Showing results for "M C Beaton writing as Marion Chesney" in All Categories

Tongues were set wagging when Elizabeth Markham's glamorous young parents were killed, sinking their only child to the unspeakable class of poor relation. Forced to live with her cruel, miserly uncle Julius, Elizabeth is forbidden to partake in the season's festivities. Marriage is her only escape, and she enacts a daring plan to trick her way into the duke of Dunster's exclusive house party, to snare one of the eligible dandies sure to dance attendance on her.

Lord Percy Hunterdon despaired: He had inherited a Gothic horror of an estate along with a pair of 15-year-old brats to marry off. It was no secret to him that finding husbands for these two vile young ladies would require the utmost expertise: the care of a governess of superior caliber. When Jean Morrison spied Lord Hunterdon's advertisement, dreams of an unmarried viscount and a magnificent castle danced in her head.

Lady Lucinda Esmond's swine of a father, the earl of Sotheran, was forever fleecing young bucks in London's gaming halls with impunity - until he cheats Captain Mark Chamfrey, who kidnaps 10-year-old Lucinda for ransom. But when Chamfrey has a change of heart and returns the girl, Earl Esmond nonetheless exacts his own price: Chamfrey can redeem himself and save his skin only by marrying his little victim nine years hence.

It was true. The lovely young widow Lady Charteris - Delphine to her friends - had agreed to abide by her parents' wishes and marry the comte Saint-Pierre. Delphine's parents had long since died in the Terror, but when she learned of their wishes for her, she believed it her duty to respect their wishes. Delphine would marry, but it would be a marriage in name only.

When the boy entrusted to an earl is really a girl, the complications are delightful. The 10th earl of Berham does not know what to do. An attractive 32-year-old bachelor, he has been appointed guardian of the young Freddie Armstrong, the 18-year-old grandson of his late father's dear friend. That's bad enough. Then he discovers that the boy is really a girl! It is against all convention and against his personal code to keep a young lady concealed in his own home. He must find a solution.

Blessed with beauty, Mrs. Manners never bothered with the lesser skills of grammar and spelling. So, in order to entrap a second husband, namely the dashing duke of Denbigh, she needed Miss Verity Bascombe. Surely the modest chit would be honored to write her love letters. Poor Verity! Her old schoolmate was as selfish as ever. The lovely girl's gilded pen soon had the duke most intrigued by the poetic Mrs. Manners! But alas, what began as a tiny deception became troublesome indeed - for Verity soon found herself enamored by the handsome duke!

He stated quite bluntly - and much to Isabella's relief - that theirs would be a marriage in name only. But neither Harry nor Isabella was aware of the other's disguise - contrived in vain to thwart the impending nuptials. Isabella was not the selfish ice princess she seemed, nor was Harry a mincing dandy but rather a merry profligate. A search for buried treasure and a thwarted suitor out for revenge add adventure to the marital mayhem, as two hearts discover that love lies no further than the nearest kiss.

Must one sister suffer in poverty while the other lives in the lap of luxury? This question plagued Harriet Clifton incessantly. Inviting herself to her widowed sister Cordelia's posh London townhouse for the season was surely the only way to meet a suitable partner as well as escape drafty old Pringle House forever.