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  © 2016 Paula Kremser

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form whatsoever, whether by graphic, visual, electronic, film, microfilm, tape recording, or any other means, without prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief passages embodied in critical reviews and articles.

  This is a work of fiction. The characters, names, incidents, places, and dialogue are products of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. The views expressed within this work are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of Cedar Fort, Inc., or any other entity.

  ISBN 13: 978-1-4621-2711-5

  Published by Sweetwater Books, an imprint of Cedar Fort, Inc.

  2373 W. 700 S., Springville, UT 84663

  Distributed by Cedar Fort, Inc., www.cedarfort.com

  LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA

  Names: Kremser, Paula, 1978- author.

  Title: To suit a suitor / Paula Kremser.

  Description: Springville, Utah : Sweetwater Books, An imprint of Cedar Fort, Inc., [2016]

  Identifiers: LCCN 2016030418 (print) | LCCN 2016032893 (ebook) | ISBN 9781462119332 (perfect bound : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781462127115 (epub, pdf, mobi)

  Subjects: LCSH: Man-woman relationships--Fiction. | GSAFD: Regency fiction. | LCGFT: Romance fiction. | Novels.

  Classification: LCC PS3611.R467 T6 2016 (print) | LCC PS3611.R467 (ebook) | DDC 813/.6--dc23

  LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016030418

  Cover design by Rebecca J. Greenwood

  Cover design © 2016 by Cedar Fort, Inc.

  Edited and typeset by Jessica Romrell

  For my parents, Ron and Ria Hatch

  A

  Prologue

  Lord Montague, the Earl of Halifax, had been debating for a month now what he should do. Today he had finally made his decision. He would propose marriage to Marianne North. As he had thought over the pros and cons of his decision, the pros had finally won out. She was a widow with a lively personality and endless connections. She was pretty, but more importantly, she agreed with almost everything he said. With so much in common, he felt she was a good choice. He himself was a widower twice over and he preferred being married. He had been without a countess by his side for the last several years and he sometimes found it difficult socially, not having a wife to act as hostess as he moved about politically. There were cons to marrying Marianne North as well, but with a little patience, he could maneuver his way out of those.

  As he walked past the footman into the adequate drawing room, he noticed the broad smile on Mrs. North’s face at his unexpected arrival. No doubt she had been hoping for his proposal for some time. She and her daughters received him with curtsies. They were about to retake their seats, so Lord Montague quickly spoke, “Mrs. North,” he began, “may I have the honor of a private audience with you?”

  Just as he predicted, Marianne urged her two daughters out of the room. They were of marriageable age, but as far as he knew they hadn’t accepted any offers yet. He glanced at them as they departed and could tell from their expressions that they knew what to expect from his visit. They smiled at him—the younger girl’s smile was especially broad—likely assuming that he would be their benefactor. They would be unpleasantly surprised.

  Mrs. North invited him to sit. He declined and she remained standing as well. She cut a lovely figure in her gold gown, and he was pleased with his choice, but he did rather wish she would sit. Regardless, he would have the upper hand in this interview, and so he began in his usual direct manner. “Mrs. North, I have thought for some time that I would like to remarry. You and I get along quite well, and in fact I have admired you for some time now.” The response from her was a modest smile, so he continued. “However, I decided—long before I met you—that were I to remarry, I would not let myself be exploited again.” Her smile faded and a confused look replaced it. He would have to explain.

  “When I married my first wife, she was the oldest of six children. As part of our marriage contract, I secured livings for her three younger brothers when they came of age as well as putting sizable dowries on the line for her two younger sisters. The expense would have been worth it if there had been an heir, but my wife died before recovering from our second daughter’s birth.”

  He paused for a moment and Mrs. North took the opportunity to murmur, “How awful that must have been for you.”

  “Yes, it was a hard time. I remarried rather quickly so my two young daughters would have a mother. I found out after I had proposed to my second wife that her family had been hiding the fact that they had been on the brink of ruin for some time. As a result, that marriage also came with a lengthy marriage contract. I covered a large sum of debt for her father, and again I paid quite a large sum of money so my wife’s sisters would have the opportunity to marry well.” Lord Montague paused here, not wanting to sound like a skinflint. “She was a very good mother to my daughters and we had two sons and two more daughters before she died of fever, but I didn’t ever quite get over the fact that I had been duped.”

  “I suppose I knew some of what you’ve told me,” Mrs. North said, “but I had no idea of the circumstances of your second marriage. It was positively deceitful! I would never behave in such a way,” she emphasized.

  Ah, this was good; she understood the point he was making. It was time to strike a deal. “The reason for explaining all this to you is that I am keen to marry again and hope that you, Mrs. North—Marianne—will consider me for your husband.” He didn’t wait long enough for her to form an answer, but continued, “However, I don’t want another marriage with strings attached.”

  “Sir, what do you suppose I would require of you if we were to marry? My only sibling is an older brother that lives in India, whom I haven’t seen in years.” Her voice was almost too innocent and Lord Montague narrowed his eyes.

  “I think you would want me to provide your daughters with dowries, but after all I’ve been through, I am weary of being used.” He watched her expression to see if this would be enough of a reason for her to walk away from the deal. She didn’t look angry, but now her eyes narrowed and he wondered what she was scheming.

  “You have a valid point, but my daughters have very little in the way of dowries. If I marry you and my daughters aren’t provided for, it would look quite strange.”

  “That is true. You, your daughters, and even society would think terribly of me if we married and I didn’t settle large sums on them.” Mrs. North’s smile was back as he agreed with her. Of course he had already thought of the pressure society would exert on him, which was why he had thought of the other part of his plan. “That is why I want us to come to an understanding today that we will only marry after both your daughters have married, and our entire agreement will have to be kept completely confidential. Our engagement will not be announced until they are both married.”

  It took a moment for her to really comprehend his meaning, but when she did, Mrs. North huffed out a breath of annoyed surprise. “Harriet isn’t even out yet, and Julia’s been out for two seasons, but hasn’t even had a proposal!”

  Lord Montague raised his eyebrows at this news. He thought that both the daughters were out. They were both pretty, sociable girls. He was sure it would merely
be a matter of them accepting one of the many proposals they must often receive. He would have to be even more patient than he had thought. “I’m afraid that this condition is one I feel very strongly about. I don’t want to wait too long to marry you though, so perhaps you can hurry them along a bit.” It didn’t seem unreasonable to him, and hopefully Marianne could see his perspective as well. In order to know for sure he asked, “Do we have an agreement, Marianne?”

  She twirled a lock of her brown hair with a finger as she considered. He wondered if she was thinking of a way to argue the point, or get around it somehow, but she surprised him by saying, “Yes, I accept your proposal that we will wait to marry until my daughters have both married.”

  He felt a good deal of pride with how he had handled the situation and allowed himself the liberty of kissing his future bride. Lord Montague was sure that within six months, or a year at most, he would be married to Marianne North without any disadvantages to himself.

  A

  Chapter 1

  Ten Months Later

  Why me? Why does this always happen to me?

  The words ran through Julia’s mind over and over again as she looked across the ballroom at Mr. Bedford. Another suitor had lost interest.

  It had happened enough times that she shouldn’t be surprised, yet she was. She had just seen Mr. Bedford yesterday and his regard for her had seemed steady. He had stopped to see her without a formal invitation, he had worn his usual pleased expression after she—with teeth gritted—had let him win at speculation, and they had walked through the garden with her sister nearby as chaperone. Yesterday had been just the same as the past few weeks of courting, which was more than enough time to raise her mother’s hopes, but others had observed as well. He had given her too much marked attention for his desertion now to go unnoticed, especially as he was so obviously giving marked attention to another young lady. As Julia kept her fixed gaze on Mr. Bedford, she managed to catch his eye for a brief moment. He hastily looked away, but not fast enough for Julia to miss the guilt in his expression.

  That guilty look confirmed it. He hadn’t just missed seeing her; he was deliberately avoiding her. She couldn’t believe she was being jilted, again. Mr. Bedford was her third suitor this year … and it was only April!

  Julia glanced around the crowded room quickly to see where her mother was and if she had noticed yet. She spotted her as she was being led to the dance floor for the opening set by Lord Montague, the Earl of Halifax. Lord Montague asked her mother to dance exactly once at each ball they both happened to be at. Julia couldn’t help but hate the man for the ridiculous conditions he insisted upon, but this evening his timing couldn’t have been more perfect—at least her mother’s attention was diverted for a moment. Julia returned her own attention to Mr. Bedford. It was interesting that before this evening, Julia had thought him moderately handsome, but as she watched him and Miss Tomlinson take their place in the set across the ballroom, she no longer thought so.

  With a sigh of frustration, she thought about the problems Mr. Bedford was causing her. Her mother might not be paying attention to Mr. Bedford now, but she was sure to know before the evening ended. She would be furious when she found out; they would have to start all over again with a new suitor.

  Julia didn’t understand why Mother always made such a fuss about the effort of finding a new suitor. That was the easy part. It was keeping them that Julia couldn’t seem to manage.

  Julia had suspected for some time that there was something wrong with her, and watching Mr. Bedford from across the room, she knew it was true. But what was wrong with her? Of course, she knew she wasn’t perfect, but she couldn’t see that she was any more flawed than Miss Tomlinson, who now had Mr. Bedford’s attention. Nor was she more flawed than other young ladies who seemed to regularly accept marriage proposals from suitors that were constant to them. Each new season, a fresh new batch of young ladies arrived in London ready to take the places of last season’s successes. Julia was the exception. Here she was at the end of her third season without a suitable gentleman in sight to change her status.

  No, the only man in sight was Mr. Bedford. As Julia watched him turn a circle with Miss Tomlinson’s hand in his, she realized she was quickly beginning to despise him. She had been watching him since she arrived with her mother and younger sister, Harriet. They had gone their separate ways when they entered the ballroom, and Julia had waited, knowing Mr. Bedford was in the crush somewhere and would come find her for the first dance. Instead, only moments later, she had spotted him flirting with Miss Tomlinson. Then, as their host, Mr. Owen, had loudly instructed the musicians to open with a reel, Julia had watched Mr. Bedford lead Miss Tomlinson to the dance floor. It was the very sort of attention he had been giving Julia for the last month.

  Julia’s gaze remained unwavering as the music carried the dancers through the last few steps of the dance. Her self-pity was beginning to turn to anger as she watched Mr. Bedford. There must be something wrong with her to drive suitors away as she did, but Mr. Bedford’s cowardly desertion earned her resentment. She wouldn’t give him her attentions now even if he pleaded with her. But as she watched him escort Miss Tomlinson back to her mother, she had to admit it wasn’t likely he would beg her for anything; their acquaintance was at an end.

  Julia continued to glare at Mr. Bedford as she pondered her supremely bad fortune with men. He didn’t look her way again, and it seemed intentional to her that he did not, but Julia’s gaze remained fastened on him, hardly letting herself blink.

  She felt someone come up beside her, but still she didn’t turn and look. She could tell it was her sister, Harriet, back from her first turn on the dance floor. She clutched Julia’s arm in excitement. “Julia, I think I’m in love! I just danced with the most charming gentleman I’ve ever met!” That caught Julia’s attention and she finally turned away from the traitorous Mr. Bedford.

  “Harriet, your engagement to Lord Blakely is to be announced this evening. You can’t be in love with another man!” Julia kept her voice low, but her tone was reprimanding. Harriet looked petulant but didn’t reply. Julia took hold of her arm and backed her toward the wall. “You can’t have forgotten such an important thing as an engagement from one turn on the dance floor, can you?”

  Harriet sighed as she looked up and then off to the side. Julia was often told how much her sister resembled her, but their brown hair and lighter brown eyes seemed to be the only thing they had in common. Harriet wouldn’t return her gaze, but replied, “Of course I didn’t forget that I’m engaged, but the man I danced with just now was so charming that I wished I hadn’t accepted Lord Blakely’s proposal so hastily.”

  Harriet was right; it had been hasty. He had proposed a week before her mother had predicted as the earliest possible moment they could expect him to address her. But there was never any doubt what her answer would be. “Harriet,” she waited until Harriet looked back at her before saying, “hasty or not, you agreed to marry Lord Blakely and you can’t go back on that.”

  Julia considered the matter settled and turned back to stare at Mr. Bedford again. He was still with Miss Tomlinson and now her mother too … Flirting more with the latter, she thought.

  But Harriet hadn’t given up and she let out a little huff before saying, “I agreed to marry Lord Blakely, but lots of engagements get cancelled.”

  Without averting her gaze from Mr. Bedford, she replied, “You know Mother would never allow you to end your engagement. Besides, the only engagements that get cancelled are because of scandal. That is not something to hope for.” Again Julia’s tone was final. Harriet could be inconsistent at times, but even she must know that cancelling her engagement wasn’t an option.

  Harriet gave another little huff and then drew in a breath as if she were about to argue the point further, when she finally seemed to notice Julia’s preoccupation. She followed Julia’s gaze across the room and asked in confusion, “Why is your Mr. Bedford over there with Lizzy Tomlins
on?”

  “He is not my Mr. Bedford.” Julia was quick to deny any possession of him.

  “Oh Julia,” she practically wailed, “not another one!”

  “Hush, Harriet,” Julia said in an angry whisper. “I don’t want to make a scene.”

  “You should make a scene,” she retorted, with a voice as stern as Julia’s had been a few moments before. “He’s embarrassing you. Why don’t you do the same to him? Or better yet, go over there and fight for him. Tell Miss Tomlinson to find her own suitor and send her away.”

  Harriet’s heart was in the right place. She wasn’t trying to force Julia to marry; she just thought that falling in love was such a fun adventure and wanted Julia to experience it too. But Julia just shook her head at her sister’s ridiculous suggestion. By confronting Mr. Bedford, she would only embarrass herself further. And fighting for him was out of the question; her interest in him was already gone. But again the question nagged at her: why had he lost interest in her? Harriet’s suggestion of talking to him might not be such a bad idea after all. If Julia wanted to know why he had jilted her, she should ask him.

  She blinked rapidly a few times as she turned the idea over. Perhaps Mr. Bedford would tell her his reason for deserting her. She wouldn’t try to win back his affection, but maybe she would have more luck with the next suitor who came along if she could fix whatever it was that was wrong with her. She knew she was impulsive and sometimes a bit too competitive, but she never allowed herself to behave so in front of her suitors. Whatever was wrong with her was driving the men away. Her mother would insist she try harder to find, attract, and keep a new suitor once she knew that Mr. Bedford was no longer courting her. But Julia wasn’t sure if she could possibly try harder to please her mother. However, if she could find out what was wrong with her, she could correct the flaw. Her mother reminded her often enough that marriage was the only option for her, and so if she was to have any hope of making a match, she had to uncover the truth.