Taming The Bride (Brides of Mayfair 2) (30 page)

“Quite right, Alfred,” she said, happily. “Miss Atwater wisely overturned my request for eggs, ham and bacon, as well. A very capable and authoritative young lady.”

Alfred raised a brow. “Miss Atwater contradicted your orders, and you allowed it?”

“I most certainly did,” Lady Weston replied. “As she is going to be mistress of this house, I thought it best to get the staff used to the idea of taking orders from her.”

Alfred glanced at Prudence inquisitively.

“The news of our engagement sort of came out,” she said, shrugging.

“My dear, I think it is well past time for any semblance of convention regarding our relationship,” he said, calmly. “It is perfectly fine that you made the announcement to Auntie and Mama. After all, we are to be family.”

Prudence took his hand, her heart filling with love, pride, and new-found peace. “My dear Lord Weston, I believe we already are….”

Epilogue

One Year Later

Broomley Park, Luton

Prudence shielded her eyes from the bright sunshine as she gazed over the vast grounds of Broomley Park, the Weston family seat. It was still hard for her to believe that she was mistress of such a place, as well as the London townhouse, and all the other Weston property in Norfolk she hadn’t even seen yet.

Life was full of surprises, she thought with a smile.

A year ago, if anyone had told her she’d be married to a wonderful man like Alfred, and blessed with a beautiful baby daughter, she’d have thought them mad. Yet, here she was, living a life she’d never expected, but gave thanks for every day.

Her heart swelled with emotion as she watched the figure of a man walk up the hill toward her.

Alfred.

Her husband. Her lover. Her partner in all things.

Thinking back to when she first met him, she’d thought of herself as the skilled teacher. Little did she know this incredible man would teach her so much about life, love and the essence of family.

He smiled as he neared her, and she felt her heart quicken with desire as she looked up into those dark, devilish eyes.

“We are making good progress on the dormitories,” he said. “Mungo expects the men to be finished sooner than planned. The Weston Academy will be ready to house more students in a few weeks’ time.”

Upon their marriage, Prudence had changed the name of the school to better reflect her new partnership with her husband. She knew her father would have understood.

“But what are you doing out here?” he asked. “Don’t you have a class to teach?”

Prudence took his hand as they turned and began walking back to the great house. “Actually, not at the moment. Your mother is teaching a class in art history and Great-Aunt Withypoll is demonstrating table manners and etiquette for a group in the dining room.”

“And where is our darling daughter?” he asked.

“Probably having her morning nap,” Prudence answered. “Dolly is in the nursery with Emma and Bertie. So you see, I was not needed anywhere.”

He pulled her close, saying, “Anywhere but here. What a dutiful wife you are, waiting with bated breath for your husband’s return.”

She slapped his chest playfully. “Yes, that must be it. I am known for my devotion to marital duty and complete obedience to my husband.”

“Have you been sipping the cordial already?” he asked, looking down at her and raising a teasing brow.

Prudence laughed out loud. That was one of the things she treasured about their marriage. They both made each other laugh.

Since marrying Alfred there had been laughter and tears, and many changes in both of their lives.

Alfred’s father had been arrested, tried and imprisoned for his criminal activities. Great-Aunt Withypoll had regained her health and vowed to live until she was one-hundred years old, or even one-hundred and one. Dolly and Mungo had married as well, and Dolly had given birth to their son Albert—whom everyone called Bertie—only a week after Prudence had delivered their daughter, Emma.

Though at one time she feared losing her independence, Prudence had made some concessions in her new life as wife and mother, but strangely, they didn’t seem difficult to her now. Perhaps because she was so happy with Alfred and their beautiful baby girl, and with taking her place in this new family they’d created together.

“Have you heard from Mr. McTavish?” she asked as they walked. “Have he and his wife found any new students for us?”

McTavish was an old comrade of Mungo’s from his pirate days, Prudence had learned. He’d been working at one of the brothels when Alfred and Mungo had run into him the night she’d been kidnapped, and he’d assisted them in their quest to rescue Prudence.

Now, he and his wife—a woman who had previously worked at the brothel—handled recruitment for the Weston Academy. Though Prudence had once vowed never to give up going into the streets herself to help people in need, she was content to let the McTavish’s use their connections to help those trapped in London’s dark underworld.

“Mungo and I met with Tav yesterday,” Alfred answered. “He and Rose have taken in two girls who are sisters, and are looking forward to starting a new life here at the Academy. They should be arriving by the end of the week.”

“That is wonderful news, Alfred,” she said, her heart filling with warmth. “You know, though I would never have believed it a year ago, my little school has grown into something much bigger than my father and I had ever conceived of. And it really is thanks to you, and Great-Aunt Withypoll, and your dear Mama, Dolly and Mungo, and the McTavish’s, too. Though you wouldn’t think so, even your father deserves some thanks.”

Alfred frowned, asking, “How do you figure that? Because of him, I almost lost you—and Emma.”

“It was when I was tied to that bedpost, fearing for my life that I realized what was truly important to me,” she replied. “You, and our unborn child, and our family. Nothing—not my need for independence or my fear of losing it—was more important than seeing you again. Though it took me awhile to realize it, your father gave me a gift that day, the gift of clarity. Ever since the moment I saw you coming through that window to rescue me, I knew complete happiness. It has never gone away, and it never shall.”

Alfred lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it. “Nor shall I, Prudence, my love.”

“Thank you for believing in me, Alfred,” she said. “You accepted me for who I am, but you changed me, for the better. In my efforts to give my students a new life, I gained a new one for myself, as your wife.”

They stopped for a moment, gazing at the manor house of Broomley Park. All the people Prudence loved most in the world were inside it, save for one, and he stood next to her.

She reached up on tiptoe and pulled him close for a kiss—one that expressed all the emotions in her heart—love, desire, devotion and contentment. Then she smiled up at him. “With you at my side, Alfred, I will always be home.”

Dear Reader,

Thank you for taking the time to read TAMING THE BRIDE, book two in the
Brides of Mayfair
series. I hope you enjoyed it! If you haven’t read book one, I encourage you to try SEDUCING THE BRIDE, where Alfred plays a role as the hero’s best friend. That book is available now, and you can read on for more information about that.

Also read on for an excerpt from book three in this series: HIS COURTESAN BRIDE. If you would like to be notified about its release, as well as special events and giveaways, please visit my website at
www.michellemcmaster.com
and sign up for my mailing list. I would love to send news to you.

I also encourage you to
follow me on Bookbub
to learn about temporary 99 cent sales on ebooks from my backlist. Just click the blue follow button and Bookbub will send you an email to let you know.

Lastly, if you enjoy the thriller genre, please check out my
Watch Me
series, which I write under the pen name of Avery Holt. I have a separate website for my Avery novels, and you can
visit Avery’s website here
.

Once again, thank you for reading one of my novels.

Until next time!

Michelle McMaster

Other Books in the
Brides of Mayfair Series

SEDUCING THE BRIDE

Brides of Mayfair Series – Book 1

Lord Beckett Thornby is in need of a wife. In order to claim his inheritance, the confirmed bachelor must marry. Yet the last place he expects to find a bride is in the backstreets of London, in a rubbish heap.

Isobel Hampton is running from a painful past…and a dangerous man who will stop at nothing until he finds her. A marriage of convenience with a sinfully handsome lord seems like the perfect solution, until Isobel realizes her husband wants much more from her than she is willing to give. Soon, the marriage that was supposed to be “all business” turns into a dangerous dance of seduction that could leave one or both of them with a broken heart.

(Originally published under the title
The Marriage Bargain
in 2000.
Seducing the Bride
is a newly revised and updated edition.)

Purchase SEDUCING THE BRIDE on Amazon

Add to Goodreads Shelf

HIS COURTESAN BRIDE

Brides of Mayfair Series – Book 3

When Miss Serena Ransom is caught in a scandalous embrace with Lord Kane at a Mayfair ball, her reputation is destroyed and her future looks grim. But when she joins The Courtesan Club, conceived by the famous courtesan, Lady Night, Serena begins a new life and vows to take charge of her own destiny as never before. Serena is a celebrity, and London’s most powerful men are competing to become her lover and protector.

Everything is falling into place, except for the one man who threatens everything—Darius Manning, the Earl of Kane.

Serena stirred Darius’s passions as no other woman ever had. Even as he kissed her that night at the Mayfair ball, he knew he could never make her his wife, for he was pledged to another. Now, years later, Darius is free at last and cannot forget the passionate, auburn-haired miss that still fires his blood. The wealthy Lord Kane makes Serena an offer she can’t refuse, to share his bed as his exclusive courtesan.

But as Darius and Serena begin a journey of unbound pleasure together, they soon learn that the most dangerous emotion of all isn’t passion, or desire… but love.

Purchase His Courtesan Bride on Amazon

Read on for an excerpt from HIS COURTESAN BRIDE…

Excerpt from

HIS COURTESAN BRIDE

Book 3 in the Brides of Mayfair Series

Copyright © 2016 Michelle McMaster