The earl of her heart, p.1
The Earl of Her Heart, page 1
The Earl of Her Heart
A REGENCY ROMANCE NOVEL
ABIGAIL AGAR
Copyright © 2021 by Abigail Agar
All Rights Reserved.
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Table of Contents
The Earl of Her Heart
Table of Contents
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The Earl of Her Heart
Introduction
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Epilogue
Mismatched with an Earl
Introduction
Chapter 1
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The Earl of Her Heart
Introduction
Lady Leah Appleby is a charming young woman who, after her parents’ loss, must tolerate her strict older brother. His desperate efforts to match her with a wealthy nobleman fill her soul with despair, as she watches the dream of her old unrequited love fading away forever. Her secret crush on her brother’s best friend is inevitably overshadowed by this grim reality that forces her to find a match by the end of the season. As fate would have it though, just when a proper and approved by her brother suitor claims her hand, her beloved Earl of Maldon will finally reciprocate her hidden feelings… Will Leah accept her miserable fate, or will she find the courage to reveal what lies deep in her heart?
Ezra Blythe is the attractive and vigorous Earl of Maldon, known for his kindness and love for horseback riding. His old friendship with Leah’s brother unexpectedly leads him to act as her guardian, making him responsible for finding her suitable partner. Little did he know though, that every time he would watch her even near someone else, his chest would tighten with jealousy. Never could he imagine that the woman of his dreams was standing right next to him all this time. Even though training her to ride to impress another man is heartbreaking for him, he feels trapped by his sense of duty. Will Ezra risk betraying his old friend’s trust by admitting his deep love for Leah?
As destiny encourages Leah and Ezra to grow closer every day, they will both get overwhelmed by their strong emotions for each other, and their love will start blooming in a way they never expected. Suddenly, as they find themselves unable to tame their growing feelings, they must either risk it all and listen to what their heart commands or consent to a loveless future. Will they finally admit their unique connection and reach for what they deserve, or will their fairytale be doomed to never blossom??
Prologue
It was a rare sunny day in Essex, and Leah felt the unfamiliar prick of sweat on her brow in the late summer heat. She breathed in the calm humidity, running her needle back and forth through the embroidery work on her lap in time with the hum of the nearby cicadas.
Beside her, her brother had been reading aloud to her from some adventure novel, but as soon as it became obvious that she wasn’t listening to him, Michael had decided to save his voice. Leah didn’t mind; her thoughts were far away from the pretty meadow they were in.
As far as siblings go, Michael and Leah got along better than most. Their mother had passed away when Leah was just shy of ten years old, and their father hadn’t been able to face the world without his beloved wife. Just a month later, his health took a serious downturn, and his will to fight dissolved.
By the time Leah’s eleventh birthday approached, she and Michael had lost both their parents. As the older brother, Michael had easily taken up the mantle as head of the family and took it upon himself to look after his sister.
Leah almost felt Ezra approach before she heard his voice or the sound of his horse’s hooves against the soft ground. She looked up to see her brother’s best friend looking very handsome atop a new steed, his hat perched perfectly over his brown curls.
Leah looked away from him sharply as soon as their eyes met, more out of nerves than anything else. She’d been half in love with her brother’s best friend ever since she’d been a young girl, and constantly terrified that he could read her mind every time his hazel eyes looked into hers.
“I thought I would find you two here,” Ezra called out as he dismounted. Michael looked up and waved, urging Ezra to join them. Leah immediately curled her legs further under her skirt to make room on the blanket, and self-consciously tucked a piece of loose copper-coloured hair behind her ear.
“We have to enjoy all the country sun that we can get before we head to London for the Season,” Michael explained.
“Of course, of course, and what a Season it will be. Are you nervous to be coming out for the first time?” Ezra asked Leah. His tone and gaze were so direct that her cheeks flushed, and she had to swallow before answering. Thankfully, her voice came out with more confidence than she felt.
“Slightly, though it’s mixed in with a certain amount of excitement. I only wish that Michael wasn’t so furiously set on finding me a husband immediately. I must admit that it adds a certain amount of pressure to the whole matter,” Leah confessed. She’d wanted to convey more confidence, but honesty got the better of her.
“It can be overwhelming indeed, but your brother will take good care of you, and I’ll be there every step of the way as well. It feels like just yesterday we were running around the countryside pretending to be knights on our way to save you from our imaginary dragons.” Ezra and Michael laughed, and Leah forced a giggle. It was for that precise reason that she’d never allowed herself any hope that Ezra would ever stop seeing her as a kind of younger sister. Though there were only five years between them, she would always be a knobbly kneed girl to him.
“Yes, the years have flown by, and I’m eager to find a suitable match. Is there anyone that you think might be worthy, Ezra? You’ve spent more time in London than Leah and I combined, and you know the ins and outs of fine society. Father made it clear to me before he passed that he wanted Leah to be taken care of in just the way that she deserves. It is not enough that we find a gentleman of equal wealth and title. We must marry her to someone who can improve her way of life,” Michael explained. Leah bristled at the way he was speaking about her as if she wasn’t there, but to his credit, Ezra immediately turned to her and involved her in the conversation once more.
“I know just what kind of a man your brother hopes for you to marry, Leah, but what kind of a man are you hoping to meet?”
Ezra’s question left Leah more tongue-tied than ever. The truth was that he was exactly the kind of man she wanted to meet, kind-eyed and intelligent. Beyond that, she always had a difficult time not staring at the way his riding jacket hugged his long, slender torso, in contrast with his broad shoulders and strong arms. He was in every way her ideal man, and she was half worried that no one else would ever compare to him in her eyes.
“I...I’m not sure,” she floundered, not wanting to perfectly describe the man sitting in front of her, but no alternative adjectives or descriptors came to mind.
“You see, this is why she needs our help, Ezra. The girl doesn’t know what she wants or needs, but we’ll find someone quickly enough. You’ve grown into a fine woman, though the colour of your hair will put some people off, I’m sure,” Michael teased.
Leah rolled her eyes at him. Of all the things she was insecure about, it certainly wasn’t her hair. In fact, she thought that the brightness of her hair complimented her emerald-green eyes beautifully. The effect had been described to her as “arresting” on more than one occasion.
It was the plumpness of her cheeks, set high in her heart-shaped face, that always made her frown whenever she looked at herself in the mirror. They gave her a youthful look that she wished to do away with. How would someone like Ezra ever take her seriously if she didn’t have the profile of the sophisticated ladies he was accustomed to associating with in London?
“I’ve always liked the colour of your hair, Leah. When you were a young girl, it was more of a pale blonde, but I think this kind of copper gives you distinction. There are plenty of blonde curls bouncing around London. It’s better to stand out, in my opinion,” Ezra explained. Leah forgot to breathe for a full minute. She’d never received a compliment so meaningful to her in her entire life. Could it be possible that he could consider himself a suitor to her heart after all?
The spell was broken almost immediately as Ezra continued to speak. “I can certainly think of a few gentlemen who might be appropriate. If finding someone with a good yearly income and attractive titles is your only goal, then I think you’ll find London teeming with such gentlemen. W
Leah’s heart sank. As she’d suspected, Ezra saw her as nothing more than a sisterly confidant. The fact that he was so ready to offer up his recommendations for potential husbands told her that clearly, he didn’t consider himself in their ranks.
“It will be difficult, I’m sure, but I’ll do my best to find someone willing to marry you, Leah,” Michael teased again.
Leah’s more spirited side got the better of her, and before she thought it through, she pulled her needle out of the palette and pricked her brother lightly. He yelped and laughed.
“That’s what you get for talking about me so rudely!” she exclaimed before remembering that Ezra was still right in front of her. She was about to apologize for her childishness when she saw a letter lying between the pages of the book Michael had supposedly been reading.
“Who is that letter from?” she asked with genuine curiosity, reaching out for it before Michael pulled the paper away. She could’ve sworn that it was covered with the handwriting of a woman.
“No one,” Michael snapped.
“That can’t possibly be true. You can’t receive a letter from no one. Unless it was a letter that you wrote yourself and have yet to send?” Ezra asked, clearly just as curious as Leah.
“It’s not written in his handwriting, so it must be from someone else. Who do you think it could be from?” Leah leaned towards Ezra conspiratorially, forgetting her previous nervousness.
“Perhaps some kind of secret admirer. You aren’t the only Appleby heir in need of a spouse after all,” Ezra said playfully. Michael huffed in frustration, leaving Leah and Ezra chuckling to themselves.
“No, I’m not...I mean to say that finding a husband for Leah will require all of my attention this Season. Once I find a suitable man for you, Leah, then and only then will I begin to think of myself. I owe it to you and to our father’s final wishes.” Michael’s face grew serious, and Leah felt bad for a moment. She knew her brother just wanted the best for her. He felt the burden of their parents’ expectations on his shoulders and wanted to make sure he would be making them proud.
“You’re taking this all too seriously, Michael. It will be no great tragedy if I don’t find a husband this Season, and it would be joyous indeed if you happened to find a wife for yourself instead. After all, you are the eldest sibling,” Leah pointed out.
“That is neither here nor there, though you are correct about one thing. We are most likely to find success if you are genuinely enjoying yourself at all the various events. You must make some fast friends and find your allies. Tell me...will Mariah be spending the Season in London?” Michael asked. His tone turned to gentleness, which gave Leah pause. He’d never asked after her friend Mariah in such a manner before.
“Yes, she plans on being in town for the Season.…”
Michael interrupted before Leah could ask the reason for his query. “Good. She will be able to introduce you to many appropriate gentlemen. Ezra as well will be able to make some introductions. I have a feeling we’ll be celebrating your nuptials in no time at all.”
The conversation turned back to Ezra’s new horse, and Leah turned her attention back to her needlework. She wondered to herself if there would be anyone in London who could replace Ezra in her heart. Would there be anyone with his playful eyes, his same sense of ease and deep smiling dimples?
Would there be anyone who made her heart flutter the way that one look from him did? Surely there could be. Surely Ezra wasn’t the only man in the country capable of turning her head.
If all went well, it would be a successful Season for both herself and her brother. Perhaps she’d be able to find a man like Ezra who thought of her as a woman and not a little girl. As she looked up at his handsome frame riding away at the end of the afternoon, she thought to herself that his would be difficult shoes to fill, but she owed it to herself to open her heart to someone else.
Everyone who met Ezra was charmed by his friendliness and quick wit. It was only a matter of time before he fell in love with one of the many women who longed for him. Leah was well aware that she needed to prepare herself for that eventuality.
“Are you sure you can’t tell me who that letter was from?” she asked her brother cheekily after Ezra had taken his leave.
“My affairs are none of your business. Perhaps you’d better focus on your needlework. If you spent more time doing your own work instead of nosing into mine, then you might have more than five stitches completed!” he bantered.
Leah parried with another teasing comment, and the two of them dissolved into a playfulness that was very familiar to them. The prospect of her first Season was daunting indeed, but with such a wonderful brother by her side, she was sure to enjoy herself regardless of the outcome.
Chapter 1
London was just as bustling and lively as Leah thought it would be, though it was the deafening sound of the city that caught her off-guard as she stepped out of the carriage and walked up the steps to the townhouse Michael had arranged for them to take for the Season.
The sound of hooves on the cobblestone streets, the merchants calling out, the grumble of nearby factories and the constant clanging of bells was a far cry from the quiet country roads that surrounded their Essex estate.
“Be careful, miss!” a young boy said from behind her. Leah turned around to see him holding out a glove that she’d dropped, and she took it back gratefully before walking into the grand hall before her.
“Well, what do you think?” Michael asked, waving around at the high ceilings and marble floors before them. There was a spiralling staircase that seemed to lead up to the heavens with an impossible large window behind them, though presumably, they lead to the bedrooms. It was brighter than she’d expected it to be, and she smiled in astonishment as Michael led her through to the wide drawing room with windows that looked out over the courtyard in front of the house.
“I think it’s wonderful. I’ve always thought of London as so cramped, but this is quite spacious, really,” she gushed.
“I appreciate your enthusiasm, but you really mustn’t leave your mouth agape like that. No man will want to marry a woman who looks like a fish.”
Leah was vaguely taken aback by her brother’s rudeness, but it didn’t bother her too much. She was used to his teasing and knew that he was simply overwhelmed with worries about their future, though he needn’t have been.
“Michael, must you really be so insistent that I find a husband of greater fortune than we already have? We have all that a family could ask for and then some. I don’t understand the pressure to rise above my station.” After all, Michael was already the Lord of Harlow, and apart from finding some royal family to marry into, there was really no further level of nobility that they desperately needed to attain.
