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    A Lady's Choice
    A Lady's Choice
    A Lady's Choice
    Ebook94 pages1 hour

    A Lady's Choice

    By Anthea Lawson

    3.5/5

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    About this ebook

    What happens when a proper young lady meets a most unsuitable gentleman? A delightful sweet novella from USA Today bestselling, RITA-nominated author Anthea Lawson.

    Lady Sara Ashford has spent years cultivating her spotless reputation: a difficult task in the face of her mother’s scandalous exploits abroad. Now she is set on a path toward a perfect, respectable future—until the highly unsuitable Comte du Lac comes to London, and she is given the task of instructing him on how to behave properly in English Society.
    At first Lady Sara finds him intolerable, but after he steals a kiss she realizes he is a terrible danger to her future. As soon as possible, she must put him out of her life—and her heart—forever.

    *Originally published in the limited edition Scandal's Daughters anthology~

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherFiddlehead Press
    Release dateFeb 5, 2018
    ISBN9781680130706
    A Lady's Choice

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      Book preview

      A Lady's Choice - Anthea Lawson

      A LADY’S CHOICE

      Anthea Lawson

      Copyright 2016 by Anthea Lawson. All rights reserved. Any resemblance to actual persons or events is strictly coincidental. Please do not copy or share without the author’s permission.

      Never miss a new release – join Anthea’s mailing list today, plus get a free short story when you sign up! http://tinyletter.com/anthealawson

      QUALITY CONTROL: This book has been professionally edited, however, an occasional typo may have slipped through. If you find one, please contact anthea@anthealawson.com so that we may correct it in future editions. Thank you!

      A LADY’S CHOICE – A Passport to Romance Novella

      Lady Sara Ashford has spent years cultivating her spotless reputation: a difficult task in the face of her mother’s scandalous exploits abroad. Now she is set on a path toward a perfect, respectable future—until the highly unsuitable Comte du Lac comes to London, and she is given the task of instructing him on how to behave properly in English Society.

      At first Lady Sara finds him intolerable, but after he steals a kiss she realizes he is a terrible danger to her future. As soon as possible, she must put him out of her life—and her heart—forever.

      CHAPTER ONE

      London, July 1847

      Lady Sara, a letter from your mother. The butler deposited a cream-colored envelope beside Lady Sara Ashford’s breakfast plate.

      Thank you, Mr. Carlisle, Sara said, though she was not actually grateful for the correspondence. A letter from Mama was something to be wary of.

      She did not pick it up right away, but instead took another sip of tea from her gold-rimmed cup and studied the envelope. The heavy paper was slightly crumpled along one edge, and an array of colorful postage stamps decorated the upper right-hand corner. The flourishes and colors were distinctly non-European.

      Sara’s Aunt Eugenie, seated at the head of the table, gave her a pointed glance and then transferred her gaze to the letter, brows raised. Sara brushed the envelope with her index finger, wondering what Mama was up to. Having the notorious Marchioness of Fulton as a relative was not an easy thing, but lucky Aunt Eugenie was only related by marriage. It was worse for Sara, being the woman’s daughter.

      Blood will tell, the gossips murmured at balls and parties, giving Sara sidelong glances over their fans. She’ll be as wild as her mother any day now, you’ll see.

      To their disappointment, however, Sara had reached the venerable age of one-and-twenty without doing anything remotely scandalous. Speculation about her had almost entirely trickled away, now that she was no longer seen as competition for the most eligible gentlemen. After all, she was practically on the shelf.

      The thought made her chest tighten. It was true: her prospects of making a match were beginning to wane. But she and Aunt Eugenie had a plan.

      I wonder where your mother is now. Aunt Eugenie continued to stare at the envelope. Still in Persia?

      Sara nudged her plate aside and pulled the letter in front of her. No—she was in Egypt last time, don’t you remember?

      Her aunt frowned. Without a map, I find it difficult to keep your mother’s wanderings in my memory.

      Sara did not have that problem. When she was younger, she’d spent hours studying the globe in the library, running her fingers over the bumps of mountains and smooth dips of lakes until she’d memorized the entire world.

      That was before she understood that gallivanting about the globe was not an option for a young lady of good breeding. Not if she wanted to preserve her reputation. When her father died and Aunt Eugenie had taken over Sara’s upbringing, that fact was made quite clear.

      It’s all very well for your mother to hare off to those exotic destinations, her aunt had explained when ten-year-old Sara had voiced her hopes of joining Mama on her travels. She is a rich widow and can afford to raise eyebrows if she pleases. But she was wise to leave you in my care now that your father has gone to his eternal reward, God rest his soul.

      Doesn’t she want me anymore? Sara had asked, fighting back tears.

      She wants what is best for you, which is to remain with me so that I might, despite the obstacles, turn you into proper young lady and ensure that you make a suitable match. A young woman has only one thing of value in this world, and that is an impeccable reputation.

      For the last eleven years, Aunt Eugenie had been true to her word. Sara had, indeed, grown up to be a proper young lady, and had learned to quash any foolish notions of adventure. Though it was harder when Mama’s letters came.

      But Sara’s immaculate reputation and flawless deportment were finally about to produce the desired results. Next month there was to be a house party at Lord Whitley’s estate, and the viscount had specifically invited Lady Sara and her aunt to attend.

      True, the gentleman in question was several years her senior, and not the brightest candle in the bunch—but he possessed an estate, and was generally regarded as a decent catch.

      Especially for a lady teetering dangerously close to spinsterhood.

      We will ensure you spend as much time as appropriate with Lord Whitley. Aunt Eugenie’s eyes shone at the prospect. I’m certain you’ll be able to bring him to the point by the end of the house party. You’ll have a solid fortnight in his company, after all.

      Two weeks to wring a proposal from Lord Whitley. Sara had nodded. She must do her best. There were perilously few other options available to her, except to become Aunt Eugenie’s companion into old age. It was not an invigorating thought.

      Are you going to open that? Her aunt nodded at the letter resting under Sara’s fingers.

      Yes. There was no point in delaying any longer.

      She took up the letter opener, a sharp-edged implement with the bejeweled head of a tiger that her mother had sent back from India three years prior, and slit open the thick envelope.

      She read, giving Aunt Eugenie the salient points as she went.

      Mama has been travelling about the Mediterranean basin. The heat is invigorating, the food spicy. She found Tunisia very accommodating.

      Hmph. Aunt Eugenie’s mouth formed into a disapproving line.

      Oh dear. Sara kept reading, her blood going cold.

      Well? What does she say?

      She is coming back to England this month.

      "High time! She hasn’t seen you in three years. One might think she’s

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