The Unaffected Earl Read online

  “No, and I can admit now that I was a fool. When I think that someone else could have captured your attention—”

  “It never would have happened.”

  He pulled her into his arms and smiled down at her. “I’m going to have to be extra vigilant in future.”

  Rose’s brows drew together. “Why? I know you told me about that silly bet people are placing about who can lure me from your side, but you should know that you’re the only man I want.”

  Brantford shook his head. “Not that. I trust you. Also, I have no problem hurting anyone who tries to get to close to you. No, I’m afraid my reputation is now at risk.”

  Rose drew back, hurt at what her husband had revealed. “You’re ashamed to be seen with me?”

  “No, my dear. I’m worried that everyone will see how decidedly affected I am by your presence. Ellen has taken great joy in telling me that I look like a lovesick pup whenever you enter the room.”

  Rose laughed. “Ellen is just giving you a hard time. I think she feels it’s her job as your sister.”

  “She’s not entirely wrong though. I feel like a lovesick pup whenever you’re around. It’s quite embarrassing.”

  Laughing, Rose dragged her husband’s head down for a quick kiss. It turned into a heated embrace quite quickly, and it was only the sound of a throat being cleared that snapped her back to the present.

  Brantford stepped away, and she turned to find her parents had just entered the room. Her mother was beaming, her smile wider than Rose recalled ever having seen it.

  Rose couldn’t bring herself to meet her father’s gaze.

  “It appears I was mistaken yet again,” Worthington said. “I didn’t believe Rose’s mother when she told me the two of you had made a love match. I’d had you pegged for a cold fish.”

  Brantford stiffened at the accusation, then let out a long-suffering sigh. “See what I mean, Rose? My reputation will be ruined ere long.”

  Rose couldn’t hold back her laugh, amused at her husband’s very real distress. She looked at him, then at her parents, before rushing forward to hug her father, as she’d already done numerous times since their arrival that afternoon.

  She’d never imagined she could have everything she wanted, but here she was, happily married to the man she’d loved from afar and celebrating her father’s release. She almost pinched herself to make sure she wasn’t dreaming. When she returned to her husband’s side, joy radiated through her at the fond look in his eyes, assuring her she was, indeed, quite awake.

  Thank you for reading The Unaffected Earl. If you enjoyed this book, you can share that enjoyment by recommending it to others and leaving a review.

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  To read more about the author’s books and learn where you can buy copies, you can visit the “Books” page on the author’s website:

  https://www.suzannamedeiros.com/books/

  Books 2 and 3 in the Hathaway Heirs series—Lord Hathaway’s New Bride and The Captain’s Heart—are available now. For a sneak peek, turn the page.

  Excerpt—Lord Hathaway’s New Bride

  The morning of James Hathaway’s wedding should have been a happy one. After all, he now had everything a man could desire.

  Despite his uncle’s best attempts to sire a son, he had died without an heir. Upon his death, the title of Viscount Hathaway had passed to James, and with it had come a great deal of land and wealth.

  He hadn’t expected to inherit, and so he’d never given more than a passing thought to the title and all that would come with it before his uncle’s passing. But the title had gained him the one thing he’d recently discovered he desired beyond all else—his new wife.

  Her father, a baronet living near Hathaway Park in Northampton, had paid James a call when he’d taken up residence. Sir Henry Mapleton had made not-so-subtle references to his daughter during that visit, but by that point James had already become accustomed to the seemingly unending parade of mothers and fathers who made no pretense about throwing their unmarried daughters at him. Daughters whom he had no intention of courting.

  Then he’d met Sarah Mapleton.

  He’d done everything in his power to try to engage her regard, but she’d barely even looked at him whenever their paths crossed—and her father had taken every opportunity to ensure that happened often.

  James knew she’d only accepted his suit because her father had pressed her to. He hoped that with time and patience she would come to accept him fully, but as he watched her during the wedding breakfast, it was clear to him that it would not be that day.

  The wedding ceremony had been an intimate affair. From his side, there was only his mother and younger sister, his uncle’s widow and the man he knew would be her husband when her official mourning period was over. He wished Edward were there, but having recently been promoted to the rank of captain in the British army, his brother was engaged on the continent.

  Sarah’s immediate family was equally small—her parents and a younger brother, George, who’d come down from Eton for the day. But the wedding breakfast was a different matter. They’d opened the house to friends and neighbors in Northampton, which meant that strangers, few of whom he’d even met before that morning, now flooded several rooms on the main floor of the manor.

  Sarah sat next to him during the actual meal, but she’d spoken only a few words. In fact, she’d hardly glanced at him, doing so only when he forced her attention by addressing her directly. From her demeanor when he’d begun to court her, he’d originally thought her shy. He’d since witnessed her several times in other company and had come to realize that she was only reserved with him.

  Leaning against one wall of the large dining room, he watched her flit from guest to guest, showing them the outgoing side of her personality that she kept hidden from him. Despite her efforts, he saw enough to realize she was acting a part for their guests. His wife certainly looked the picture of a beautiful, happy bride. Her silk dress of white seemed to shimmer as she moved about the room, her blond curls bouncing as if they, too, had been ordered to appear happy and confident. But he couldn’t help noticing that she laughed just a little too loudly, smiled a little too stiffly. He wondered if it was as obvious to everyone else that his new bride would rather be anywhere else than here, celebrating their marriage.

  He also didn’t miss the way one young man kept looking at Sarah, trying to find opportunities to speak to her, and how she went out of her way to avoid him. Robert Vaughan. James had made it his mission to learn his identity, and it hadn’t comforted him to discover that many had once thought he and Sarah would make a love match.

  His thoughts were diverted by yet another person demanding his attention. Never good with names under even the best of circumstances, James could have told the portly older man that his effort at currying favor while he was surrounded by so many new faces was unlikely to bear fruit.

  After ten minutes of tedious conversation about politics and current happenings on the continent that served only to make him worry more about his brother, James made some vague excuse about being needed elsewhere and went in search of his wife, who had disappeared. Leaving the dining room, he made his way through the other open rooms on the main floor.

  He found Sarah in the drawing room, seated on the settee next to a young woman he didn’t know. His wife’s posture was stiff, her brows drawn together in a slight frown. Feeling the need to rescue her, he crossed to where they sat on the far side of the room. He was almost upon the pair when the other woman’s whispered words reached his ears.

  “…can’t believe you were actually forced to marry someone so common. He may have inherited the title, but there can be no mistaking that he doesn’t come from the same noble stock as the old viscount. How can you stand it?”

  He froze in place, waiting to hear his wife defend him. Bu
t instead she looked down at her hands, which were clasped tightly in her lap, and shrugged. Disappointment surged within him.

  The other woman looked up then and made a strangled noise of dismay. James didn’t even glance at her, all his attention focused instead on Sarah. His wife looked up at that moment to see what had alarmed her companion. Their gazes met and clashed.

  “It was so nice to have a few minutes to talk to you,” the woman said, stumbling over her words and rising with unseemly haste. He didn’t look at her as she fled from the room.

  Sarah tore her gaze from his and rose as well. He supposed he should have been angry, but given how tense things were between the two of them, he wasn’t surprised. He couldn’t think of anything to say that wouldn’t make the situation worse, and since the room had become more crowded since he’d entered—were people actually following him?—he murmured something about wanting to introduce her to his mother and sister. She nodded, managing a small, tense smile for the benefit of those who were unabashedly watching them, and took his arm.

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  https://www.suzannamedeiros.com/books/series-hathaway-heirs/lord-hathaways-new-bride/

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  ©2018 Suzanna Medeiros

  Excerpt—The Captain’s Heart

  Grace moved silently through the house and exited by means of a window in her father’s study. Helen had already gone to bed, exhausted from having risen early that morning and spending hours in a carriage. That left Grace free to slip out of the house shortly after the sun went down. She couldn’t risk trying to saddle a horse herself and being caught, so she set out on foot in the direction of the village.

  It took her three quarters of an hour to reach the cottage the captain had mentioned he’d be renting for the remainder of his stay in Somerset. When she finally arrived, her stomach was in knots. She could very well imagine what Hathaway’s servant—surely he’d have at least one with him—would think when he found an unescorted woman paying a call after dark.

  She almost sagged with relief when the door was opened by Hathaway himself. Surprise, then delight, lit his face when he saw her. He glanced over her shoulder and his smile turned into a frown.

  “Please tell me you didn’t arrive on foot?”

  She couldn’t resist the urge to dip into a deep curtsy, saying, “It is very nice to see you too, Captain.”

  For a moment she thought he was going to lecture her about safety, but in the end, his good humor won out. He opened the door even wider, and she stepped into the hallway.

  “I’d offer you refreshments, but…” He gave a small shrug. “I only have my valet with me and he has gone out.”

  Hathaway’s words set one small part of her mind at ease. At least he didn’t have scores of servants who would immediately brand her a trollop.

  They were alone in the house, and her pretense was now at an end. Grace took a deep breath to steady her nerves and met his gaze. There was no point moving to the small sitting room she spied on the right. Once he learned the truth, the captain would give her Freddie’s letter, and she would be on her way again.

  “I am here to let you know my sister arrived this afternoon.” She hesitated, dreading what she must confess now.

  Hathaway nodded. “I’ll call tomorrow then.”

  Somehow she had to tell him the truth. “About that, there is something I must tell you. I—” She froze when Hathaway placed a finger over her lips.

  “Let me speak first.”

  The way he was looking at her, the fact that his hand had moved and now he was cupping her face, rubbing his thumb over her lower lip, left her bereft of speech. She could only nod.

  “Once my duty here is discharged, I will be leaving.”

  She waited, knowing he wanted to say more.

  “I don’t want to waste what little time we have together talking about your sister. I would much rather talk about you and me.”

  He stepped closer so their bodies were almost touching and she found it difficult to breathe. She could see the heat in his eyes as he gazed down at her, trying to tell her without words just what he wanted from her.

  She wanted the same thing.

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  https://www.suzannamedeiros.com/books/series-hathaway-heirs/the-captains-heart/

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  ©2015 Suzanna Medeiros

  About the Author

  Suzanna Medeiros was born and raised in Toronto, Canada. Her love for the written word led her to pursue a degree in English Literature from the University of Toronto. She went on to earn a Bachelor of Education degree, but graduated at a time when no teaching jobs were available. After working at a number of interesting places, including a federal inquiry, a youth probation office, and the Office of the Fire Marshal of Ontario, she decided to pursue her first love—writing.

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  Suzanna is married to her own hero and is the proud mother of twin daughters. She is an avowed romantic who enjoys spending her days writing love stories.

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  She would like to thank her parents for showing her that love at first sight and happily ever after really do exist.

  To learn more about Suzanna’s books, you can visit her website at:

  https://www.suzannamedeiros.com

  or visit her on Facebook at:

  https://www.facebook.com/AuthorSuzannaMedeiros

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  To learn when she has a new release available, you can sign up for her new release mailing list at:

  https://www.suzannamedeiros.com/newsletter

  Books by Suzanna Medeiros

  Dear Stranger

  Forbidden in February (A Year Without a Duke)

  The Novellas: A Collection

  Landing a Lord series:

  Dancing with the Duke

  Loving the Marquess

  Beguiling the Earl

  The Unaffected Earl

  The Unsuitable Duke — Coming Soon

  Hathaway Heirs series:

  Lady Hathaway’s Indecent Proposal

  Lord Hathaway’s New Bride

  The Captain’s Heart

  For more information please visit the “Books” page on the author’s website:

  https://www.suzannamedeiros.com/books/