A Suitable Wife. Louise Gouge M.
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An Impossible Attraction
Lady Beatrice Gregory has beauty, brains—and a wastrel brother. With her family fortune squandered, her only chance of a Season is as a lowly companion. London’s glittering balls and parties are bittersweet when Beatrice has no hope of a match. Still, helping Lord Greystone with his charitable work brings her genuine pleasure...perhaps more than she dares to admit.
Even when every marriageable miss in London is paraded before him, the only woman to capture Lord Greystone’s attention is the one he shouldn’t pursue. Attaching himself to a ruined family would jeopardize his ambitions. Yet Lady Beatrice may be the only wife to suit his lord’s heart.
“Tell me, Miss Gregory, where do you reside when not in London? Mrs. Parton has been foretelling your arrival for weeks, but she told us nothing about you.”
“My origins are of no consequence, I assure you, sir.” The young lady lifted her chin. Her eyes glinted, and her lips thinned into a line. So she had a bit of spunk. Greystone liked that. Few young ladies spoke so boldly to a peer of his standing.
“Now, my dear.” Mrs. Parton reached across the table and patted her hand. “Greystone is a treasured friend. He can be trusted with your secret.”
The young lady’s eyes shifted this way and that, as if she would escape this interview. Greystone began to regret quizzing her, even as his curiosity about her increased. “If you are in some sort of difficulty, miss...” He could not imagine a problem that Mrs. Parton’s vast wealth could not solve.
Again Miss Gregory lifted her chin, and wounded pride beamed from her elegant countenance. “I am not a mere miss. I am Lady Beatrice Gregory.”
LOUISE M. GOUGE
has been married to her husband, David, for forty-seven years. They have four children and seven grand-children. Louise always had an active imagination, thinking up stories for her friends, classmates and family, but seldom writing them down. At a friend’s insistence, in 1984 she finally began to type up her latest idea. Before trying to find a publisher, Louise returned to college, earning a B.A. in English/creative writing and a master’s degree in liberal studies. She reworked that first novel based on what she had learned and sold it to a major Christian publisher. Louise then worked in television marketing for a short time before becoming a college English/humanities instructor. She has had twelve novels published, several of which have earned multiple awards, including the 2006 Inspirational Reader’s Choice Award. Please visit her website at http://blog.Louisemgouge.com.
A Suitable Wife
Louise M. Gouge
He that walketh with wise men shall be wise:
but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.
—Proverbs 13:20
This book is dedicated to my beloved husband, David, who has stood by my side through
my entire writing career. I would also like to thank Nancy Mayer and the Beau Monde Chapter of RWA for helping with my research into the Regency era.
Contents
Chapter One
London, May 1814
“Well, Mother, have you chosen a bride for me yet?” Lord Greystone surveyed the guests in the ballroom of his Hanover Square town house, already bored by the dull young misses who had been paraded before him by overeager mothers.
“Greystone, it is simply appalling.” Standing beside him, Mother waved her closed fan carelessly toward the throng of guests, many of whom were engaged in a lively country reel. “I cannot think of any of these silly gels becoming my daughter-in-law. If you married one of them, I should be forced to utterly forsake your company to avoid all that nonsensical chatter.”
“If