Love’s Perilous Road

by

Spotlight on “My Gift to You” in Love’s Perilous Road

My Gift to You

By Mary Lancaster

A rocky marriage and too many secrets…

The young Marchioness of Corey comes from a family of expensive rakehells. The world knows she married the marquis for his money – a conclusion Corey reached the day after their wedding.

Only, it was never true…

Attending the Normanton House party, each hopes for happiness. Only her wretched family gets in the way again, as does the local highwayman, and it seems their secret love is perpetually doomed… 

Buy now in Love’s Perilous Road: https://books2read.com/u/mqx0W6

***

An Excerpt from My Gift to You

Gaby enjoyed the journey to Normanton more than she had enjoyed anything since her wedding night. They talked of his Bill, of his parliamentary allies and enemies, and how to change the minds of the latter. The discussion was not without humor and their laughter led them down lighter roads. 

Their al fresco breakfast brought them physically closer. Her heart leapt foolishly at every accidental touch, and she did not move away. Neither did he. Gaby was enchanted, for that secret smile was back in his eyes. She loved his dry, subtle humor that was rarely unkind. During their brief courtship between betrothal and marriage, this had been a revelation to her who had grown among loud, jeering people focused entirely on their own pleasure.

Once, when they were discussing the entertainments likely to be on offer at the party, she said lightly, “The rubies are even more beautiful than I expected. Thank you for trusting me with the family treasure.”

He looked for the jest, of course, and she didn’t blame him. She had used flippancy as protective armor too often. 

“I mean it,” she said ruefully.

“They’re more than family treasure. They are my gift to you.”

Pleasure brought a flush to her face. Impulsively, she touched her cheek to his shoulder. “Thank you,” she whispered. Then, afraid he would dislike such a demonstration, she straightened. “Should I save them for the grand ball?” she wondered. “Or tease the company with a few pieces beforehand?”

“Whatever amuses you.”

She was actually sorry to arrive at Normanton House, a large and gracious property, but the excitement stayed with her. She could swear this new friendliness was not mere politeness on his part. He did seem to genuinely like her still.

Which begged the question, why had he drawn away from her after that first night? Had she disappointed him so badly in bed? Or in other ways?

It doesn’t matter, as long as we are truly together now…

They arrived late in the afternoon, and both host and hostess greeted them warmly.

“Welcome to Normanton House,” Lady Sommerville cried. “I quite feel you have handed us the coup of the year by your presence.”

“I trust your journey was unremarkable?” Sir Peter added. “We’ve had bother with a highwayman on the Brighton roads.”

“Really?” Gaby was almost disappointed to have been spared such excitement until she realized that such a miscreant would almost certainly have stolen the Corey rubies. And the pearls.

“I expect your outriders made him think twice,” Sir Peter said with approval. 

“Come, I’ll show to your rooms,” Lady Sommerville said. “Where you may rest in comfort before tea, when you will meet all our other guests. I do hope you will be comfortable…”

Gaby had been sure that in a house so full of guests, she and her husband would share a bedchamber. But she had reckoned without their rank. The marquis and marchioness were given their own rooms, each with a sitting room.

Just like at home, they had no need ever to meet except in company.

by

Stolen Kisses in Love’s Perilous Road

STOLEN KISSES by Cerise DeLand

When Lance Winters first kissed Emma Tomkins pretending to be a highwayman years ago, she was ruined. 

But things have changed. Now she has a fortune—and she’s determined to live as she wishes. Alone.

As a captain in the Army, Lancelot Winters never had the means to claim Emma as his wife. But he vowed one day he would return for her.

Now the war is over. With a title and an estate, he plans to make her laugh again. And love him again.

So he disguises himself as a highwayman and tracks Emma in her carriage. Then he grabs her off the coach—and in front of other passengers, he kisses her.

Oh, yes. She remembers his lips. His rakish charm. But he ruined her once and she’s determined it won’t happen again.

But the man is persistent, showing up to court her everywhere! Suddenly, Lance can’t live without her. And she can’t imagine marrying anyone else.

Their biggest problem?

A Bow Street Runner comes looking for the highwayman who troubles the countryside.

An Excerpt from Stolen Kisses

Lance cocked an ear. A coachman’s crack of whip and the grinding of wheels signaled his darling came near in her coach to Brighton.

“I saw you climb in this morning,” he murmured to himself. “I doubt you’ve stayed in Crowley.”

He had seen her and her cousin Diana climb down for a respite at the carriage inn when the coach stopped. But he had not waited for Emma or Diana to get back inside. He’d spurred his horse on to the bend in the road. Here he had waited patiently to demonstrate to his beloved that time had not destroyed his love of her. And that the ton could go hang by their own silly rules.

He was here, standing and delivering like a true highwayman that love and laughter went hand in hand—and he’d give it to her from this day forward.

From his vantage point, he saw the dust cloud billow above the hedgerow—and at once, there was the coach, fast on approach.

He put up his half mask and brandished his wooden pistol. Then he charged forward.

Headed straight for the carriage, he halted a hundred yards or so from view and encouraged his horse to paw the air. He’d even asked the groom where he’d rented the horse if the animal could and would do that on command. He did now….and Lance grinned at the image he must make. A black horse, large and rearing, upon which sat a large man in black, his face half concealed by his black scarf.

“Halt! Halt, I say!” He shouted as the coachman slowed his horses and came to an idle, then stopped.

The fellow stood in the box. “What ho, sir? Ye don’t want to hurt us, nay!”

“Order your passengers out.”

The man sank to his seat. “No!”

“I say…” Lance waved his replica of a fine pistol. “Tell them to come out.”

The man turned and yelled towards the cab.

In the window, Lance saw Emma’s face. At first she was bewildered, then frightened. But now, as the coachman left his perch and jumped down to open the door, she met Lance’s gaze and her fear went to shock, then to recognition.

She took the coachman’s hand, climbed down and approached Lance. “Why do this?”

He met her and let his horse dance around her. “You know why.”

“No. I am at a loss.”

“How many in the carriage?” He knew she’d be concerned about gossip of this, but in Crawley he’d seen the other passenger. The woman was young, pretty—and already tipsy when she joined Emma and Diana in the coach.

“Only three,” shouted Diana from the window. “My cousin, me and Miss Frobisher, Mister Highwayman, sir. And …um…sir? Miss Frobisher is very frightened.” But by the grin spreading across Diana’s glowing features, Lance could tell the girl enjoying this tremendously.

“Tell Miss Frobisher, she need fear no one.” He walked his horse nearer Emma. “Certainly not me,” he crooned as he slid to his feet, removed his mask and took Emma in his arms to put his lips to hers.

Willing, pliant in his embrace, she allowed him his kiss. Long and soft, intrusive at the end, but quickly satisfying, his capture of her mouth was just as he had hoped.

“Why?” she asked him, dazed, as he pulled away.

“Because you need surprise and laughter.”

Her arms, tight around his neck, she sank her fingers into the wealth of his silky hair at his nape. “Why could you not wait and do this properly?”

“In a ballroom? Or church?”

He took her lips once more, a leisurely claim of reassurance. “I’ll do that too. And soon. But I wanted you to remember and value what had happened that day.”

“Oh, I do recall every moment.”

“That I kissed you?”

“Thoroughly.”

“That I told you I loved you?”

“Unforgettably.”

“And that if I ever had the means, I would return for you and carry you away to happiness….and marriage.”

“Oh, yes, such a declaration a woman never forgets.”

“I renew it all now, my darling.”

It was then Lance felt the barrel of a rifle in the small of his back.

“Ye’ll take yer hands off the lady.”

by

Spotlight on “Forever and Always” in Love’s Perilous Road

Forever and Always in Love’s Perilous Road

By Rue Allyn

Lord Fontus Leigh secretly wed a stranger to protect her, then she left him with no way to find her. Years later, he is desperate to discover her whereabouts. His family has arranged another match for him, but he already has a wife. Unless the marriage was annulled as she promised.

Out of options, Lady Deoiridh Aitken narrowly escaped marriage to a cruel fortune hunter by means of wedding a complete stranger. She swore her husband to secrecy before she left, believing everyone would be safer if no one knew where she was. The plan worked perfectly, until now.

Meet Fontus

Youngest of ten brothers, Lord Fontus Leigh left England as a callow youth suspected of murder. Now an arranged marriage gives him a chance to clear his name and restore his reputation. Even though his prospective bride hates him, Fontus would marry her—if only he were not already wed.

Meet Dee

Lady Deoiridh Aitken grew up in the Bourbon court in exile. When a cruel fortune hunter pursued her, she fled and married a total stranger, promising an annulment once she was safe. But evil continues to hunt her, and she is forced to recognize the saving power of love.

An Excerpt from Forever and Always

She aimed in the direction of her new friend. Halfway there, Frobbin blocked her path.

“What do you want?” She wished she could give him the cut direct.

“I must speak with you privately.”

“I do not care to converse with you, sir. Nothing you can say is of any interest to me.” She used her iciest tone.

He arched a brow. “Not even if it concerns your mother?”

Dee lifted her chin and sniffed. “My mother is asleep with a sick headache and is no concern of yours.”

Hands clasped behind his back, Frobbin rocked back and forth on his heels. “Really? Did you see her?”

“She is asleep, so of course I did not disturb her.”

“Hmm. Perhaps you can explain a mystery for me.”

“I tire of whatever game you play. Get to the point, so I may speak with someone else.” 

“I play no game. However, since you are so certain of your mother’s location, maybe you can explain this note she wanted me to give you.”

Without thinking, Dee took the offered slip of paper, unfolded it, and read.

Daughter, please do not do as this canaille asks. He dares not carry out his threats. Deny him, and I will be fine.”

 Beside her mother’s signature, in very tiny script of an ancient style were the words Neart agus Faireachadh, war cry of the Aitken clan in her father’s native tongue. Strength and Vigilance. Few people from other nations could translate the ancient Scots language, let alone the particular dialect used here. Hence, her father had established it as a way of verifying that any message was truly from family. 

“I am surprised that you permitted my mother to write such a note.”

Barbeau shrugged. “I care only that you understand she is myguest at a location I shall disclose later. You may of course do as she asks and ignore my warning.”

“You made no threat.”

“Immediately after the ladies leave the table, you must excuse yourself.”

“On what grounds?”

“I don’t care what lie you create.” He snarled the words despite the smile he kept on his face. 

“So, you wish to make a liar of me as well as a slave.”

“Take care, Lady Deoiridh. I will soon be your husband. You will not wish to test my patience. Having excused yourself, get a cloak and bonnet. Steal one from the maids if you must, but do not return to your room. My associates among the footmen will tell me should you deviate from my instructions. Leave the house by a side door and make your way to the front gate. Stay within the shadow of the trees lining the drive. No one must know you left or suspect that anyone has gone from the house. I will meet you at the gate and take you to our destination. Bring nothing. I will provide everything you need once we are married.”

Dee laughed. “You honestly believe you can coerce me into marriage.”

by

A Bow Street Runner in WIP Wednesday

Some of the Bluestocking Belles’ more complicated box sets have had not just a common setting or event, but a bit of a puzzle – Who is sending gossip to the Teatime Tattler? (Storm and Shelter) Whose baby is the orphan with the amulet belonging in the village, delivered by a travelling couple who found him in France. (Under the Harvest Moon) And the one coming up, Love’s Perilous Road, in which the overarching question is, who is the highwayman?

Of course, that sets up a question about how to order the stories so we don’t let the cat out of the bag too soon! I hope, when you read our ten stories, that you’ll agree with the order we have chosen.

Of course, people in our stories were also asking that question, and one of them was Principal Officer Robert Pierce, sent by the Office of the Magistrate’s Court, Bow Street, London. My Bow Street runner’s case book forms a little vignette between each story, as he writes his thoughts about the events of the day, consigning his frustrations and sometimes his successes to paper, for his own eyes only. And yours, dear reader. Here is Casebook entry number 4.

The Casebook of Principal Officer Robert Pierce

The Office of the Magistrates’ Court, Bow Street, London

The clue of the trousers on the church steeple led nowhere. No one knows who put the trousers up there, and the curate swears he was the only man with a key. The locals are protective of “their” Captain Moonlight, but there will be a break soon. I am certain of it. Everyone makes a mistake sometime.

The second highwayman robbed another coach. Had ladies not been present, I am certain the man would have been shot, for the ladies were accompanied by some very competent gentlemen. It is a risky business, being a highwayman without a gang.

I am getting closer to Larcenous Lucy! Word has it she has been active in Brighton itself, so I am heading there in the morning.

If you’d like to know more about Robert, the trousers on the steeple, the two highwaymen (and possibly a third), Larcenous Lucy, smugglers, a ghost, a blackmailer, Fennians, and more – not to mention ten delightful romances, read Love’s Perilous Road, now on preorder, and published October 31st.

by

Spotlight on ‘Falling Into You’ in Love’s Perilous Road

Lord Milton Sutton, Earl of Langley has one regret in life… that he left behind a lady that owned his heart in order to take over his father’s businesses to prevent bankruptcy. One year later, he has a second chance to win her back but is he too late?

Lady Josephine Cranfield is determined to move on with her life after her heart was broken by the love of her life. But her feelings for Milton awaken upon his return and his eagerness to pick up where they left off only makes her resolved to forget him.

Can Milton and Josephine find a way back to one another or will someone else find his way into Josephine’s heart?

Buy Love’s Perilous Road. Preorder price 99c. Published October 31st

Meet Josephine

Lady Josephine Cranfield is determined to move on with her life after her heart was broken by the love of her life. But her feelings for Milton awaken upon his return and his eagerness to pick up where they left off only makes her resolved to forget him.

Meet Milton

Lord Milton Sutton, Earl of Langley has one regret in life… that he left behind a lady that owned his heart in order to take over his father’s businesses to prevent bankruptcy. One year later, he has a second chance to win her back but is he too late?

Excerpt from Falling Into You

“You’re very early, Philip. Is something wrong?” she declared before she came to a sudden halt. She took hold of the doorframe to steady herself, afraid that her knees might buckle when she witnessed the gentleman standing near the window.

He turned to face her with the sun streaming through the glass to make him appear almost angelic. She drank in the sight of him as though she was dying of thirst. The cut of his suit and waistcoat was immaculate. His dark brown hair streaked with lighter shades was neatly combed into place and touched the edges of his coat. His skin appeared tanned from time spent in the sun and he appeared far more muscular than she remembered. His linen shirt seemed to stretch across his muscled chest while his blue eyes seemingly danced in delight to see her. She just might swoon.

“Hello, Josephine” he said giving her a bow. The old memory of his husky baritone branded her heart with sorrow as all the old hurt came rushing back to the surface.

“Milton…” she began, attempting to find her voice. “I wasn’t expecting you.”

“I know this is highly irregular but I had to see you,” he said stepping forward.

“Why?” she gasped out as her knees began to shake and she had the overwhelming need to sit down.

The sound of the tea trolley being rolled through the hallway gave her the moment she needed to clear her head and compose herself. She went into the room and sat in a chair near the hearth knowing to sit on the couch would allow him to be far too close. Once the servant put the trolley near at hand, she poured tea into two cups and offered him one as he took the opposite chair. He reached for the one she held out for him, and when their fingers touched, a zing of emotion overcame her. It wasn’t fair that he could still have such an effect on her after all this time. It wasn’t fair at all!

He continued to stare at her, searching her face for some sign of… what? That she was still in love with him? She couldn’t be certain but what did it matter if she still cared for this man? He was her past, and Philip was her future.

“You were one of the first people I wanted to see upon my return,” he confessed, setting down his tea without taking a sip.

“Oh? And who was the first?” she said in a snippy tone.

A slight chuckle left those lips she remembered all too well, having kissed them a dozen times or more. “Your brother,” he finally answered.

“I see. Considering your friendship all your lives, I can see how you might have missed him.”

“And you.”

She raised a brow at his admission. “I don’t see why you’d have missed me, Milton. After all, it was you who ended our association.”

by

Highwaymen, smugglers and other dangers

The next Bluestocking Belles’ collection, Love’s Perilous Road, serves up a heaping helping of romance, with a side order of highwaymen, garnished with a few smugglers, a ghost, a gang of Fennians and more than one spy.

Were there highwaymen in Sussex in this period? Sure were, and smugglers, too, though the popularity of Brighton meant that they’d moved along the coast. Don’t miss it!

And meanwhile, here’s a video on the ins and out of being a highwayman.

by

Spotlight on Sir Westcott Steals a Heart from Love’s Perilous Road

Alina K. Field with Sir Westcott Steals a Heart:

Sir Westcott Twisden didn’t know he wanted to marry until the tallest lady he’d ever met crossed his path. Curious when a local smuggler shows up to visit her, Wes follows her into trouble.

Sybil Dunsford lives to protect her brothers and their home. And so, one night she disguises herself as a boy to help shift contraband. But when the night goes array, Sir Westcott appears, and they’re locked in together. Will romance follow?

Love’s Perilous Road

(in Love’s Perilous Road)

Coming Autumn 2025

Travellers, a house party, smugglers, spies—and a mysterious highwayman. Who is the infamous Captain Moonlight? And how many lives will he change–for good or for ill?

Preorder now: https://books2read.com/u/mqx0W6

An extract from Sir Westcott Steals a Heart

She murmured an unladylike curse and continued to work.

It was shocking for a lady to curse, wasn’t it? He chuckled, thinking of his stepmother and grandmother. Once or twice when they thought he wasn’t around, he’d heard them swear.

Sybil must have removed the gloves she’d been wearing. The cold fingers touching his wrists unaccountably sent warmth up his arms and to other parts of his body.

She slid a finger under his cuff and his heart jolted. If she kept that up, he might find himself leg-shackled, and not unwillingly.

Perhaps before the night was over, he’d have a chance to warm her hands. And more. This godforsaken place was dark enough to have his thoughts embracing the notion of a tryst and a special license.

“Stop moving,” she said. “These knots are the devil.”

The scold shook him out of his lustful thoughts and brought to mind his stepmother’s treatment by a neighbor and friend of his father who’d followed her to York in the spring and tried to importune her one afternoon while Wes was out.

Stepmama had absolutely forbade him from challenging the fellow because he was, she said, no worse than other friends of Wes’s late father.

His father. The late Sir Twisden’s passions had all been for his hounds and his hunting, not his duties as the local squire, not his wife, nor even his son. It had been Wes’s stepmother raising Wes to be a gentleman.

The marriage had been a mismatch for her, an impoverished young lady who hadn’t known his father at all before marrying him.

What did Wes know about Sybil Dunsford? He’d do well to slow down and not rush his fences with her.

But… what did Crofton say… You won’t be so stiff-rumped about marrying me then.

Crofton wanted to marry her?

A stubborn determination rose in him. Crofton wouldn’t have Sybil.

by

Proposal under pressure on WIP Wednesday

Here’s an excerpt from my novella in next month’s Bluestocking Belles’ collection, Love’s Perilous Road. My heroine has come to warn my hero of the villain’s plans, but he has other things on his mind.

***

“Was that Grant I saw leaving?” she demanded, as he drew her inside and shut the door to protect her from the eyes of scandalmongers. “What did he want?”

“To tell me I wasn’t good enough for you,” he blurted.

She raised her eyebrows and gave an unamused chuckle. “At least there is something the two of you agree about.”

I hurt her. Justin supposed he must have known it before, but seeing her use humor to deflect possible hurt brought it home to him.

“I told him we are betrothed,” he blurted. “I shouldn’t have. Not when I haven’t even asked you. I love you, Lady Felicity Belvoir. I have loved you since I first met you. For the past two years, even while I kept telling myself that it was hopeless, and that I was an arrogant bumptious fool for ever thinking I was fit to touch the toe of your shoe, I have loved you. Will you forgive this poor fool for running away without talking to you?”

Somewhere in that impassioned speech, he had caught up her two hands. He lifted them to his lips, and then said, “Will you marry me, and join me in a partnership to make our dreams come true? Will you, Felicity?”

Felicity lifted her lovely face and touched her sweet lips to his. “Yes, Justin. Yes, I will.”

During the kiss, Justin lost his wits for a while, allowing Felicity to instead fill his senses, sinking into the web of desire even as he wove it. He was not ready when she drew back after several glorious minutes, but he immediately loosened his grip so that she did not feel confined.

She had an urgent matter on her mind.

by

Unwanted Suitors in WIP Wednesday

Here’s a passage from my story in the Bluestocking Belles With Friends collection Love’s Perilous Road.

Apparently, Captain Grant could not bring himself to believe that Felicity meant the firm ‘no’ with which she had greeted his proposals in Paris in 1815 and again in 1816, and the proposal that followed in London. He showed every sign that he was going to try a fourth during this house party. What a nuisance the man was!

He must have shared his intentions with Penelope Somerville, for he was assigned to take Felicity in to dinner two nights in a row, and when they travelled into the village to patronize the local shops, Penelope sent Felicity to ride in a curricle driven by Captain Grant.

He also followed her around, partnering her in every two-person activity if she had not been quick enough to find another partner, joining any group she was in, sitting next to her at tea, and constantly speaking to and about her as if they were an established couple.

She managed to deflect any attempts on his part to turn the conversation in a personal direction, and truly, if it came to the point, she would simply refuse him again. But it was exhausting.

Also annoying, for she had had no opportunity to make another visit to the schoolhouse, and Justin had not tried to see her. Robin, too, was playing least in sight, so she could not even recruit him to either carry a message to Justin or run interference with Captain Grant so she could be her own messenger.

“Penelope,” Felicity said to her hostess after breakfast on the third morning of the house party, “Please stop pairing me with Captain Grant. I do not wish him to think I might be amenable to his courtship.”

“But darling,” Penelope replied, “Captain Grant has done me the courtesy of discussing his intentions towards you, and they are everything honorable. He is a gentleman of means, and while his father’s family is nothing to speak of, his mother’s people are mostly highly connected. Most highly indeed.”

“Captain Grant has already proposed several times, Penelope. I have refused and will continue to do so.”

Penelope could not understand it. “But Felicity, you cannot have thought. He is most eligible, I assure you, and so elegant in his manner. I cannot see any objection. Indeed, I am certain the Earl of Hythe and your sister Sophia would be most distressed if I failed to urge you to reconsider.”

Penelope was quite out, there. Hythe disliked Grant, though he had declined to discuss why, which left Felicity with the impression it was to do with the secret work Hythe sometimes did under cover of his diplomatic positions. And Grant was not popular with Sophia, either.

“I have nothing personal against the man, Felicity,” Sophia had said. “But I cannot warm to him. And His Grace has warned both me and James against becoming too familiar with Captain Grant, so I daresay he knows something to the man’s discredit.” His Grace was the Duke of Winshire, father to Sophia’s husband James, the Earl of Sutton.

Even if Felicity had been partial to Captain Grant, she must have questioned her inclination once she discovered he had come to the attention, and not in a good way, of her brother and her sister’s father-in-law, both of whom were active in His Majesty’s service.

She could not tell Penelope any of that. It was probably some sort of top secret, and she did not have details, in any case.

“Neither my brother nor my sister would want me to marry where I felt no affection, Penelope. Indeed, and I know I can rely upon your discretion—I cannot like the man. No doubt a fault in me, but there it is. I am certain you would not wish me to pursue an acquaintance with a person I dislike, for you are so very fond of Sir Peter, and he of you.”

Penelope frowned, wrinkling her nose as if she might be about to cry. “Oh dear. Are you certain? Only, he seemed so certain you were merely showing maidenly reserve, and that his persistence would win you.” She sighed. “I did think it romantic he would try and try again.”

I find it disturbing. “I am certain. And truly, Penelope? Maidenly reserve? You have known me since I was eleven!”

Penelope giggled like the girl she had been when she first became friends with Sophia. “I suppose you are right, darling. You have always been very confident.”