Book Blurb:

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.

Purchase Links:

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!
***** READ NOW ON KINDLE UNLIMITED *****
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 lov

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 weddind?

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?

Purchase Link:

Amazon Kindle

Available to Read on Kindle Unlimited

Now, more about my tale…

In Ireland, the question of a legal marriage between a Protestant and a Catholic could often be prompted by whether the couple had married in both churches or simple one, as well as which ceremony came first.

On 25 March 1754, the Hardwicke Act went into effect in England. It was designed to prevent Clandestine Weddings (Read More on Clandestine Weddings HERE) and to force couples marrying in England to follow certain guidelines or have their marriage declared illegal. Under an earlier Statute of King George II (19 Geo. 2. c. 13), any marriage between a Catholic (Popish) and a Protestant or a marriage between two Protestants celebrated by a Catholic priest was null and void, meaning any children conceived would be considered illegitimate.

Prior to the Hardwicke Act, couples simply required a clergyman ordained by the Church of England to administer their vows. We often hear of a Fleet Marriage, which is the best-known example of an irregular or a clandestine marriage taking place in England. These joinings were popular at the end of the late 17th and early 18th Century. The Marriage Duty Act 1695 put an end to irregular marriages at parochial churches by penalizing clergymen who married couples without banns or license. By a legal quirk, however, clergymen operating in the Fleet could not effectively be prosecuted for disobeying the Act, and the clandestine marriage business there carried on. In the 1740s, over half of all London weddings were taking place in the environs of the Fleet Prison.

The Hardwicke Act made marriages more public. A calling of the banns became a requirement, which could only be put aside if the couple obtained an “ordinary”  or “standard” license from the local bishop or a special license from the Archbishop of Canterbury. The standard license came with a bond of £100. This bond was forfeited if the couple lied to the local bishop regarding their fitness to marry. The license named the specific parish church where the exchange of vows would be held. It required a 7-days’ waiting period.

A calling of the banns had to take place over three successive Sundays before the couple could marry before an ordained Church of England clergyman. Two witnesses were required for the ceremony to be legal.

Only Quakers or Jews were exempt from the Hardwicke Act. All others, including Roman Catholics, had to follow the law’s guidelines. NO exceptions! Catholics in England who married only under their own rites were not considered legally married under English law. They had to be married by a Protestant minister legally to be considered married. The Catholics disagreed with this requirement, and many married in the local Catholic church first and then almost immediately in the Protestant church. If they had not married in the Protestant church, their children were illegitimate under the Hardwicke Act. During this time, a Catholic priest faced fines and possible imprisonment for marrying a Protestant to a Catholic unless the couple had already been married by a Protestant clergyman.

In Ireland, where my story takes place, the Catholics did not need to be married by a Protestant at all, but the clergy was still forbidden to celebrate a mixed marriage unless there had already been a Protestant one. All through the 19th Century, the restrictions against other religious groups were eased, and there even was a provision for a civil marriage, but a Catholic and a Protestant still could not marry in the Catholic Church unless they had already married by civil or Protestant ceremony. Any marriage of a Protestant to a Catholic by Catholic ritual alone was considered invalid.

Book Excerpt:

As the music died away, a voice called out before a round of applause had circled among those looking on. “How quaint! Very quaint indeed!”

Ainmire set Claire behind him. “Good day, Uncle,” he responded as the crowd parted to permit Lord Ross Fitzlaud to come to stand before him. 

“I understand you have married, Fearghal—without even the care of a notice of your doing so,” his uncle said. 

“Your son journeyed with me to England,” Ainmire responded. “I suspect you knew my marital state before I even arrived back in Ireland.” 

“Yet, my son did not attend the actual wedding. Is that not correct, Simon?” his uncle demanded. “No one from your family actually stood witness to your joining.” 

Ainmire stated, “I asked Simon to stand witness to my marrying a British . . . well, I shan’t dignify the word Simon called my future wife by repeating such foulness.” 

The crowd buzzed with indignation directed to his uncle for discrediting their new mistress. 

“If no one from the family stood witness to the marriage, how do we know your marriage be legal? If not, then my family still remains as your heirs. An illegitimate child cannot inherit, as you well know.” 

Mr. Connelly stepped between them. “I assure you, sir, Lord and Lady Fearghal’s marriage has been properly recorded in the parish records.”

“How so?” his uncle demanded. “You did not perform the ceremony nor stood as witness to my nephew’s wedding.” 

“I have received a certificate and an official letter from the Archbishop’s office in London so I might include a record of his lordship’s joining in my parish records,” Connelly declared with a great deal of haughtiness. The cleric never appreciated anyone speaking out against his authority. 

“And how often have you received such a document previously? Would you recognize the Archbishop’s signature?” his uncle said with a smile of satisfaction, indicating he had heard of the document previously. 

“Never, but the seal indicated it was from His Grace’s offices at Doctors’ Commons in London,” Connelly argued. 

“Yet, it is possible my nephew is not legally married to Lady Claire Waterstone,” his uncle said in triumph. 

“Lady Claire and I married at St George Hanover Church in Mayfair,” Ainmire growled in displeasure, “and I take great umbrage that you dare to smear my wife’s good name simply because she outmanoeuvred your attempts to prevent the payment of the mortgage you held on Mehlman.” 

“Pardon, my lord,” a voice said from a place off Ainmire’s shoulder. 

He turned his head briefly to note Father Hannigan looking on. “Yes, Father?”

“I thought if you and your wife wished to ‘remarry,’ so to speak, I would be pleased to conduct the ceremony. Mr. Connelly could stand as your witness. In that manner, your marriage to Lady Claire would be sanctioned by both the Protestants in the community, as well as the Catholics. You have tenants of both persuasions and many in the community are present to stand as witnesses to your marriage.”

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!