HERS WAS A CONVENIENT ARRANGEMENT 

Lady Claire Waterstone has spent more years out of England than she has enjoying English society. In fact, she feels very odd in making her Come Out with girls four to five years her junior. Claire has never known a “home” of her own. And while several gentlemen are eager to claim her hand, she knows their ardor has more to do with the size of her dowry than true affection. Then she encounters Lord Ainmire Fearghal, an impoverished Irish earl, whose tales of how he sees his land creates in her a desire to share it with him. Claire, therefore, abandons decorum and proposes to Lord Fearghal. However, his roguish charm soon has her wishing for more than a marriage of convenience. 

HE BARGAINED FOR HER FORTUNE, NOT HER HEART

Fearghal has only one purpose in marrying Lady Claire: Save his estate. Melhman Manor reeks from inherited debt, and Fearghal requires a wealthy wife immediately. Originally, he thought to leave Claire in London, but his wife soon puts an end to those thoughts, but when she suggests Ainmire’s cousin could be working against Ainmire’s efforts to save his land, Fearghal and Lady Claire strike a different type of bargain – one based in trust and loyalty and the beginnings of love.

Five delightful Regency stories, from USA Today bestselling and Award winning authors, all focused around summer weddings. Lose yourself in the Regency world, and be swept away by love!
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This anthology contains:

This anthology contains:
Her Wily Duke by Arietta Richmond ~ A Marquess desperate to protect the Dukedom from his increasingly unstable older brother, a highwayman apparently bent on the destruction of the ducal estates, a young music teacher caught in the middle of it all, a desperate plan which, in the end, leads to love.

Lord Fearghal’s English Bride by Regina Jeffers ~When an Irish Lord, who needs to marry an heiress to save his estates, meets an aristocratic Englishwoman who seeks an interesting life, there is an instant attraction, and a very rapid marriage. But there are those who do not wish them well, and desperate action is called for if they are both to reach their Irish home alive, and save his estate from foreclosure. Will they survive long enough for that attraction to grow into lasting love?

Contradance by Janis Susan May ~ Life looks bleak for Miss Rosemary Coyningham as plans proceed apace for her cousin’s wedding to the Earl she was betrothed to as a child. Once Matilda is married, what will happen to Rosemary? Surely her uncle will no longer wish to have her living in his house? When Matilda’s intended returns from the continent, with a Princely friend, it all gets more complicated… for Rosemary is drawn to Matilda’s betrothed, when she meets him for the first time… and Matilda seems struck with admiration for the Prince… Will there still be a summer wedding?

The Baron Banishes His Rival by Olivia Marwood ~ Lady Anne Calthorpe is delighted when her closest friend and neighbour returns from his studies at Oxford, and even more so when he steps in to protect her from the man who had bullied her as a child – a man who now seems most intent on paying attentions to her. George Marlestone, Lord Houghton, finds his breath stolen when he sees Lady Anne again, and desire for more than friendship fills him. But before he can act on that desire, he will have to overcome the machinations of those who would drive him away from Lady Anne… Will they succeed, between them, in driving off her pursuer, or will their love be torn apart?

Mother of the Bride by Victoria Hinshaw ~ Widowed Amy, Countess of Blakemore is utterly focused on the arrangements for her daughter’s wedding. She needs no distractions, or surely it won’t all get done on time! Then, for the first time, she meets her son-in-law-to-be’s much older half-brother, who proves to be more distracting then she could ever have imagined. William Easton, Baron Hartley, had shown no interest in marrying again, since the mother of his two daughters died. Now, as his half-brother is about to marry, the idea suddenly seems much more appealing. Of course, that might just be because he can’t take his eyes off the beautiful mother of the bride-to-be. But will she accept his suit?

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Now a bit more about my story …

In Wednesday’s post, I spoke of Lady Claire’s travels to reach her husband’s estate of Melhman near Kanturk, Ireland. Today, we are following Lord Ainmire Fearghal’s journey, which was a more arduous one and a more dangerous one. Ainmire and his cousin, Mr. Simon Fitzlaud, took the coast road (which generally backs up against the Wicklow Mountains) from Dublin to Waterford.

Day 1, LEG #1 – Ainmire travels from Dublin to Bray, which is about 23 miles. Bray was turned into a resort town in the 1800s. The River Dargle, which enters the sea at the north end of Bray rises from a source near Djouce in the Wicklow Mountains. Bray Head is situated at the southern end of the Victorian Promenade with paths leading to the summit and along the sea cliffs. The rocks of Bray Head are a mixture of greywackes and quartzite. There is a large cross on the summit.

Day 1, LEG #2 – From Bray, Ainmire and Simon traveled to Greystones, which is about 5.5 miles from Bray. It is the second largest town in County Wicklow. Its newer name is “Delgany.” The town was named after a half-mile stretch if grey stones between two beaches on the seafront. The North Beach is a stony beach and is overlooked by the southern cliffs of Bray Head. The South Beach is a broad sandy beach about one kilometer long.

Day 1, LEG #3 – From Greystones, the pair traveled to Wicklow, which would be a little over 14 miles. Wicklow’s weather is very much like the rest of northwestern Europe, with cool summers and milk winters, with little temperature fluctuation. May is the sunniest month and October is the wettest. Wicklow is sheltered from the rain by Ballyguile hill and more distantly by the Wicklow Mountains. It enjoys a higher average temperature than much of Ireland proper. Though it is protected from the westerly and southwesterly winds one finds in much of Ireland, Wicklow is particularly exposed to easterly winds, meaning one might experience sharp temperature drops in winter for short periods of time.

Day 2, LEG #1 – Ainmire’s cousin takes ill, and so Lord Fearghal must travel alone. He leaves Wicklow and travels to Arklow. Ballymoyle Hill overlooks and some say dominates the town. Arklow is situated in the southeastern section of the Wicklow Mountains, with the actual coastline being a little over a mile away. From Wicklow, it would be a little over 14 miles to Arlow.

Arklow sets at the mouth of the River Avoca, which divides the town, with the northern side called Ferrybank. The Nineteen Arches Bridges is the longest handmade stone bridge in Ireland. It was built between 1754 and 1756 by Andrew Noble. Before the bridge, all the crossings were made by small boats, which were pulled across the five on a rope, with landing platforms on both banks. The south terminal was the “town bank” while the north was known as the “ferry bank.” Wicklow as a major seafaring town, with both fishing and shipping firms using the port, with shipbuilding also a major industry.

Day 2, LEG 2 – From Arklow, Ainmire traveled 15.5 miles to the market town of Gorey in County Wexford. Among the earliest recordings of the parish and town of Gorey, also sometimes historically known as Kilmichaelogue (Irish: Cill Mhocheallóg, meaning ‘church of Mocheallóg’), are Norman records from 1296 which record an existing town on the site. Several centuries later, in 1619, the town was granted a charter as a borough, under the name Newborough. However, as noted by cartographer Samuel Lewis and publisher George Henry Bassett, this name “never [grew] into general use” as the “inhabitants did not take kindly to the name chosen for the town”. Together with other developments in the area, and as the principal local landlords, the Ram family built a large estate to the north of the town. The manor house of this estate, Ramsfort, was burned following the Irish Rebellion of 1641, and again during the Irish Rebellion of 1798. Ramsfort house was rebuilt in the 19th century to designs attributed to architect Daniel Robertson.

Day 2, LEG 3 – Ainmire leaves Gorey, meaning to reach, first, Einniscorty (18 miles), then Wexford (another 15 miles), Waterford (36 miles), then turn inward to cross through the mountains (123 miles) to Mallow (the same town Claire traveled through), and another 13 miles on to Kanturk. However, he was attacked upon the road.

Book Excerpt:

Late March, 1814

Lord Ainmire Fearghal watched his cousin watching him and Ainmire’s new wife. Simon Fitzlaud had been Ainmire’s best friend since they were children, but now Ainmire had wondered if his cousin held his own ambitions. Fitzlaud had gone to London with him, for Ainmire required a rich wife to save his impoverished estate in Ireland. Having had the “luxury” of an English education, Ainmire knew something of what was and was not acceptable in an English ballroom; therefore, his cousin had agreed to play the role of his valet and stay in the let rooms Ainmire had secured in one of the small towns surrounding London proper. To reach London, it was an hour on horseback. Naturally, they had also had to let a carriage, which took a bit longer, but was considered more acceptable. A man could not woo a prospective bride smelling of horseflesh. 

His cousin believed Ainmire should not have married Lady Claire Waterstone, for Claire was, most assuredly, like no woman he had encountered on English soil. “She be too assured of herself,” Simon had said more often than Ainmire cared to remember. “Ye be needin’ someone more docile.” 

However, from the beginning, Ainmire had enjoyed Claire’s willingness to hold an actual conversation with him about the things she had seen as the daughter of a British soldier stationed all over the empire and how she listened to his hopes for a better life for his cottagers. He had held nothing back in those private moments, for he found he admired the woman more than he should. It was one thing to claim her fortune, but, unlike his cousin, Ainmire could not betray her trust in him to protect her for the remainder of their days. 

He had no idea why she had chosen him, but he was more than a bit excited to be spending his life with Lady Claire by his side. Surely, she knew he had pockets to let, or she found out quite quickly. He had required a rich wife, and with the woman’s “encouragement,” he had thrown his hat into the ring, along with a half dozen other young lords wishing to claim both the woman’s beauty and her substantial dowry. 

Ainmire admittedly was not immune to his wife’s beauty, for she was without a doubt fair of face. Any man alive would be happy to have her by his side. But things were not quite as they seemed to be. So, they two placed their heads together and decided to learn the truth. There were things upon his estate that had gone missing or were torn down by mistake or even had caught fire when there was no lightning to set the blaze.

Giveaway: Comment on any or all of the six posts featuring Regency Summer Weddings Anthology for a chance to win an eBook copy of the book. The giveaway ends on Friday, July 5. Winners will receive their copies of the book then. Good luck to all!