To Court, Capture and Conquer. Amanda McCabe
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London, 1589
Lord Edward Hartley plans to get revenge against Sir Thomas Sheldon, the man who destroyed his brother, by stealing Sheldon’s intended bride. Standing in his way is Lady Elizabeth Gilbert, the girl’s chaperone and a reputed paragon of virtue.
Yet Edward cannot help but notice the sensual longing in her eyes. He is sure that her cool exterior conceals a passion waiting to be set free. And when Edward kidnaps Elizabeth by mistake, neither can resist unleashing their desire…
I admit it—Shakespeare in Love is one of my favorite movies! It’s such a romantic, witty, joyful look at the theatrical life in Elizabethan times, and I find new things in it every time I re-watch. (And Joseph Fiennes in that leather doublet doesn’t hurt to look at, either…)
But my love of the Elizabethan theatre scene started much earlier, when I was eight years old and my parents took me to see my first Shakespeare play, A Midsummer Night’s Dream. I was infatuated, and started reading everything I could about the period! This led to studying Elizabethan poetry in college (so useful for finding real-world jobs—not!) and seeing Shakespeare plays every chance I get (including a magical night at the new Globe Theatre in London, seeing Dream again!). It’s a time of such vital, explosive creativity and energy, and massive changes in society. The perfect backdrop for romance hero and heroines and their passions!
I had so much fun meeting Edward and Elizabeth, and getting a taste of their world in To Court, Capture and Conquer. We’ll see them again next year in the story of actor/playwright/spy Robert Alden and his unpredictable heroine Anna Barrett. And we’ll also find out what happens to Sir Thomas Sheldon. Stay tuned, and visit my website, http://ammandamccabe.com, for excerpts and behind-the-book info…
To Court, Capture and Conquer
Amanda McCabe
About the Author
AMANDA MCCABE wrote her first romance novel at the age of sixteen in Algebra class, an epic starring all her friends as characters! That story will never be published (and she nearly failed Algebra), but now she’s the RITA-nominated, award-winning author of many other books and novellas. She lives in Oklahoma with two cats, a Pug, and a bossy miniature Poodle, and loves dance classes, collecting cheesy travel souvenirs, and watching the Food Network—even though she doesn’t cook. Visit her at www.ammandamccabe.com for Behind the Book information, contests, and upcoming releases, and at riskyregencies.blogspot.com.
Other Books By
If you liked this story, be sure to check out more of Amanda McCabe’s historical romances always available in eBook format:
A Notorious Woman
A Sinful Alliance
High Seas Stowaway
Regency Christmas Proposals
Shipwrecked and Seduced
The Diamonds of Welbourne Manor
The Maid’s Lover
The Winter Queen
To Bed a Libertine
To Catch a Rogue
To Deceive a Duke
To Kiss a Count
Enjoy more passion through the ages with the sensual Mills & Boon Historical UNDONE titles on sale now:
Her Midnight Cowboy by Lauri Robinson
The Samurai’s Forbidden Touch by Ashley Radcliff
One Night as a Courtesan by Ann Lethbridge
The Taming of Mei Lin by Jeannie Lin
Delight and Desire by Joanna Maitland
A Scandalous Liaison by Elizabeth Rolls
Pleasured by the Viking by Michelle Willingham
Arabian Nights with a Rake by Bronwyn Scott
Bitten by Desire by Marguerite Kaye
The Virgin’s Pursuit by Joanne Rock
Innocent in the Harem by Michelle Willingham
Craving something a little longer? Find more historical romantic adventure from Harlequin Historical at www.millsandboon.co.uk or your local bookstore.
Interested in writing for Harlequin Historical UNDONE? Send your submission to [email protected].
Chapter One
London, 1589
“They say she is a virgin, pure and chaste as a new snowfall.”
“Do they now?” In the roar of the playhouse, Lord Edward Hartley could hardly hear the muttered words of his friend Robert Alden. But their meaning was loud and clear.
This was the chance for him to take his revenge. The “pure and chaste” virgin who sat in the gallery across from Edward’s box, all golden curls and wide blue eyes as she watched the stage, would bring as end to his torment.
If he could ignore the spasm of disgust he felt at the thought. Disgust for the villain who forced him to this desperate end—or disgust at himself for seizing such a low chance?
Edward shoved away that obnoxious twinge of conscience. Sir Thomas Sheldon had shown Edward’s innocent brother no mercy. Edward could show none now.
“No doubt such purity is exactly what Sir Thomas values in her,” he said.
“So they say,” Robert answered. Rob Alden was Edward’s friend, despite the fact that they came from different worlds. Edward served Queen Elizabeth at Court, advancing his family’s position with his skills in the joust and at swordplay, as well as in the dance, while Rob was a playwright and actor, a connoisseur of London’s low streets and stews.
But the taverns, brothels and gambling halls cared not where their coin came from, and the two men frequented the same hells. They also gleaned and shared valuable information from their various contacts, high and low. Which was how Rob came to discover that Sir Thomas Sheldon intended to take the virginal sixteen-year-old Jane Courtwright as his blushing bride.
Jane was usually sequestered at her family’s grand house by the river, seldom seen at Court. Her appearance at the playhouse today was fortunate.
She was a pretty girl; Edward saw that. A gold-and-white doll in her fine blue velvet gown. Her plump, downy cheeks were pink with the pleasure of being out in the world, of watching the antics on the stage and the colorful crowd in the yard below. Poor lamb, she was obviously ripe for Sheldon’s slaughter. Yet another victim of the man’s greed.
“What could her parents be thinking?” Rob said. “Sheldon must be thirty years older than her, and two hundred pounds heavier. She’ll be crushed in the marriage bed.”
“And out of it, too. That is what Sheldon does—destroys innocence wherever he finds it,” Edward answered. He thought not just of the unfortunate Jane Courtwright, but of his brother Jamie, who had been just as young and wide-eyed as she, just as eager to embrace the world without really knowing it. Until Sheldon destroyed him.
That was what Edward had to remember now. His brother, and the revenge he owed Jamie. He couldn’t afford pity for the girl. She would just have to learn the cold ways of the world, as Edward had.
“I think I know what her parents are thinking,”