The Bachelor Trap (36 page)

A new era and a new generation had begun. It was fitting.

The dowager joined him and linked her arm through his. After a companionable silence, she said, “Your father would be very proud of you if he could see you now.”

Once upon a time, those would have been fighting words. Brand sipped his champagne. Finally, he said, “Tell me about my father. I want to know what kind of man he was.”

They were in the vestry of Holy Trinity Church in Stratford-upon-Avon, looking over the parish register for the year of 1796. The ink was fading, but still legible. Marion's finger trailed along the page as she read the entry she wanted:
George Dane, widower, and Diana Gunn, spinster, by Special License.

Marion's smile was radiant when she looked up at Brand. “I remember my father in the coach with us on the way to Longbury, but I knew he wasn't at the cottage. Well, of course, now we know why he wasn't. He was avoiding Hannah!”

She looked at the entry for one last time and shut the book firmly. “No more looking back,” she said, “at least not with regret. I have so much happiness inside me, I think I could drown in it.”

After returning the register to the curate, they left the church and stopped on the steps to give their eyes time to adjust to the light.

Brand said, “No more fears that your murky past will overtake you?”

She shook her head. “I was never afraid for myself. You know that. Besides, I'm taking you for my model.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means that I'm immune to the spite of people who aren't fit to lick my boots.”

A laugh was startled out of him. “Is that supposed to be a compliment?”

She thought for a moment. “Not really. It's a statement of fact, the unvarnished truth. It's one of your most endearing qualities.”

When she was silent, he said, “What are you thinking?”

She chuckled. “The best people sometimes rise from what appear to be the worst circumstances. That's you, Brand FitzAlan Hamilton, and I wouldn't change you for the world. Did you say something?”

He rubbed his throat. “No. It's that damned frog again.”

“Are you coming down with a cold?”

“On my honeymoon? I am more manly than that.”

She laughed. “Stratford!” she said. “Shakespeare's birthplace. There is so much to do and see here that I hardly know where to begin.”

When she looked up at him with a query in her eyes, he replied, “True. But this is the first day of our honeymoon.” He shrugged casually. “The attractions that Stratford has to offer will still be here tomorrow.”

“You're reading my mind again,” she said, and she started down the path, leaving him staring.

She turned on her heel to look at him. “Well, what are you waiting for? Let's go back to our hotel room and shut the door on the world.”

He was beside her in two strides. Laughing, arm in arm, they ran down the path to the waiting carriage.

About the Author

Bestselling award-winning author Elizabeth Thornton was born and educated in Scotland, and lived in Canada with her husband for over thirty years. In her time, she was a teacher, a lay minister in the Presbyterian Church, a full-time writer, and a devoted grandmother to her five grandchildren.

Also by
Elizabeth Thornton

The Marriage Trap

Shady Lady

Almost a Princess

The Perfect Princess

Princess Charming

Strangers at Dawn

Whisper His Name

You Only Love Twice

The Bride's Bodyguard

Dangerous to Hold

Dangerous to Kiss

Dangerous to Love

THE BACHELOR TRAP

A Dell Book / May 2006

Published by

Bantam Dell

A Division of Random House, Inc.

New York, New York

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved

Copyright © 2006 by Mary George

Dell is a registered trademark of Random House, Inc., and the colophon is a trademark of Random House, Inc.

www.bantamdell.com

eISBN: 978-0-440-33603-7

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