Virginia Heath - Miss Bradshaw's Bought Betrothal

She’d done it! Plain, invisible Evelyn had escaped...

Fed up with being a doormat to her evil stepmother, heiress Evelyn Bradshaw pays a dissolute rake to pose as her betrothed so she can secure her freedom. But then her fake fiancé leaves her with his estranged brother Finn Matlock and disappears!

Having withdrawn from the world, Finn knows the last thing he needs is the temptation of a woman, especially one like Evie. She has an irritating habit of causing chaos wherever she goes and being in places she shouldn’t...including, as he soon learns, his heart!

Finn wanted to tell her that she wasn’t plain at all, in his opinion.

She had beautiful eyes and a mouth that begged to be kissed. Not to mention that she had a body made for sin.

‘Surely you could do better than Fergus?’

There was a stubborn glint in her eye that made him wonder if Miss Bradshaw might actually have a spine after all—until she spoke and spoiled it.

‘I am content with Fergus.’

‘Oh, content , are you? I am glad someone is. Meanwhile, it is me who is now stuck with you! How typical of my brother to leave me with his problems while he swans off to have fun.’

She recoiled as if she had been slapped and Finn felt terrible. ‘I did not mean to refer to you as a problem, Miss Bradshaw, I merely meant that—’

She held up her hand to stop him.

‘You are quite right, Mr Matlock. Perhaps you would be good enough to arrange for the luggage to be transferred to Stanford House immediately so that you are not inconvenienced further?’

Author Note

Who doesn’t love a Cinderella story? Ever since I was a little girl I have enjoyed every variation of the tale, in books or film. However, as I get older I cannot help but wonder about the way poor Cinderella really felt, being treated the way she had by her wicked stepmother and ugly sisters. Because if she were a real person that abuse would leave emotional scars, surely?

And as for Prince Charming—he’s always such a one-dimensional character. He comes to her rescue and falls in love with her. Yes, he goes on a quest to find her, but we learn so little about the real man she falls in love with and I find it difficult to feel any empathy for the guy.

This is my version of the story. Heiress Evie Bradshaw is my Cinderella. A woman who has been ground down by life, who lacks confidence and, to all intents and purposes, is a doormat to be trampled over. But Evie is desperate to reinvent herself and start her life afresh.

Her Prince Charming is definitely not charming. He is rude and embittered and has no intention of coming to anyone’s rescue. He wants to be left all alone to wallow in his personal pit of calm, ordered despair. Unfortunately the arrival of clumsy, vexing, enticing Miss Bradshaw makes that a very difficult thing to accomplish.

It was great fun following them on their path to happily-ever-after...

Miss Bradshaw’s Bought Betrothal

Virginia Heath

www.millsandboon.co.uk

When VIRGINIA HEATH was a little girl it took her ages to fall asleep, so she made up stories in her head to help pass the time while she was staring at the ceiling. As she got older the stories became more complicated—sometimes taking weeks to get to their happy ending. One day she decided to embrace her insomnia and start writing them down. Virginia lives in Essex with her wonderful husband and two teenagers. It still takes her for ever to fall asleep…

Books by Virginia Heath

Mills & Boon Historical Romance

That Despicable Rogue

Her Enemy at the Altar

The Discerning Gentleman’s Guide

Miss Bradshaw’s Bought Betrothal

Visit the Author Profile page at millsandboon.co.uk.

For my husband and best friend Greg.

You know why...

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

Introduction

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

Chapter Twenty-Five

Extract

Copyright

Chapter One

May 1816

There was no escaping the fact that the Marquis of Stanford was drunk. Although inebriation was a state that he was known for, even during daylight hours, the assembled guests were still surprised that he had chosen to be in that state today. While the older generation muttered that it was poor form and gazed at his new fiancée with outright pity, absolutely everyone knew that the only reason the handsome, if slightly dissipated, Marquis was marrying Evie Bradshaw in the first place was because he desperately needed her money.

Some of the younger guests, including Evie’s two stepsisters, found the spectacle hugely entertaining. It was hardly surprising, they had muttered maliciously behind their fans, because Evie was such a Plain Jane after all and so very dull. The poor man would need all of the Dutch courage he could consume just to kiss her and that was if he even saw her in the first place because she did have a tendency to fade into the background and become invisible.

What none of the roomful of guests knew, including her spiteful stepfamily, was that Evie was absolutely delighted that Fergus Matlock, third Marquis of Stanford, had turned up to their unexpected and impromptu engagement party completely foxed. For the sake of appearances, of course, she pretended to be crestfallen and embarrassed by her fiancé’s slurring and swaying. And best of all, she had not even asked him to arrive drunk, which was, for want of a better word, perfect. But inside her less than impressive, slightly plump exterior, Evie was dancing. And turning cartwheels. And positively whooping with joy.

Her spur-of-the-moment plan to escape her tedious, invisible life was working. In a few hours, she would finally leave Mayfair, ostensibly to ready the dissolute Marquis’s house for a wedding, but in reality she would buy her own house instead. Independent. Uncriticised and guilt-free. The hands on the ornate mantel clock could not turn quick enough.

The root of her current misery, her cold fortune-grabbing stepmother, marched towards her, disapproving lips more pursed than usual. Grabbing her by the arm she dragged her back into the alcove. ‘Evelyn, it is time that you put a stop to this sorry excuse for an engagement at once. Everybody would understand and your father, God rest him, would never condone it. Look at the state of that man—he is a disgrace. I simply cannot, in all good conscience, allow you to marry him.’

‘Fergus is probably suffering from wedding nerves. He is only a little bit drunk.’ No, he wasn’t. He was positively steaming. ‘He will not be like that for the wedding. He has promised.’ Not that there would be a wedding. This was a business transaction. Pure and simple. The five thousand pounds it had cost her was nothing compared to the price of her freedom.

Hyacinth Bradshaw’s lips almost inverted in protest as she looked down her nose at Evie. The woman hated being thwarted, especially by her disappointing stepdaughter, and would normally deal with her quiet acts of defiance with cold, vocal disdain. Unfortunately, Evie’s surprise engagement had pulled the rug from underneath her stepmother’s feet. Hyacinth was now painfully aware of her precarious financial situation, so she had stopped shy of her usual vindictiveness in an attempt to appear like a concerned mother who only wanted what was best for her daughter. It was a façade that really did not suit her. Ten years ago, Evie might have fallen for it—would have desperately wanted to fall for it—but too much water had gone under that particular bridge in the intervening years.