Showing results by author "Mary Kingswood" in All Categories

Lord Humphrey Marford has a way with cards, dice, and gambling of all forms. He’d love to start his own gaming house, but that takes a lot of money, far more than he or his brothers can come up with. His only solution is to marry an heiress, and he can’t be too choosy. Miss Hortensia Blythe seems perfect - pretty, charming and very, very rich, she’s just home from India where her father made a fortune and left her every penny of it. But even as he courts the ladylike but rather dull Miss Blythe, Humphrey is drawn to her companion.

Annie Dresden is 26 years old, with no fortune, and nothing but a quick, practical mind to recommend her. Taken in by her apothecary uncle after her father’s death, she’s happy to be his assistant, but there’s no future for her as an apothecary. The only proper career for a woman is as a wife and mother, but for Annie the possibility is dwindling. When a long-forgotten suitor returns, it seems fate has given her another chance.

Lord Reginald Marford needs a wealthy heiress to support his indulgent lifestyle. Spirited Miss Robinia Chamberlain looks perfect, but when he sets out to court her, he finds that his title and family connections aren’t nearly enough to entice the lady, and he has to become a little bit creative to attract her attention. Robinia’s recently inherited large fortune brings her many suitors. But she’s not interested in any of them, and especially not Reggie, no matter how persistent he is. He may be a perfect gentleman but he isn’t nearly dashing enough for her.

Mr Kent Atherton isn’t too worried about the sudden discovery that his parents’ marriage was invalid and he is illegitimate—he loves machinery of all types, so what would be more perfect than a career as an engineer? The industrial future is so much more interesting than the traditions of the past. But the son of an earl isn’t supposed to work in trade, and besides, he’s loyalty-bound to support his brother’s little enterprise. Will he ever escape his family’s hold on him?

Caroline Milburn and her younger sisters live in two cramped rooms, struggling to survive by their skills in lace making and weaving. When their previously unknown grandfather drowns on the Brig Minerva and bequeaths them a cottage in the country, their lives seem set to improve. But where will the daughters of a linen draper fit into rural life, now that they are better off? How will Caroline find husbands for her younger sisters? Why have purses of money been buried in the garden? And why are the neighbours so interested in them?

The Earl of Rennington’s daughter, Lady Isabel, has done well for herself. Married for five years to an indulgent viscount, with two small daughters, she lives her life in the centre of a social whirl, respected and admired for her beauty, her elegance and her liveliness. But her liveliness sometimes spills over into stormy rows with her staid husband, and she grieves that she’s failed in her primary duty — to provide him with an heir.