Showing results by author "M. C." in Regency

What do you do if you are of noble stock, but impoverished, and living in London with a certain style to maintain? One has to work... but One's relatives will be appalled when One turns One's hand to trade - and opens a hotel, The Poor Relation, offering employment to others of the same social standing and in the same awkward situation. This is precisely what Mrs Fortescue decides upon and, together with friend Colonel Sandhurst, transforms her decrepit Bond Street home into a posh hotel, offering guests the pleasure of being waited upon by the nobility.

Polly was a bewitching young girl, that pretty Polly Marsh, and she knew it. She also knew that beauty could be her passport into the castles where she had always known she belonged. So she set her sights for a duke and joined the firm of Westerman's as a stenographer. Surely one of that noble family would notice her and then all of her dreams would come true!

Poor Ginny Bloggs! She had inherited a fortune, a magnificent country estate, and her benefactor's disgruntled relatives - a quartet of querulous schemers - who were horrified to find themselves suddenly at the mercy of a low, common girl; a total stranger - the coal merchant's daughter! The handsome Lord Gerald de Fremney himself had pledged to keep the more unruly relatives in line.

In any given glittering social season, Edwardian London's dizzying whirl had its share of surprises. The latest was Kitty Harrison, once achingly poor, suddenly an heiress and now, thanks to her determined mother, she was about to become a Baroness. From the moment Kitty set eyes on Lord Chesworth, she found him to be the most exciting man she had met. But Kitty was young, innocent, and easily dazzled.

Sally was an honoured guest in a palatial country home. Aunt Mabel, the lovelorn columnist of Home Chats magazine, had been summoned to prevent the Duchess of Dartware's son, Paul, from a marriage that others believed a fate worse than death. Who would have guessed that behind Aunt Mabel's acid pen and ageless wisdom lurked the real 18-year-old Sally Blane, determined to make the handsome marquess her own! But how could she compete, wearing false wrinkles and a white wig?

Lord Guy Carlton, late of His Majesty's Regiment and weary from the war in France, has only wine, women and song in mind when he rents No. 67 Clarges Street for the season. He certainly has no desire for a serious attachment - and as for marriage: never!

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.

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 Duke of Pelham returns to his town house at 67 Clarges Street he is grimly determined to find himself a suitable wife, and love will have nothing to do with his selection.

The Beast; that was what they called her. With her plump body and rough tomboy ways, she felt more like a clown. It was hopeless. Poor penniless Tilly could only sit among the chaperons as a paid companion to the spiteful Lady Aileen. The best she could do was sit; sit and dream. But suddenly Phillip, Marquess of Heppleford, the most eligible bachelor of all - decided he wanted her for himself, to be his wife, and they were married. His intent was to keep his freedom, fulfill the conditions of his father's will, and shock his aunts.

No young lady can be more devoted to the teachings of the infamous blue stocking Mrs Waverley than Felicity, her adopted author. Yet Felicity leads a secret life: that of an author of a scandalous new novel - the tale of a lady 'rake' and her passionate exploits. Yet there is one titled gentleman who is intrigued with this mysterious, headstrong young woman who is taking Society by storm - and Felicity soon learns that real life is infinitely more interesting than fiction!

Molly had dared to turn a cold shoulder on London's prize catch. She was a precocious American upstart who thought beauty, brains, and bravery were enough to conquer London society. Well, he'd show her! Nobody publicly (or privately!) spurned Lord David Manley, the most eligible bachelor in town. He was determined that soon she'd be trembling in his arms, desperately in love with the man she had dared to mock. David Manley always got his way, and Miss Molly Maguire presented a challenge he couldn't resist!

Destined for Dover, Miss Pym has her matchmaking work cut out for her when she encounters the pretty but hoydenish Lady Deborah Western! Encouraged by an unruly twin brother, the spirited, golden-haired Deborah seems set on dressing and acting the tomboy, much to the dismay of her handsome neighbour, the Earl of Ashton....

Daisy Jenkins never expected to be anything more than a trespasser on the idyllic lawns of Marsden Castle. Then suddenly she was admitted into the seemingly magic circle of the Earl and Countess of Nottenstone, where she awaited the arrival of the notorious Lord Chatterton; her father - a stranger whose very name was foreign to her. She was suddenly Daisy Chatterton, surrounded by aristocratic sharks who seemed to both court as well as mock her. And why did the elegant Duke of Oxenden offer his protection to this newcomer who made him laugh at the very word love?

Kind-hearted Miss Hannah Pym is off to Portsmouth in the company of the beautiful but practical Miss Penelope Wilkins. Miss Pym quickly realises that Penelope needs someone to enliven her sheltered life, someone perhaps like their handsome travelling companion, Lord Augustus Railton. Penelope, however, thinks Lord Augustus is a ne'er-do-well...Hannah's hopes for adventure, on the other hand, are fulfilled when the coach happens upon a footman who faces hanging for a crime he didn't commit.

No coach journey is ever dull with Miss Hannah Pym aboard, and this one proves no exception as she meets the young and beautiful Miss Yvonne Grenier, who is fleeing the Terror in France. Charming but shy, Yvonne becomes quite frightened when a dangerous enemy also boards the stagecoach to York. Luckily Miss Pym is on hand to propose a plan which will save Yvonne - and throw her into the arms of the wealthy and unattached Marquis of Ware!

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.

Poor little Susie. A beautiful dreamer, she imagined herself happy in a rose-covered cottage, only to find herself mistress of a great damp castle and wife to the elderly Earl of Blackhall. Luck, not the lecherous earl, contrived to spare her, and by her wedding night she was transformed to a wealthy young widow. But her trials had just begun.

Sir Philip Sommerville is quite the antique, but not too old to bring home a paramour: fat, vulgar and greedy Mrs Budge who, the other poor relations are agreed upon, has to go. And then there is Lady Carruthers, a highly rouged widow who passes off her grown daughter, Arabella, as a school miss while setting her own cap for the young Earl of Denby, despite the fact that young Arabella is quite smitten with the dashing golden-haired earl! So once again it is up to the other poor relations to straighten out the course of true love...

With little to live on but her romantic daydreams - which frequently starred the dashing Marquess of Fleetwater - Jean Lindsay lived a rather dismal life with her nasty, drunken uncle. Jean was always the object of ridicule, that is, until news of her unexpected inheritance spread. Suddenly, her worn dresses became "quaint" and her forthright manner turned magically to "charming", but to Jean's horror, someone wanted her dead!