My Favorite Marquess. Alexandra BassettЧитать онлайн книгу.
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Ma’am,
Let me assure you that I will not be manipulated by any feminine wiles into offering you another penny for such a dilapidated piece of property.
—Sebastian Cavenaugh
After conventional means fail, Sebastian, Marquess of St. Just, takes reckless measures to secure that crumbling monstrosity known as Trembledown—a haven for local smugglers and moonlighting spies. He plans to scare, not seduce, its owner, but when a midnight encounter leaves them soaked, stranded, and possessing just one blanket for warmth, Sebastian, a.k.a. Robert the Brute, discovers that the widow Violet Treacher is not only willful and unafraid, she is maddeningly desirable…
My Lord,
Enclosed find your unsigned contract. Pray do consider your offer as being rejected.
—Mrs. Perceval Treacher
Though the wilds of Cornwall hold no allure, Violet won’t give the arrogant marquess the satisfaction of a sale, so here she shivers, in a wreck of a house, with lips still burning from the passion of a masked smuggler. She knows he’s near—for her own bit of real estate is quite the magnet for secrets, danger, even treachery. But how will she recognize the gentleman by day…with only the memory of his kiss in the dark.
Praise for Alexadra Bassett’s
HIS CHOSEN BRIDE
“A charming frolic of a book.”—Teresa Medeiros
“Absolutely delightful and completely charming.I couldn’t put it down.”—Victoria Alexander
Books by Alexandra Bassett
HIS CHOSEN BRIDE
MY FAVORITE MARQUESS
Published by Zebra Books
Alexandra Bassett
My Favorite Marquess
ZEBRA BOOKS
Kensington Publishing Corp.
Contents
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
A Brief Correspondence Concerning the Sale of a Certain Property in Cornwall…
December 12, 1814
Mrs. Perceval Treacher
Peacock Hall
Yorkshire
My Dear Mrs. Treacher,
Pray do not think it presumptuous of me to write to you this way, with little in the way of introduction. I am the Marquess of St. Just, and I have the honor to reside at Montraffer Place, near Widgelyn Cross in Cornwall. Montraffer is a near neighbor to Trembledown, the estate that I understand came into your possession after the unfortunately premature demise of your late husband. Allow me, dear lady, to extend my belated condolences on that esteemed man’s untimely parting from this life. Though I could claim no great intimacy with your husband, Percy Treacher was remarked by all who knew him to be a man possessing a sober and punctilious character as well as a remarkable kennel of hounds.
As you may or may not be aware, Mrs. Treacher, Trembledown only recently fell into the possession of your husband’s family. Indeed, prior to a lamentable bet on a curricle race, the house and lands had been in the St. Just possession for many generations.
It has long been an ambition of mine to reunite the St. Just holdings of Trembledown and Montraffer. Therefore, I am pleased to inform you that I am willing to make a very generous offer for Trembledown, despite its lamentable state of deterioration.
With this intent, I have had my man of business draw up the necessary papers, which you will find enclosed. All that remains is for you to sign the sales agreement and return it to my direction. Upon its receipt, it will be my pleasure to release the funds to your man of affairs.
I trust you will believe me, madam, when I write that it gives me the utmost satisfaction to be of service to you.
Yours faithfully,
Sebastian Cavenaugh
The Marquess of St. Just
December 20, 1814
The Most Hon. the Marquess of St. Just
Montraffer Place
Cornwall
My Lord Marquess,
It was with the greatest interest and no small gratification that I read your recent letter. Your kind words about my late husband’s character and hounds honor his memory most fittingly.
I confess that I was wholly unaware of the history of Trembledown and your estimable family’s tenuous connection to it. That fact alone will make me appreciate my dear Percy’s legacy to me all the more.
For while I am gratified by your offer, I fear I must decline the honor you do me. In good conscience I could not part from an estate left to me by my departed husband, at least not before viewing the property myself. I am sure you can understand a widow’s sensibilities regarding this matter. While there was—unhappily!—no issue from our marriage to whom to pass Trembledown as a legacy, my husband surely had my own security at heart when he left the property to me. I am certain he would not have wanted me parted from it for less than its true value. A value which, despite whatever condition your relations left it in before their unfortunate gambits with curricles, I have always heard is considerable.
I hope to visit Cornwall within the next twelvemonth. After viewing my property, I will be happy to consider negotiating a sales price with you or your representative.
I have the honor to be,
Your Lordship’s obedient servant,
Mrs. Perceval Treacher
January 3, 1815
Mrs. Perceval Treacher
Peacock Hall
Yorkshire
Dear Mrs. Treacher,
Thank you for your swift reply to my letter of December. Alas, I must disbosom myself of a bit of confusion. It was my understanding that, to forfend an extended lawsuit, the Treacher family settled the unused property on you after your husband failed to provide for you to your satisfaction.
No doubt this was merely wicked rumor.
Nevertheless, while I am always sympathetic to a lady’s sensibilities regarding her doubtless much lamented husband, I fail to see that these should still be a factor some three years after said husband’s parting from this world. As for his providing for your security, you could do no better than to sell the property now, before it deteriorates further from its present condition—a state, I assure you, that has occurred