A Christmas Promise Read online

  PRAISE FOR THE NOVELS OF

  MARY BALOGH

  A SECRET AFFAIR

  “Balogh’s final entry in the Huxtable family saga … Balogh has saved the best for last; Constantine—dark, wicked, and cryptic—has a perfect foil in Hannah, and their encounters are steamy, their romance believable. Though series fans will be disappointed to see it come to a close, they couldn’t ask for a better way to go out.”

  —Publishers Weekly

  SEDUCING AN ANGEL

  “With her inimitable, brilliantly nuanced sense of characterization, elegantly sensual style, and droll wit, best-seller Balogh continues to set the standard to which all other Regency historical writers aspire while delivering another addictively readable addition to her Huxtable family series.”

  —Booklist

  “One of [Balogh’s] best books to date.”

  —A Romance Review

  AT LAST COMES LOVE

  “Sparkling with sharp wit, lively repartee, and delicious sensuality, the emotionally rewarding At Last Comes Love metes out both justice and compassion; totally satisfying.”

  —Library Journal

  “At Last Comes Love is the epitome of what any great romance should be.… This novel will leave you crying, laughing, cheering, and ready to fight for two characters that any reader will most definitely fall in love with!”

  —Coffee Time Romance

  THEN COMES SEDUCTION

  “Exquisite sexual chemistry permeates this charmingly complex story.”

  —Library Journal

  “Balogh delivers another smartly fashioned love story that will dazzle readers with its captivating combination of nuanced characters, exquisitely sensual romance, and elegant wit.”

  —Booklist

  “Mary Balogh succeeds shockingly well.”

  —Rock Hill Herald

  FIRST COMES MARRIAGE

  “Intriguing and romantic … Readers are rewarded with passages they’ll be tempted to dog-ear so they can read them over and over.”

  —McAllen Monitor

  “Wonderful characterization [and a] riveting plot … I highly recommend you read First Comes Marriage.”

  —Romance Reviews Today

  “Peppered with brilliant banter, laced with laughter … and tingling with sexual tension, this story of two seemingly mismatched people struggling to make their marriage work tugs at a few heartstrings and skillfully paves the way for the stories to come.”

  —Library Journal

  “The incomparable Balogh delivers a masterful first in a new trilogy.… Always fresh, intelligent, emotional and sensual, Balogh’s stories reach out to readers, touching heart and mind with their warmth and wit. Prepare for a joyous read.”

  —Romantic Times

  SIMPLY PERFECT

  “A warm-hearted and feel-good story … Readers will want to add this wonderful story to their collection. Simply Perfect is another must-read from this talented author, and a Perfect Ten.”

  —Romance Reviews Today

  “With her signature exquisite sense of characterization and subtle wit, Balogh brings her sweetly sensual, thoroughly romantic Simply quartet to a truly triumphant conclusion.”

  —Booklist

  SIMPLY MAGIC

  “Absorbing and appealing … This is an unusually subtle approach in a romance, and it works to great effect.”

  —Publishers Weekly

  “Balogh has once again crafted a sensuous tale of two very real people finding love and making each other’s lives whole and beautiful. Readers will be delighted.”

  —Booklist

  SIMPLY UNFORGETTABLE

  “When an author has created a series as beloved to readers as Balogh’s Bedwyn saga, it is hard to believe that she can surpass the delights with the first installment in a new quartet. But Balogh has done just that.”

  —Booklist

  “A memorable cast … refresh[es] a classic Regency plot with humor, wit, and the sizzling romantic chemistry that one expects from Balogh. Well-written and emotionally complex.”

  —Library Journal

  SIMPLY LOVE

  “One of the things that make Ms. Balogh’s books so memorable is the emotion she pours into her stories. The writing is superb, with realistic dialogue, sexual tension, and a wonderful heart-wrenching story. Simply Love is a book to savor, and to read again. It is a Perfect Ten. Romance doesn’t get any better than this.”

  —Romance Reviews Today

  “With more than her usual panache, Balogh returns to Regency England for a satisfying adult love story.”

  —Publishers Weekly

  SLIGHTLY DANGEROUS

  “Slightly Dangerous is the culmination of Balogh’s wonderfully entertaining Bedwyn series.… Balogh, famous for her believable characters and finely crafted Regency-era settings, forges a relationship that leaps off the page and into the hearts of her readers.”

  —Booklist

  “With this series, Balogh has created a wonderfully romantic world of Regency culture and society. Readers will miss the honorable Bedwyns and their mates; ending the series with Wulfric’s story is icing on the cake. Highly recommended.”

  —Library Journal

  SLIGHTLY SINFUL

  “Smart, playful, and deliciously satisfying … Balogh once again delivers a clean, sprightly tale rich in both plot and character.… With its irrepressible characters and deft plotting, this polished romance is an ideal summer read.”

  —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

  SLIGHTLY TEMPTED

  “Once again, Balogh has penned an entrancing, unconventional yarn that should expand her following.”

  —Publishers Weekly

  “Balogh is a gifted writer.… Slightly Tempted invites reflection, a fine quality in romance, and Morgan and Gervase are memorable characters.”

  —Contra Costa Times

  SLIGHTLY SCANDALOUS

  “With its impeccable plotting and memorable characters, Balogh’s book raises the bar for Regency romances.”

  —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

  “The sexual tension fairly crackles between this pair of beautifully matched protagonists.… This delightful and exceptionally well-done title nicely demonstrates [Balogh’s] matchless style.”

  —Library Journal

  “This third book in the Bedwyn series is … highly enjoyable as part of the series or on its own merits.”

  —Old Book Barn Gazette

  SLIGHTLY WICKED

  “Sympathetic characters and scalding sexual tension make the second installment [in the Slightly series] a truly engrossing read.… Balogh’s sure-footed story possesses an abundance of character and class.”

  —Publishers Weekly

  SLIGHTLY MARRIED

  “Slightly Married is a masterpiece! Mary Balogh has an unparalleled gift for creating complex, compelling characters who come alive on the pages.… A Perfect Ten.”

  —Romance Reviews Today

  A SUMMER TO REMEMBER

  “Balogh outdoes herself with this romantic romp, crafting a truly seamless plot and peopling it with well-rounded, winning characters.”

  —Publishers Weekly

  “The most sensuous romance of the year.”

  —Booklist

  “This one will rise to the top.”

  —Library Journal

  “Filled with vivid descriptions, sharp dialogue, and fantastic characters, this passionate, adventurous tale will remain memorable for readers who love an entertaining read.”

  —Rendezvous

  WEB OF LOVE

  “A beautiful tale of how grief and guilt can lead to love.”

  —Library Journal

  BOOKS BY MARY BALOGH

  Th
e Huxtable Series

  FIRST COMES MARRIAGE • THEN COMES SEDUCTION

  AT LAST COMES LOVE • SEDUCING AN ANGEL

  A SECRET AFFAIR

  The Simply Quartet

  SIMPLY UNFORGETTABLE • SIMPLY LOVE

  SIMPLY MAGIC • SIMPLY PERFECT

  The Slightly Series

  SLIGHTLY MARRIED • SLIGHTLY WICKED

  SLIGHTLY SCANDALOUS • SLIGHTLY TEMPTED

  SLIGHTLY SINFUL • SLIGHTLY DANGEROUS

  Beloved Classic Novels

  ONE NIGHT FOR LOVE • MORE THAN A MISTRESS

  NO MAN’S MISTRESS • A SUMMER TO REMEMBER

  THE SECRET PEARL • THE GILDED WEB

  WEB OF LOVE • THE DEVIL’S WEB

  THE IDEAL WIFE • A PRECIOUS JEWEL

  DARK ANGEL/LORD CAREW’S BRIDE

  A Christmas Promise is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  2010 Dell Mass Market Edition

  Copyright © 1992 by Mary Balogh

  Excerpt of A Secret Affair copyright © 2010 by Mary Balogh

  All rights reserved.

  DELL is a registered trademark of Random House, Inc., and the colophon is a registered trademark of Random House, Inc.

  Originally published in paperback in the United States by Signet, an imprint of New American Library, a division of Penguin Books USA Inc., in 1992.

  This book contains an excerpt from the novel A Secret Affair by Mary Balogh. This excerpt has been set for this edition only and may not reflect final content of the published edition.

  eISBN: 978-0-440-33966-3

  www.bantamdell.com

  v3.1

  Contents

  Cover

  Praise for the Novels of Mary Balogh

  Other Books by This Author

  Title Page

  Copyright

  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

  Excerpt from A Secret Affair

  1

  THE EARL OF FALLODEN GLANCED AT THE VISITING card resting on the salver his butler held extended toward him. He frowned.

  “ ‘Mr. Joseph Transome, coal merchant,’ ” he said. “Why the devil is a coal merchant calling upon me? Could you not have found out his business and sent him on his way, Starret?”

  The butler exchanged a brief glance with the earl’s valet. “He was most insistent, m’lord,” he said. “He declared that he could divulge the purpose of his visit to no one but you. You wish me to say you are not at home, m’lord?”

  “Yes,” the earl said irritably, motioning his valet to hand him his neckcloth. He had just returned from a morning ride in the park that had done nothing to lift the gloom from his mind, that could do nothing to lift it. He was not in the mood for visitors.

  The butler bowed stiffly from the waist and turned to leave his master’s dressing room.

  “Wait!” the earl said. He looked even more irritable as he tied his neckcloth in a hasty and simple knot despite the compressed lips of his disapproving valet. “The man is respectable, Starret? And he came to the front door?”

  “He arrived in a carriage and four, m’lord,” the man said.

  The earl raised his eyebrows. “I had better see what the devil he wants,” he said. “Show him into the salon, Starret.”

  “Yes, m’lord.” The butler bowed again before withdrawing.

  “A coal merchant,” the earl said to his valet’s reflected image. “What do you suppose he wants, eh, Crawley? To get me to change my supplier of coal for the winter? Who does supply it anyway? Well, I suppose I should go down and satisfy my curiosity. He came to the front door asking for me instead of to the back asking for Mrs. Lawford. Interesting, would you not say?”

  But he did not wait for an answer. He strode from the room and descended the stairs to the hallway of his town house on Grosvenor Square. The gloom of an early November morning made it almost necessary to have lamps lit, he thought as he crossed the hall and waited for a footman to open the double doors into the salon. It was a day entirely in keeping with his general mood.

  Mr. Joseph Transome, coal merchant, was a cit, he thought as the man turned from the window at the opening of the doors. He was as neatly and as expensively dressed as the earl himself, and altogether more fashionably. The earl had not been able to afford to keep up with the fashions for the past year, though most of that time he had been wearing mourning anyway. The only criticism he might make of the merchant’s clothing was that it all looked as if it might be at least two sizes too large for the man. He was thin and angular, with a sharp, beaked face, from which eyes too dark and too large looked keenly at his host.

  The earl nodded to him. “I am Falloden,” he said. “What may I do for you?” He stiffened when the man did not immediately reply but looked him unhurriedly up and down and half smiled.

  “You are a fine figure of a man, my lord, if you will forgive me for saying so,” Mr. Transome said, rubbing his hands together. “Finer than I had been led to expect. That is good.”

  “I thank you,” the earl said coldly. “Did you have any business you wished to discuss with me, sir?”

  Mr. Transome laughed and continued to rub his hands together. “You would think it strange indeed if I had come for no other reason than to admire your appearance, my lord, now would you not?” he said. “But that is important to me too.”

  The earl pursed his lips, stood near the doors with his hands clasped at his back, and declined to offer his guest a seat.

  “Perhaps I should come straight to the point, my lord,” Mr. Transome said. “If the nobility is like the merchant classes, then time is money, as I always say. And time is not to be wasted on unnecessary chitchat.”

  “My sentiments exactly,” the earl said.

  “It seems, my lord,” the merchant said, continuing to rub his hands as if washing them and looking apologetically at the earl, “that you are indebted to me for a considerable sum.”

  “Indeed?” The earl raised his eyebrows and looked haughtily at his visitor. “A household bill not paid, sir? I shall have you conducted to my housekeeper without further delay.”

  “No, no.” Mr. Transome raised a staying hand. “Trifling stuff that would be, my lord, beneath your notice and beneath mine. Nothing like that. Your principal seat, Grenfell Park in Hampshire, is heavily mortgaged, I do believe, my lord?”

  The earl’s eyes sharpened.

  “And the house and estate are getting shabbier and more dilapidated by the year with the rent money not even sufficient to pay off the mortgage costs,” Mr. Transome continued.

  “I do not know where you get your information,” the earl said, “but Grenfell Park is no concern of yours, sir. If you will excuse me, I have a busy morning planned.”

  “Doing what, my lord, if I might make so bold as to ask?” Mr. Transome said. “Visiting your tailor or your bootmaker? You rarely do either these days since your bills at their establishments are already so high that you have no chance of paying them. And you are, when all is said and done, an honorable man. Or so my sources say.”

  “Mr. Transome.” The earl’s voice was icy. “I must ask you to leave, sir.” He turned toward the doors.

  “And you never visit Tattersall’s these days, my lord, or attend the races.” The merchant ignored the opening doors. “And you do not play deep at cards, already burdened as you are with gaming debts higher than you can hope to pay in your lifetime—though they are not your own, I might add in all fairness. And man
y of them debts owed to moneylenders, my lord. It is not a good situation. I daresay you do not sleep peacefully at night.”

  The earl closed the doors again and took a few steps across the room toward his visitor. “Mr. Transome,” he said, “I take it there is some point to this impertinence. Would you kindly get to it before I throw you out of my house? And would you kindly inform me how I am in debt to you? Something my cousin’s man of business knew nothing of?”

  “Nothing like that, my lord,” Mr. Transome said, his voice soothing. “I daresay you know the full extent of your debts. And they are sufficient to weigh on your shoulders as heavily as that mountain did on that giant’s shoulders. What’s-his-name. I always liked that story.”

  “Atlas,” the earl said curtly. “I wonder how heavily you will weigh on my shoulders, Mr. Transome, when I transport you to my door in a moment’s time.”

  The merchant chuckled. “Not much, my lord,” he said. “Not much these days. You now owe me all those debts, my lord. I bought ’em all. Every last one of them.”

  The earl froze. And strangely, he did not doubt for a moment that the man spoke the truth. All those debts his cousin and predecessor had incurred in eight years as Earl of Falloden. Those debts he had refused to repudiate when he had inherited fourteen months before. And he had refused to sell Grenfell Park with its vast estates because it had been his childhood home. Because it was in his blood, a part of him, his most treasured possession. A millstone about his neck.

  “Why?” he asked, his eyes narrowing.

  “Why did I buy ’em?” Mr. Transome asked. “To do you a favor, my lord. It is better, less confusing, I always think, to owe money all in one place than all over London and the southern counties. Would you not agree, my lord?”

  “I find the thought enormously comforting,” the earl said. “So you have come to put the squeeze on me, Transome? You are going to have to wait. I will pay off every penny of the debt eventually. But it will take time.”

  Mr. Transome laughed. “I have worked hard all my life, my lord,” he said. “Through diligence and a little good luck too, I have amassed almost everything a man could want in this life. Only one thing I have very little of, and it is the very commodity you ask of me. Time. I have very little time.”