A Lady of Conscience (Somerset Stories, #5)

by Mimi Matthews

Beasley Park Somersetshire, England January 1844

James Aldrick Nicholas Beresford, Viscount St. Clare,

“Marriage isn’t a waltz,” she said. “It’s a partnership. I don’t desire to be led. And I don’t desire to change into something I’m not. When I marry, it will be to a gentleman who values me as I am.”

“A pity. Particularly considering how assiduously you courted the girl.” The barb hit home.

Hannah didn’t regret rejecting his proposal, but she deeply regretted that she had caused him pain.

Indeed, she hadn’t imagined that James could be hurt. The realization that she had been the one to do it—that she’d had that power over him—had rattled her to her core.

It hurt far more to recall it than it had hurt in the actual moment.

“One can’t help who one’s ancestors are.”

“You and father are soulmates. You’ve always said so.” “Yes, we are, but we made no sense otherwise. Not when we were your age.

We had to fight to be together. Surely, I raised you to do the same.” She tipped his chin up, compelling him to look her in the eye. “If you want her, my dear, fight for her.”

The strength of her convictions had blazed forth, irrespective of the consequences, reminding him exactly why he’d abandoned London after less than a fortnight in order to return to Bath.

“I don’t believe love is ever a burden.” She paused, adding, “And it is necessary for me. When I marry, it will only be for love.”

“A strong liking might grow into love, given adequate inducement,” he said. “I expect it could, but…”

“All I ask is that you give me a chance to prove I’m worthy of your affections,” he said. “If I fail, you may send me away again, and I’ll trouble you no more.”

“I don’t expect him to change his character,” Hannah said. “My hope is that, given time, he’ll reveal it.”

“My lord,” he said gravely. “You appear to have accumulated an inordinate amount of animal hair on your person.”

Jack helped himself to another whole sausage. He had the appetite—and the dining habits—of a ravenous beast.

I can think of no one more deserving of friendship than a gentleman who would help an animal in need.”

it wasn’t as if James’s grandfather’s infamy was a secret. “Gentleman Jim, they called him,” he said flatly.

The Beresford way was more of the sword than of the shield.

“One needn’t experience everything in the world to know where one’s heart lies.”

“A person must use their powers of reason, naturally, but the right thing isn’t always the most reasonable, I find.”

His eyes found hers as he drove. “It’s difficult to dispense with strategy when I want something as much as I want you.”

“If you were mine, you would be my first and best concern. I would in all things endeavor to make you happy.”

“I could make you happy,” he said. “If you’ll let me.”

And just like that, standing there in Victoria Park, a bundle of squirming kittens clutched to her breast, she fell all of the way in love with him.

James said. “If he thought for a moment that he could get to me by hurting you, he wouldn’t hesitate to do it. And I won’t permit him, or anyone, to hurt you. Not ever. Not even if I must make a thorough spectacle of myself.”

“Naturally,” she said. “One will go to extraordinary lengths to defend someone they love.”

James stared down at her. He didn’t speak.

Hannah felt a scalding blush rising in her cheeks. But she wasn’t ashamed to have mentioned it, even if she must be the one to mention it first. “You do love me, don...

Not as a hollow trophy, or as some flawless approximation of a society wife, but as an ally. A partner. Someone to fight for him and defend him, just as Hannah would do for anyone else she loved.

She had long thought him perfect. Now she knew, beyond all doubt, that he was perfect for her.

“Her mother has been the making of me,” Captain Heywood said.

“My father would very likely say the same about his marriage to my mother.” “You’ll benefit from his advice.” “And yours too,

“My advice is to love her. To listen to her. And to take every care that her compassionate heart is never constra...

She didn’t have to beckon to him. His soul was drawn inexorably to her warmth, just as it had been since the first moment they’d met.