Twelfth Night Secrets (23 page)
Read Twelfth Night Secrets Online
Authors: Jane Feather
Tags: #Fiction, #Romance, #General, #Historical
“But so did I.” Tom, sounding puzzled, lifted the sovereign’s twin from his plate. “There are two beans in this cake. How did that happen?”
“How, indeed,” murmured Harriet, glancing at her grandfather, who slowly dropped an eyelid in a conspiratorial wink. His indulgences were always surprises and all the more significant for that fact. It was unlikely the twins would both find favors in next year’s Twelfth Night cake.
She turned to her own plate, carefully removing the parchment and taking a delicate forkful. “It’s as delicious as ever,” she said. “Mistress Hubbard has outdone herself again.” She forked another piece.
“Harry, Harry, don’t eat it!” Grace cried urgently. “You’ll choke. There’s something in it.”
Harriet held up the fork and caught a glint of something among the raisins and candied fruit. She
used her free hand to pry it loose. So this was how Julius had intended to make his announcement.
She wiped the ring on her napkin and held it up to the candlelight. It was exquisite. A thin gold circlet embedded with emeralds and seed pearls. As perfect and delicate as anything she could have imagined.
Julius took it from her and took her left hand. He held it for a moment, his dark eyes asking the question for the last time. Harriet nodded, and he slipped the ring onto her finger. Only then did she realize, as the table seemed to draw a collective breath, that forty pairs of eyes had been glued to this little play.
Julius stood up. “Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to announce that Lady Harriet has done me the great honor of agreeing to become my wife.”
The table erupted in applause and clinking glasses, and above the din, the twins tugged at Harriet’s arm. “Are you marrying the Earl, Harry?”
She looked into their solemn faces. “Yes, my dears, I am.”
“But what will happen to us?”
“Only really good things,” she said, drawing them tightly against her. “I promise you, only really good things will happen.”
Grace took her face out of Harriet’s bosom and
looked at Julius. “You’ll be like a brother, won’t you? Like Nick.”
“Perhaps not just like Nick,” he said gently. “But I will try to be what you need. I will look after you, love you, and care for you as Nick would have done. That much I can promise.”
The Duke rose from his seat, lifting his glass. “A toast to a lifetime of happiness, my dears.”
A lifetime of turbulence and excitement,
Harriet thought, and she found the prospect utterly enticing. She sipped her wine, then raised her face for Julius’s kiss. A kiss that embodied the promise of all that life could hold for them both.
Fantasy.
Temptation.
Adventure.
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Born in Cairo, Egypt, and raised in the south of England,
JANE FEATHER
began her writing career when she moved to Washington, D.C., with her family in 1981. She has written several
New York Times
bestselling romantic series, including her recent Georgian series, the Blackwater Brides. She is also the author of the Regency-set Wicked series—
A Wicked Gentleman, To Wed a Wicked Prince,
and
A Husband’s Wicked Ways
—and a romantic holiday novella that appeared in the collection
Snowy Night with a Stranger
. In all, she has written nearly fifty bestselling novels and there are more than ten million copies of her books in print.
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COVER PHOTOGRAPH BY BARRY DAVID MARCUS
Also by Jane Feather
Rushed to the Altar
A Wedding Wager
An Unsuitable Bride
All the Queen’s Players
A Husband’s Wicked Ways
To Wed a Wicked Prince
A Wicked Gentleman
Almost a Lady
Almost a Bride
The Wedding Game
The Bride Hunt
The Bachelor List
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Pocket Books
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This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2012 by Jane Feather
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information, address Pocket Books Subsidiary Rights Department, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.
First Pocket Books paperback edition November 2012
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ISBN 978-1-4391-4527-2
ISBN 978-1-4391-5552-3 (ebook)