Bronwyn Scott - Marrying The Rebellious Miss

One mistake ruined her... One man can redeem her!

When an ill-fated affair left Beatrice Penrose with more than just memories, she fled to Scotland to raise her son away from society’s eyes. But the past catches up with her...and Preston Worth is impossible to deny when he’s sent to bring her home.

Preston has known Bea since childhood, but only now does a forbidden and unexpected desire spark between them. And when Beatrice’s and her baby’s lives are threatened, he makes her an offer of protection she can’t refuse...as his wife!

Wallflowers to Wives

Out of the shadows, into the marriage bed!

In Regency England young women were defined by their prospects in the marriage market. But what of the girls who were presented to Society…and not snapped up?

Bronwyn Scott invites you to

The Left Behind Girls’ Club

Three years after their debut, and still without rings on their fingers, Claire Welton, Evie Milham, May Worth and Beatrice Penrose are ready to leave the shadows and step into the light. Now London will have to prepare itself… because these overlooked girls are about to take the ton by storm!

Read Claire’s story in

Unbuttoning the Innocent Miss

Read Evie’s story in

Awakening the Shy Miss

Read May’s story in

Claiming His Defiant Miss

Read Bea’s story in

Marrying the Rebellious Miss

All available now!

Author Note

Beatrice and Preston’s story is about trust—not only learning how to trust others, but learning to trust oneself. For Bea, this means learning to trust herself again after making a huge mistake in judgement. For Preston, it means trusting his judgement even when it goes against the suggestions of people he respects and trusts.

Beatrice was a hard character to write. She’s had a child, and that’s unthinkable in the 1820s, so getting Bea home to Little Westbury without her being entirely shunned was a challenge. I hope that readers see that the choices Bea’s family make in order to keep her with them and to give the baby a chance at Society are made out of love and not out of deceit, and that they will perhaps provoke some discussion on the readers’ part. What would you do for love? Not necessarily romantic love, but the love of a parent for a child, familial love.

This concludes my Wallflowers to Wives series, all of which deals with the theme that comes front and centre for Bea: what would you do for the love or respect of self, of family, of another? Look for more glimpses of these fabulous women when Dimitri Petrovich’s friends take London by storm in my forthcoming series, featuring four Princes of Kuban.

If you have enjoyed the Wallflowers, please take time to post a review at goodreads.com, Amazon or on millsandboon.co.uk.

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Marrying the Rebellious Miss

Bronwyn Scott

www.millsandboon.co.uk

BRONWYN SCOTTis a communications instructor at Pierce College in the United States, and is the proud mother of three wonderful children—one boy and two girls. When she’s not teaching or writing she enjoys playing the piano, travelling—especially to Florence, Italy—and studying history and foreign languages. Readers can stay in touch on Bronwyn’s website, bronwynnscott.com, or at her blog, bronwynswriting.blogspot.com. She loves to hear from readers.

Books by Bronwyn Scott

Mills & Boon Historical Romance and Mills & Boon Historical Undone! eBooks

Wallflowers to Wives

Unbuttoning the Innocent Miss

Awakening the Shy Miss

Claiming His Defiant Miss

Marrying the Rebellious Miss

Rakes on Tour

Rake Most Likely to Rebel

Rake Most Likely to Thrill

Rake Most Likely to Seduce

Rake Most Likely to Sin

Rakes of the Caribbean

Playing the Rake’s Game

Breaking the Rake’s Rules

Craving the Rake’s Touch (Undone!)

Rakes Who Make Husbands Jealous

Secrets of a Gentleman Escort

London’s Most Wanted Rake

An Officer But No Gentleman (Undone!)

A Most Indecent Gentleman (Undone!)

Visit the Author Profile page at

millsandboon.co.ukfor more titles.

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For P.E.O. Chapter GC and Step By Step, who support unwed and teen mothers. Programs like this show how far we’ve come from the days of foundling hospitals so that babies can be raised in love.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

Wallflowers to Wives

Author Note

Title Page

About the Author

Dedication

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Four

Epilogue

Extract

Copyright

Chapter One

Scotland—April 1822

The Day of Judgement had arrived, bringing Preston Worth with it. There was only one reason he was here. He had come for her. At last. Beatrice had known it the moment she’d seen him ride into the yard of the Maddox farmhouse. After months of anticipation and planning, the dreaded reckoning was here.

Beatrice closed her eyes, trying to find her calm centre, trying to fight the rising terror at the core of her, but to little effect. Months of knowing and planning were not the bulwarks of support she’d hoped they’d be. She fisted clammy hands in the folds of her skirt, desperate to find balance, desperate to hold back the swamping panic that swept her in stomach-clenching nausea, in the race of her heartbeat and the whir of her mind. From the window, she saw Preston swing off the horse and approach the house in purposeful strides. All coherent thought splintered into useless shards of what had once been whole logic.

She knew only two things in the precious seconds of freedom that remained. The first: she had to act now! Every panicked instinct she possessed screamed the same conclusion: grab the baby and run! Her freedom would end the moment he entered the farmhouse. The second was that her parents had outdone themselves this time. They’d sent her friend to be the horseman of her apocalypse. Therein lay the conundrum: she needn’t fear her friend, the one-time hero of her youth, the saviour of her Seasons when no one else would sign her dance card. She need only fear his message. How did one fight someone who wasn’t the enemy? But fight Preston she must. This was Armageddon, the end of her world as she preferred it, if she lost the battle that was to come.

She would not lose. She was Beatrice Penrose. She didn’t know how to lose, even in the face of great adversity. She’d born a child out of wedlock and survived. What greater adversity for a young woman was there than that? There were low murmurs of voices at the door, Mistress Maddox and Preston exchanging greetings and introductions. Beatrice unclenched her fists and smoothed her skirts where her hands had wrinkled them. She drew a deep breath, giving panic one last shove. She could allow herself to tremble all she liked on the inside. She just couldn’t show it, couldn’t let Preston see how much his visit terrified her.