Wicked Liaison - Meara Platt Page 0,262

“Be well, be happy.”

The two of them began to fade.

“Goodbye Grandmother. Thank you.” Wesley responded, his voice heavy with emotion.

“Teach him love and to look beyond,” she reminded them and then both Her Grace and Uncle Jonathan were gone.

“She’s left me,” Wesley said after a moment.

As much as it broke Miranda’s heart, she understood that it was time. The two were together now, as they always wished to be.

“She’s happier as well,” he finally said.

Wesley pulled Miranda into his arms. “I promise now, that if my time comes before you, that I will haunt you as Uncle Jonathan haunted my grandmother.”

“I will do the same.” She looked up into his eyes. “However, I do plan on living a long life with you by my side, equally alive.”

“And we’ll tell our children of the ghost who lingered because love does transcend life, as will ours.”

Historical Romances by Jane Charles

The Tenacious Trents

Compromised for Christmas

A Misguided Lord

A Perfect Gentleman

A Lass for Christmas

A Reluctant Rake

Lady Revealed

Lady Disguised

Lady Concealed

A Tenacious Trents Wedding

Lady Admired

Tenacious Trent Connected Novellas

Landing a Laird

Devil in Her Dreams

Heart to a Scot

Courting the Scot

Kissing the Lass

Once Upon a Midnight Masquerade

Mistletoe, Whisky and a Rogue (coming soon)

The Other Trents

The Forgotten Marquess

The Spirited Storms

Christmas Spirits

Weathering Captain Storm

Ruined by a Lady

A Very Merry Viscount

Lady Hannah’s Holiday

Muses

Her Muse, Lord Patrick

Her Muse, His Magic

Her Muse, Her David

Her Muse, His Grace

Magic & Mayhem

Her Gypsy Lord

His Mistletoe Miss

A Spirited Courtship (Beguiled at the Wedding)

The Ghost & Miss Miranda

The Wiggons’ School for Elegant Young Ladies Series

To Walk in the Sun

Ghosts from the Past

The Witching Hour

Curse of the Mayfair Mummy

A Gentleman’s Guide to Once Upon a Time Series

His Impetuous Debutante

His Contrary Bride

His (Not so) Sensible Miss

His Christmas Match

Garden Brides

Lily, One Lord’s Temptation

New Adult / Contemporary

The Baxter Boys

Rattled

Rattle His Cage

All Horns & Rattles

Shake, Rattle and Roll

Rattling Around

The Christmas Rattle

Slightly Rattled

The Rattle Box

Baxter Academy of Art

Colors of You

Shadows of Memory

Casting Doubt

Between the Lines

Baxter Legacy

Valentine Wishes

About Jane

Jane Charles is a USA Today Bestselling author who has lived in the Midwest her entire life. As a child she would more likely be found outside with a baseball than a book in her hand. In fact, Jane hated reading until she was sixteen. Out of boredom on a long road trip she borrowed her older sister’s historical romance and fell in love with reading. She long ago lost count of how many novels she has read over the years and her love for them never died. Along with romance she has a passion for history and the two soon combined when she penned her first historical romance. What turned into a hobby became a passion. In addition to historical romances, she has been pulled to write contemporary romances and intends to continue writing both historical and contemporary.

JaneCharlesAuthor.com

Jane can be contacted at: [email protected]

Twitter and FB: JaneACharles

The Wicked One

Nadine Millard

Prologue

“A daughter. The seventh daughter. This one will be special.”

The fire in the hearth crackled, though it did nothing to ward off the vicious cold.

The babe didn’t make a sound. She didn’t cry. She didn’t squall. And for a moment, the woman worried the child would die.

She could feel her own life’s blood leaving her broken body and knew she would not live to see dawn break. The wizened midwife who helped her knew it as well as she.

“A daughter,” she managed the feeble words. “She does not cry.”

The sound of flesh meeting flesh and suddenly, the baby’s cry rent the night.

“Oh, she cries,” the old woman cackled. “She will cry and scream and make her mark on this world.”

“Give her to me.” The dying woman held out trembling arms.

The gentle slap the midwife had given the child was necessary, she knew. Yet she could not stop the spurt of anger that someone would dare hurt this precious babe.

Yes, she was the seventh daughter and the only one who lived.

Three of her sisters hadn’t made it past infancy. Three were killed in the gypsy purge that saw their caravans set alight and most of their clan burned within.

The clan had scarpered. Run far and wide.

The attack had broken the dying woman’s heart. She, who’d had so much heartbreak already. And had triggered a birth she was not yet ready for.

She’d dragged herself into the woods and had arrived on hands and knees at this cottage.

Mercifully, the old lady within knew the ways of the old country and was able to help, as she had with birthing all of her daughters.

“You are a seventh daughter yourself.”

It was a statement, not a question. And it was true.

The tiny bundle was settled in

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