Jakob realized she was trying to conceal her scars that he guessed why his brief comment had wounded her so severely. He muttered a soft curse.
Praise for Claire Thornton
Raven’s Honor
“Claire Thornton has written an exciting historical unlike anything I’ve read this past year. She hooked me within the first few pages and kept me hanging on the edge throughout the rest of this beautifully written love story…. I highly recommend this intoxicating love story.”
—Romance Junkies
Gifford’s Lady
“Claire Thornton is truly gifted in creating stories that are so unusual—with charismatic characters, intriguing plots and subtle humor. Her hero steps off the page and into your heart with his bravery and sensibilities.”
—Romance Junkies
“Thornton offers an inventive plotline and paints a vivid picture with her descriptions.”
—Romantic Times BOOKreviews
“[Abigail] and Gif share a wonderfully tender and intimate love scene that’s one of the best I have read this year…. It’s a standout.”
—All About Romance
The Abducted Heiress
Claire Thornton
All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.This edition 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.
Published in Great Britain 2005
by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF
The Abducted Heiress © 2005 Claire Thornton
ISBN: 978-1-474-09553-2
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
Author Note
The stories in the City of Flames trilogy take place in Europe during the reign of Charles II. This was an era of great color, drama and variety. The king scandalized some of his subjects with his many mistresses, but his reign also saw the emergence of modern banking among the London goldsmiths. Actresses appeared for the first time in London theaters, while members of the Royal Society met every week to witness scientific experiments.
Athena Fairchild, Colonel Jakob Balston and the Duke of Kilverdale are cousins, but they’ve led very different lives. Athena grew up in England, Jakob in Sweden, and Kilverdale spent his childhood exiled in France as a result of the war between Charles I and Parliament.
The cousins’ romances take place in various locations, but London is at the heart of the City of Flames trilogy. The cousins all meet the one they love in the city—although Athena’s happiness is destroyed almost before it begins.
Athena’s story, The Defiant Mistress, begins in May 1666 in Venice and the events span the rest of the summer. Jakob’s story, The Abducted Heiress, and Kilverdale’s story, The Vagabond Duchess, both begin in London at the start of September 1666. In the early hours of the morning of September 2 a fire in Pudding Lane will burn out of control….
While I was writing these books I fell in love with the characters and their world. I hope you enjoy reading their stories as much as I enjoyed writing them.
Contents
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
Epilogue
Prologue
Stockholm, Sweden, 1653
‘What’s wrong, Father? Is it bad news?’ Jakob asked.
Instead of replying, James Balston continued to stare at the letter in his hand.
Jakob’s sense of unease grew stronger. His mother also noticed her husband’s unusual reaction to the letter. Margareta lowered her embroidery to her lap and waited for James to speak, a crease of worry between her eyes.
‘Andrew is dead,’ said James. It was a measure of his shock that he spoke in English.
‘Förlåt?’ Margareta looked at Jakob in confusion. Despite the fact that she and James had been married for eighteen years, she still spoke very little English. ‘Vad sade han?’
‘Andrew är död,’ Jakob automatically repeated his father’s words in Swedish.
‘Åh nej!’ The colour drained from his mother’s face.
The depth of her distress momentarily surprised Jakob. None of them had ever met his cousin Andrew—
Jakob’s wits suddenly caught up with him. Now that Andrew was dead, Jakob’s father was first in line to an English viscountcy. They would all have to go to England. No wonder his mother was so upset.
‘Must we leave at once?’ he asked.
‘No!’ Margareta took a deep breath and visibly calmed herself. ‘We will do as you think best,’ she said to her husband.
‘There’s no immediate rush,’ said James, his tone reassuring. ‘By all accounts my father is in excellent health. But we must make some preparations. Gustaf!’ He raised his voice. ‘Gustaf! Birgitta, tell your brother I want him!’
Jakob’s brother and sister were playing chess at a small table on the other side of the room. Birgitta had lifted her head at the sound of her father’s voice, but Gustaf was still absorbed in studying the chess board. Birgitta gave his shoulder a shove.
‘Father wants you,’ she told him, when he looked up in surprise.
‘I’m sorry, sir,’ Gustaf apologised. ‘I was engrossed in the game.’
‘I understand,’ said James, a slight smile briefly lightening his expression, ‘but now it is time for you to become engrossed in work.’
Jakob saw a spark of excitement in his brother’s eyes. ‘Am I to join you and Jakob in the counting house?’ Gustaf demanded.
‘Yes.’ James laid aside the letter and divided a thoughtful look between his two sons. ‘Your cousin Andrew is dead,’ he told Gustaf, ‘which means that one day I will have to return to England and so will Jakob. I had hoped that the two of you would be equal partners in the business you will one day inherit from me here in Sweden. But now circumstances have changed,’ he paused, pressing his lips together as he considered the implications of those changes.
Jakob listened with interest and some excitement at the prospect of the adventure that lay ahead of them. He knew his mother was dismayed at the idea of living in a strange country, but surely with the comfort of her family around her she would not find it too difficult. Jakob himself was eager to face the challenge.
‘One day Jakob will inherit the title and estates in England,’ James continued. ‘If he is to do his duty by his inheritance, he will have to make his permanent home in England. He will not be able to take an active part in the merchant business I have established here in Sweden.’
Disappointment suddenly dampened Jakob’s enthusiasm for his new life. He enjoyed working alongside his father, trying to prove he could be just as successful and shrewd a merchant as James. He would be sorry to leave that part of his life behind.
‘You will start working with me tomorrow,’ James said to Gustaf. ‘We must waste no time in teaching you everything you need to know. As for you, Jakob—’ he looked at his older son, a curious mixture of pride and resignation in his eyes ‘—we will have to make other plans for you. You would have made an excellent merchant—but it seems that is not to be your destiny.’
Chapter One
The Strand, Saturday 1 September 1666
Lady Desire Godwin stood in the middle of her rooftop garden, looking around at the results of her afternoon’s labour. This small Eden above London was her domain and her sole creation. Servants kept the water cistern filled for her. Soon she would have her porters carry the orange trees down into the stove house to protect them from the first frosts. But she did all the other work in the elevated garden herself.
The early evening air was heavy with the sultry heat of late summer. Desire pulled off her broad-brimmed straw hat and brushed an earth-stained hand across her damp forehead. When she was finally satisfied that her sanctuary was in order, she lifted her gaze to look beyond the parapet.
The sun was setting, painting the western sky in glowing shades of gold and crimson. The earthenware-tiled roofs and church spires of London stretched away towards the east, deceptively peaceful beneath the honeyed evening light.
Desire tried to conjure an image of people hurrying or loitering through the streets and alleyways. She had little experience to draw upon. She had never been part of the jostling crowds. She rarely left the safety of Godwin House. The last time had been five years ago, when she’d watched the King’s coronation procession from the window of an upper room on Cheapside.
From the corner of her eye she saw a sparrow swoop down to bathe in a shallow dish of water she provided for the birds. She turned her head to watch it, smiling at the pretty sight. The heady scent of stocks drifted on the warm air. A bee buzzed lazily among the flower heads. The sparrow ducked its head beneath the water, tossing a myriad glistening droplets over its back and half-opened wings.
A scraping sound from the other side of the wall disturbed the tranquillity of her haven. She frowned in puzzlement and took a step towards the unfamiliar noise, startling the sparrow into flight.
A man’s head appeared over the top of the parapet. Desire swayed back in shock. An instant later the man’s shoulders came into view. Desire stared in disbelief as a stranger vaulted on to her roof, landing neatly on his feet a short distance away from her.
She gazed at the intruder in frank astonishment, her heart thudding with surprise. She was too startled to be frightened—or even to hide her face.
It was years since she’d last met a stranger. And she’d never before laid eyes on a man who looked like this. An angel who had taken mortal form.
His eyes were the infinite blue of a summer sky. His face the most beautiful Desire had ever seen. His features were finely carved, yet full of masculine strength. He wore his blond hair long, according to the fashion of the times. The setting sun gilded his flowing locks, transforming them into a cascade of liquid gold about his shoulders.
He looked just like the archangel Desire had seen once in a stained-glass window. All the colours in the picture had been given heavenly radiance by the sunlight streaming through the glass. This man reminded her of that shining, golden image. He was too perfect to be made of human flesh and blood.
His flesh was smooth and firm, his skin bronzed like Apollo’s by the rays of the sinking sun. He possessed the perfection of youth, but it was coupled with the strength and virile power of full maturity.
He wore only a white linen shirt and dark breeches. Beneath the shirt Desire could see the contours of lean, hard muscles. The shirt was open at the neck and the soft fabric revealed the uncompromising breadth of his shoulders. Desire’s gaze travelled downwards, taking account of his flat stomach and narrow hips, and the long, powerful length of his legs.
Her eyes returned briefly to his perfect face…
And then she gasped with shock. Finally remembering what she so rarely completely forgot.
The man standing before her was perfect.
