Carla Kelly - The Wedding Ring Quest

A mere twenty-four hours ago such a question would have amazed her with its impertinence. As she sat there considering his question she discovered that she had already taken the measure of this man. Captain Ross Rennie was as transparent as water—a capable man with no inclination to dither or waste his time or anyone else’s. He had spent a lifetime in duty to his country so intense and harsh that it did not let go, even in a snowy village in Yorkshire. She knew it was not a casual question because he was not a casual man.

‘I’ve never really thought about it,’ she told him honestly.

He didn’t believe her. ‘Come, come, Miss Rennie, you’re a fine-appearing Scottish lass!’

‘Thank you kindly,’ she said with a smile. ’I also live with my aunt and uncle, who have no particular obligation to see me wed. They’re not the sort of people who exert themselves.’ She thought about the matter. ‘And perhaps I have not exerted myself overmuch either.’

She didn’t say that in any attempt for pity, and he seemed to know it. With a smile, he touched her hand…a light touch.

‘A powerful and wonderfully perceptive author.’

— New York Times bestselling author Mary Jo Putney

‘It is always a joy to read a Carla Kelly love story. Always original, always superb, Ms Kelly’s work is a timeless delight for discerning readers.’

— RT Book Reviews

‘Kelly has the rare ability to create realistic yet sympathetic characters that linger in the mind. One of the most respected…Regency writers.’

— Library Journal

‘…an emotional, uplifting, delightful romance about two wounded souls who find love and comfort in each other.’

— RT Book Reviews on HER HESITANT HEART

‘Taking her impetus from Robinson Crusoe and the film Castaway , Kelly crafts the story of a shipwreck survivor readjusting to civilisation… Kelly presents a clear portrait of the mores and prejudices of the era, and demonstrates how to navigate through society’s labyrinth with intelligent, sharp repartee. This alone is worth the price of the book.’ — RT Book Reviews on BEAU CRUSOE

The Wedding Ring

Quest

Carla Kelly

www.millsandboon.co.uk

To my cousins and to all men and women wounded, in some way, by war.

The trumpets sound, the banners fly,

The glittering spears are ranked ready;

The shouts o’ war are heard afar,

The battle closes thick and bloody;

But it’s no the roar o’ sea or shore

Wad mak me langer wish to tarry;

Nor shout o’ war that’s heard afar—

It’s leaving thee, my bonnie Mary!

CARLA KELLYstarted writing Regency romances because of her interest in the Napoleonic Wars, and enjoys writing about warfare at sea and the ordinary people of the British Isles rather than lords and ladies. In her spare time she reads British crime fiction and history—particularly the US Indian Wars. Carla lives in Utah, USA, and is a former park ranger, and double RITA ®Award and Spur Award winner. She has five children and four grandchildren.

Novels by the same author:

BEAU CRUSOE

CHRISTMAS PROMISE

(part of Regency Christmas Gifts anthology ) MARRYING THE CAPTAIN * * linked by character Did you know that some of these novels are also available as eBooks? Visit www.millsandboon.co.uk THE SURGEON’S LADY * * linked by character Did you know that some of these novels are also available as eBooks? Visit www.millsandboon.co.uk MARRYING THE ROYAL MARINE * * linked by character Did you know that some of these novels are also available as eBooks? Visit www.millsandboon.co.uk MARRIAGE OF MERCY THE ADMIRAL’S PENNILESS BRIDE HER HESITANT HEART

* (part of Regency Christmas Gifts anthology ) MARRYING THE CAPTAIN * * linked by character Did you know that some of these novels are also available as eBooks? Visit www.millsandboon.co.uk THE SURGEON’S LADY * * linked by character Did you know that some of these novels are also available as eBooks? Visit www.millsandboon.co.uk MARRYING THE ROYAL MARINE * * linked by character Did you know that some of these novels are also available as eBooks? Visit www.millsandboon.co.uk MARRIAGE OF MERCY THE ADMIRAL’S PENNILESS BRIDE HER HESITANT HEART * linked by character Did you know that some of these novels are also available as eBooks? Visit www.millsandboon.co.uk linked by character

Did you know that some of these novels are also available as eBooks? Visit www.millsandboon.co.uk

Contents

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

Chapter Twenty-Six

Chapter One

This was no ordinary return to Plymouth; Captain Ross Rennie felt it in his bones. A frigate captain much wiser than he—dead now, like so many friends—had described it best during one of those chats on the far side of the world when another frigate pulled alongside to visit and hand off mail.

In the course of their conversation over beef too long in brine and green water, they described recent fights with the French or Spanish, depending on where national allegiance had swung in an endless war. The long-defunct captain had looked Ross square in the eye and said, ‘Sometimes a victory is only a hair’s breadth better than a defeat.’

A young captain at the time, Ross had nodded, wondering later what the devil the man meant. As his thirty-six-gun frigate Abukir sailed into Plymouth on a rainy day, Ross felt that hollow, sinking feeling of defeat, when he should have been over the moon with joy. The emotion had been growing since his ship had been ordered to join the convoy escorting Napoleon and his entourage to Elba after his banishment there in 1814 by the Allies. A time or two during the short voyage from France, he had stood on his own quarterdeck and observed Bonaparte on HMS Undaunted, Captain Tom Ussher’s frigate.

Ross almost hated himself for finding the man so fascinating, but the exiled emperor seemed to demand attention. Ross noticed other telescopes trained on Napoleon.

The longer he watched Napoleon, the greater grew his personal sense of disquiet, the greater his sense of defeat. Normally a sanguine fellow, Ross felt himself grow grim about the mouth. He’s so short and stout, Ross thought. So ordinary. He took his observation into dangerous territory then, the worst place any officer could take himself. How in the world did this man rule my life for twenty-four years? Ross found himself asking.

For he had. For more than a generation, Ross had sailed where this tyrant intended, fought French and Spanish ships, logged miserable hours twice in prisons, lost a leg, found a true love and lost her, too. Supposedly he was in the service of poor King George III, but Ross knew what all officers and men in the Royal Navy knew—had there been no Napoleon, there would have been no war. He would probably never have gone to sea in a fighting ship. Without that stout little man, Ross Rennie would probably have conned nothing more dramatic than a merchant vessel.