The Accidental Elopement (Scandalous Miss Brightwells Book 4) Read online

  “But you married Uncle Rufus instead…and he accepted me as his own.” Jack was struck by wonder at such generosity. “Why did you never tell me, Mama?”

  She shook her head. “You grew up such a lively, happy child. And suddenly you were eighteen and about to cross the seas to make your own way in the world.” She looked down at her fingers intertwined in her lap, the knuckles white. “I never found the right opportunity,” she said, looking up. “You knew you were loved. And that seemed all that mattered.”

  “It is all that matters.”

  Katherine’s lashes were wet as she echoed his mother’s words.

  And as Jack looked from Katherine, the girl he’d adored since she’d pledged her friendship to the foundling home lad, and his mother whom he’d loved as deeply as any son could, biological or adoptive, he knew there were no truer words.

  Epilogue

  Jack leaned down to pat Diana lightly on the back as the eight-year-old was about to run to the tea table that had been set up beneath the apple tree in honour of her birthday.

  “Be nice to Uncle George, now, won’t you?” he cautioned. “He’s very proud of his new lavender coat that I heard you making fun of earlier, and I can’t tell you strongly enough how unkind it is to taunt people—for any reason.”

  He smiled as Katherine glided up to his side, slipping her hand into his and resting her head on his shoulder to look down the grassy slope to where Aunt Antoinette had organised the family gathering.

  Diana, who had paused at this instruction, put her hands on her hips. Her dark hair was brushed back and tied with a pink bow and two lace-edged pantalettes peeked beneath her new flounced pink and blue checked dress. The fashions were different but to Jack, his daughter was the image of her mother when she’d been a child.

  “Can I tell him what I think about his new side curls, then?” Diana asked.

  “Not if that means speaking the truth, darling,” said Katherine causing Jack to raise an eyebrow as he waited for her to go on. Throughout the eight wonderful months of their marriage—which had taken place the day after Katherine’s twelve months of mourning had come to an end—she’d never ceased delighting him with her acute observations and candour.

  And the depth of her love.

  Diana looked puzzled.

  “It’s called tact, darling,” her mother explained, glancing from Diana to Jack then back to Diana again. “Your father has always had so much more of it than I have. Tact is a skill and I suspect, if you’re like me, you’ll need to work on that skill for it might save you a lot of heartache throughout your life.”

  Jack understood Katherine’s veiled meaning. If she’d not wounded George, how different things might have been.

  “What is tact, Mama? Is it lying?”

  “Only if it's to be kind. Yes, tact means being kind to people, even if you think they’re…”

  “Silly? I think Uncle George’s side curls look very silly but Miss Burnside thinks he cuts quite a dash.” Diana’s eyes sparkled with mischief.

  “Yes, I overheard that remark, too,” said Jack. “But did you notice how happy it made George when Miss Burnside said that?”

  Diana nodded thoughtfully, prompting Katherine to go on, “And didn’t it give you a nice feeling to see Uncle George happy? A much nicer feeling than if he’d looked all sad if you’d told him his side curls looked silly?”

  Diana contemplated this with a frown. “It would have been funny to make George cross but…” She looked from her parents down the hill to where George was sitting next to Miss Burnside, the daughter of one of Aunt Antoinette’s gentleman friends, a widower who’d started calling on the pretext of writing a history of several notable houses in the area. He and his daughter had become regular visitors. “Uncle George is much nicer when he’s not cross.”

  “Exactly, darling,” Katherine said approvingly. “Uncle George is very nice when people are nice to him. And that’s the way it is with most people. So try not to tease and make fun of Uncle George.”

  Diana nodded gravely. “I’ll try not to, Mama. Papa.” The promise seemed to have unleashed the gaiety within her for now she was running down the hill while Jack and Katherine followed at a more sedate pace.

  “She reminds me so much of you, when you were her age.” Jack slipped an arm about his lovely wife’s waist and stopped so that he could enjoy the smile she sent him. For Katherine always smiled when she looked at him. The great joy at rediscovering all that had been lost for those long years apart was as strongly felt by her as it was by him, he knew.

  “She was my treasure when I didn’t have you.” Her look was so loving it caused him something akin to pain.

  “But now you have me for always. And we have Diana.”

  “And as many others as we choose, thanks to a little knowledge that most married couples are denied.”

  Raising his eyebrows and smiling, Jack looked from Katherine to her aunt a few yards away. Lady Quamby was waving the cake knife in the air, waiting for Katherine and Jack to fill the two remaining seats for they were all there with the notable exception of Lady Hale who’d declared she’d never again set foot over the threshold of Quamby House where she’d been so insulted. She’d been true to her word, showing as little interest in her supposed granddaughter after Katherine had married Jack, as she ever had done before her surprise meddling when she’d desired a match between Katherine and Lord Derry.

  The biggest surprise was that her thwarted desires in the matchmaking department appeared to have found a new outlet: Odette Worthington. Jack supposed there were mutual benefits. Odette was an heiress in need of a husband and Lady Hale had contacts. Jack didn’t miss Odette and was surprised, and impressed, by the dignified manner in which she’d dealt with their separation. Perhaps she’d not loved him as much as he’d supposed. Or perhaps her aspirations had changed. A husband with a title was well within her reach and Jack had discovered Odette was more ambitious than he’d at first thought.

  Derry had shown a surprisingly sporting attitude, too. His concern for Katherine after her accident had been sincere but he’d housed Jack and allowed him complete licence to be at the bedside of the convalescing Katherine.

  Jack supposed it must have been as clear to him as to everyone else how deeply Jack and Katherine felt for one another. Not a single person had stepped in to voice any objection or to denounce them when their love was so apparent after Odette had broken off their engagement.

  For a week Jack had remained at Derry House. While he read to Katherine, and talked with her, Derry had organised the practicalities. He’d seen to the medical care of Katherine’s mount, Stargazer, who had fortunately not had to be put down and had now made a full recovery. In fact, Katherine rode him regularly, during the early morning canters she and Jack enjoyed so much. Derry had also offered Odette hospitality and sympathy following the dissolution of the young woman’s engagement. A year later, the pair was occasionally to be seen on the dance floor. They seemed to have become good friends.

  Jack scanned the table of guests. Surprisingly, Lord Quamby was stroking his wife’s hand as he discussed some matter with her, his curls as vermilion as ever. Instead of Lady Hale, Diana’s real, though unacknowledged grandmother was there to enjoy the celebration. Jack was conscious of a great warmth and sense of gratitude as he caught his mother’s quick smile when she transferred her look from Rufus Patmore beside her, the man who had been so much more to Jack than most fathers. Meanwhile, Katherine’s own parents Lord and Lady Fenton, had their heads together in private conversation while George and Miss Burnside looked hopeful and happy in the midst of their own discussion.

  “Knowledge is golden if one knows what to do with it,” Jack remarked, thinking of all the knowledge he—and Katherine—has misused before they’d found their wonderful happiness together.

  They reached the table as Diana unfolded her napkin and said in clear earnest tones to George, “I know Mama says it’s impolite to bring up your side curls, Uncle
George, but I’ve been considering the matter all afternoon and I think I agree with Miss Burnside. You do cut quite a dash with your new hair cut.”

  Jack had felt Katherine tense when their daughter had begun her little speech but she relaxed as Diana offered her verdict. He and Katherine exchanged a smile, their amusement increasing when they were rewarded by the play of interesting emotions cross Diana’s face as she took in her Uncle George’s fiery blush, his stammered thanks, and then the great pleasure in his expression as he self consciously touched his hair before resuming his conversation with Miss Burnside with even greater enthusiasm.

  Diana ignored the glass of lemonade that had just been put in front of her and sent her parents a sign of acknowledgement in the form of a clumsily executed wink that she’d heeded Katherine’s earlier advice. Then, with a quick, satisfied glance at Uncle George and Miss Burnside, she announced loudly and imperiously to the gathering at large, “I think we’re all very happy now, Aunt Antoinette. Would you please cut the cake?”

  “I’m certainly very happy, my darling.” Jack put his lips to Katherine’s ear as he pulled out her chair and helped her into it. “Isn’t our daughter a treasure? She’s just like her mother.”

  For a moment, Katherine retained his hand as she tilted her head to look at him. So much was communicated by the intensity of the gesture and in her look and for a moment Jack was almost glad that their separation had given him an excuse for throwing his all into this journey of rediscovering everything he thought he’d lost forever.

  “I think Diana has inherited the best of both of us,” his beautiful, much-loved wife whispered.

  A whispered affirmation of the most wonderful secret that had ever been revealed to him.

  THE END

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  Note from the Author

  The Accidental Elopement is Book 4 in my Scandalous Miss Brightwells series and takes up the story of Katherine and Jack who play together as children in Devil’s Run.

  In Devil’s Run, we meet Eliza who agrees to marriage with a selfish man as the only means of getting closer to her long-lost love-child, Jack.

  Here’s what the readers say:

  “A lovely and heartwarming story.” ~ Kindle Reader

  “Oh my gosh, what a tremendous love story with so many twists and turns.”

  * * *

  You can read more about Devil’s Run here.

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  She was in it to secure the succession. He was in it for the pleasure. Falling in love was not part of the arrangement…

  If you’re in the mood for another romance filled with passion and intrigue set during the glittering Regency era, you might like to sign up to my newsletter. Not only will you get the first book in my Daughters of Sin series for free, you’ll be the first to know of my chocolate koala and paperback contests, new releases and free books.

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  Other Books by Beverley Oakley

  Enjoy - sizzling romance with passion and intrigue!

  The Daughters of Sin series follows the intertwining lives and sibling rivalry of Lord Partington’s two nobly born - and two illegitimate - daughters as they compete for love during several London Seasons.

  With Hetty and Araminta both falling for men on opposing sides of a dastardly plot that is being investigated by Stephen Cranbourne, now a secret agent in the Foreign Office, there’s lashings of skullduggery and intrigue bound up in the central romance.

  What Readers are Saying About the Series which is now available as a complete Box Set.

  “…lies, misdeeds, treachery, and romance. What an impressive story! Ms. Oakley has a unique way of telling her stories, bringing unknown heroes/ heroines into the spotlight, as they navigate a world of espionage, and intrigue, all while trying to survive and find their HEA. Magnificent and mesmerizing!” ~ Amazon reader

  “Full of secrets, murders, intrigues and you feel you know the characters and want to strangle some of them, especially Araminta!!! I have since read all in the series and can’t wait for Book 5... This is a series I will read again and again.” ~ Amazon reader

  Below is the order of the books:

  Book 1: Her Gilded Prison

  Book 2: Dangerous Gentlemen

  Book 3: The Mysterious Governess

  Book 4: Beyond Rubies

  Book 5: Lady Unveiled: The Cuckold’s Conspiracy

  Read the Complete Box Set and Save here!

  Or, for something in Kindle Unlimited, you might like my Hearts in Hiding Series

  THE DUCHESS AND THE HIGHWAYMAN

  A duchess disguised as a lady’s maid; a gentleman parading as a highwayman.

  She’s on the run from a murderer, he’s in pursuit of one.

  Married off at a young age to a brutal nobleman, Phoebe, Lady Cavanaugh, longs for love—and enters into a risky affair. Framed for her husband’s murder, she flees wearing only a blood-stained chemise and is rescued by a handsome ‘highwayman’ who believes she’s Lady Cavanaugh’s maidservant.

  Hugh Redding has his own reasons for hunting the man whose mission is to see the infamous and elusive Murdering Duchess hanged for murder. And Phoebe, the 'maidservant with aspirations above her station’ might prove the very weapon he needs—once he teaches her how to behave like a lady.

  Only when Phoebe mysteriously disappears does Hugh realise the real identity of the spirited wench he’d set out to tame—and the danger she's in.

  Burdened by the knowledge of his unwitting role in placing Phoebe in mortal peril, Hugh must now polish his skills as a gentleman, not only to save Phoebe from the gallows, but to win back her heart.

  What the readers say:

  "This love story has so much going for it - strong characters, friendship, "building of trust, a common enemy and of course, a beautiful second chances romance." ~ Amazon reader.

  "A heart pounding read!" ~ Amazon reader.

  "I loved how the author gave us an exciting opening scenario and then smoothly and effortlessly built the story up to an exciting and riveting climax. Wow!" ~ Amazon reader.

  Read for Free in KU here.

  About the Author

  Beverley was seventeen when she bundled up her first 500+ page romance and sent it to a publisher. Rejection followed swiftly. Drowning one’s heroine on the last page, she was informed, was not in line with the expectations of romance readers.

  So Beverley became a journalist.

  After a whirlwind romance with a handsome Norwegian bush pilot she met in Botswana's beautiful Okavango Delta, Beverley discovered what real romance was all about, saved her heroine from a watery grave in her next manuscript and published her first romance in 2009.

  Since then, she’s written more than twenty-five sizzling historical romances laced with mystery and intrigue under the name Beverley Oakley.

  She also writes psychological historical mysteries, and Colonial-Africa-set romantic suspense, as Beverley Eikli.

  With an inspiring view of a Gothic nineteenth-century insane asylum across the road, Beverley lives north of Melbourne with her gorgeous husband, two lovely daughters and a rambunctious Rhodesian Ridgeback called Mombo, named after the safari lodge where she and her husband met.

  * * *

  You can read more at www.beverleyoakley.com

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  Author’s Note about the series

  The Scandalous Miss Brightwells

  Wicked and lively Fanny and Antoinette Brightwell have made spectacular marriages—despite scandals and the treachery of a disappointed suitor determined to besmirch their reputations.

  So, who better t
o play matchmaker when a deserving candidate waltzes into their orbit?

  Here are the first four stories in the series, each following on from each other, although each can be read as a stand-alone.

  1. Rake’s Redemption

  The beautiful Brightwells—clever Fanny and her easily-led sister, Antoinette—battle scandal and spurned suitors to achieve gilded marriages against the odds. A love match in Fanny’s case and a very satisfactory compromise in Antoinette’s.

  “Fanny and Fenton's story is full of drama, humor and sizzle.” ~ Amazon reader.

  Read for FREE in KU or buy here.

  2. Rogue’s Kiss

  How bold would a potential suitor be if he were told the lie that the young lady he desires has only six months to live?

  “A great read - one which will leave you sighing for more.” ~ 4 Out Of 5 Hearts From Cariad Books

  Buy here.

  3. Devil’s Run

  A rigged horse race - with a marriage and a lost child riding on the outcome.

  Can the matchmaking Brightwell sisters avoid scandal and disaster as they try to rescue two tortured souls and unite their passionate hearts?