The Temporary Wife/A Promise of Spring Read online

  PRAISE FOR THE NOVELS OF MARY BALOGH

  THE SECRET MISTRESS

  “Regency romance doyenne Balogh … pairs a staid young nobleman with a vivacious debutante in this top-notch tale.… An unusually accurate portrayal of Regency society, laden with colorful period detail, makes a sparkling backdrop, and the supporting characters are delightful.… The charming mixture of sensual passion and hilarious confusion makes Balogh’s delightful tale a must-read for Regency fans.”

  —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

  “A treasure … No one tells ‘secrets’ better than Balogh.” —Library Journal (editor’s pick)

  A SECRET AFFAIR

  “This neatly choreographed romance … will fascinate readers as Balogh gradually peels away the layers of [the] complex, secrets-laden story with tantalizing skill and sympathetic care.… Poignant, thought-provoking, deliciously sensual, and completely entralling, this polished gem is the last in the Huxtable quintet and one that Balogh’s fans have been anxiously awaiting.”

  —Library Journal

  “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

  “Mary Balogh has masterfully woven a romantic tale of the importance of family, of compassion, and of love and forgiveness in this fifth book in her series about the Huxtable family. A Secret Affair will not disappoint, and you’ll be pleasantly surprised by the ‘secrets.’ ”

  —Fresh Fiction

  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

  This 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.

  2012 Dell eBook Edition

  The Temporary Wife copyright © 1997 by Mary Balogh

  A Promise of Spring copyright © 1990 by Mary Balogh

  Excerpt from The Proposal by Mary Balogh copyright © 2012 by Mary Balogh

  All rights reserved.

  Published in the United States by Dell, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.

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

  The Temporary Wife was originally published in mass market in the United States by Signet, an imprint of Dutton Signet, a division of Penguin Books USA Inc. in 1997.

  A Promise of Spring was originally published in mass market in the United States by Signet, an imprint of Dutton Signet, a division of Penguin Books USA Inc. in 1990.

  This book contains an excerpt from the forthcoming title The Proposal by Mary Balogh. The excerpt has been set for this edition only and may not reflect the final content of the forthcoming book.

  eISBN: 978-0-345-53250-3

  Cover photograph © Herman Estevez

  www.bantamdell.com

  v3.1

  Contents

  Cover

  Title Page

  Copyright

  The Temporary Wife

  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

  Chapter 18

  A Promise of Spring

  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

  Other Books by This Author

  Excerpt from The Proposal

  1

  IT BEING NOT QUITE THE THING TO ADVERTISE IN THE London papers for a wife, Anthony Earheart, Marquess of Staunton, eldest son and heir of the Duke of Withingsby, advertised instead for a governess.

  He advertised in his own name, with the omission of his title and connections, to the decided amusement of his friends and acquaintances, who rose to the occasion with marvelous wit.

  “How many children do you have, Staunton?” Harold Price asked him at White’s the morning of the advertisement’s first appearance. “Would it not be more appropriate to hire a school teacher? One capable of managing a full schoolroom?”

  “What you should do, Staunton,” Cuthbert Pyne added, “is hire a full staff. For a whole school, I mean. One would not wish to jeopardize the education of the budding scholars by crowding too many of them into one classroom.”

  “Are all their mamas to come and fetch them each afternoon, Tony?” Lord Rowling asked before inhaling the pinch of snuff he had placed on the back of one hand. “Do you have a salon large enough to hold them all while they wait? And will they wait amicably in company with one another?”

  “Are you sure you wish to educate them all, Staunton?” Colonel Forsythe asked. “Do you have enough estates needing stewards and managers, old boy? Does England have enough estates?”

  “You have forgotten Wales, Forsythe,” Mr. Pyne said. “And Scotland.”

  “But it is hardly fair to everyone else’s by-blows if all the positions are filled by Staunton’s,” the colonel said, speaking with an exaggerated whine of complaint.

  “I believe Tony is not in search of a governess at all,” Sir Bernard Shields said. “He is in search of a new mistress. I hear you dismissed the delectable Anna just last week, Tony—with rubies. You have decided to look elsewhere for her replacement than the green rooms of London? You have decided to search for someone who can provide conversation as a diversion while you are, ah, at work?”

  “Or someone who can offer instruction,” Lord Rowling said. “It is said, you know, that one is never too knowledgeable to stop learning. And who better to learn from than a governess? And in a schoolroom with all its desks and tabletops on which to practice one’s lessons. The mind boggles.”

  “I daresay,” the very young and very earnest Lord Callaghan said, “Staunton is hiring a governess for one or more of his nieces and we are slandering him by imagining otherwise.”

  The Marquess of Staunton did not participate in the conversation beyond the occasional lifting of an eyebrow or pursing of the lips. He looked on as if he were nothing more than a mildly interested observer. He had no children as far as he knew. He had no estates—yet. He had tired of Anna after only six weeks and was in no hurry to employ a replacement. Mistresses, he was finding, were less and less able to satisfy his jaded appetites. He knew all their tricks and skills and was bored by them—Rowling was wrong about there being more to learn. He had no dealings with any of his nieces—or nephews either, for that matter.

  No, he was not in search of either a governess or a mistress. He was choosing himself a wife, as he made clear to Lord Rowling when the two of them were strolling homeward later.

  “Is that not usually done at Almack’s or in someone’s ballroom or drawing room?” Lord Rowling asked, chuckling as if he believed the whole matter was a joke devised for his amusement. “And without the necessity of an advertisement, Tony? You are Staunton, after all, and will be Withingsby one day. You are as rich as Croesus and have the looks to turn any female head even if you were a pauper. Yet you have advertised for a wife in the guise of a governess? What am I missing, pray?” He twirled his cane and touched the brim of his hat to a lady whom they were passing.

  “I cannot find what I am looking for at Almack’s,” the marquess said, no answering amusement in his face. He had the grace to continue when his friend merely looked at him with raised eyebrows. “She must be a gentlewoman—I’ll not go lower than that, you see. She must also be impoverished, plain, demure, very ordinary, perhaps even prim. She must have all the personality of a—a quiet mouse.”

  “Dear me,” Lord Rowling said rather faintly. “A quiet mouse, Tony? You? Do you feel such need to dominate the woman you will take to wife?”

  “The Duke of Withingsby has summoned me home,” the marquess said. “He claims to be ailing. He reminds me that Lady Marie Lucas, daughter of the Earl of Tillden, is now seventeen years old—old enough, in fact, for the match arranged for us by our families at her birth to be elevated to a formal betrothal. He informs me that the eight years of my absence from home have given me sufficient time in which to sow my wild oats.”

  Lord Rowling grimaced. “Your father is not displaying a great deal of wisdom,” he said. “You have amassed a sizable fortune during those eight years, Tony.” But he grinned suddenly. “As well as acquiring a well-deserved reputation as one of London’s most prolific rakes. You plan to marry your quiet mouse merely in order to embarrass his grace, then?”

  “Precisely,” the marquess said without hesitation. “I did consider merely ignoring the summons, Perry, or answering it but refusing to wed the child who has been carefully chosen and groomed as the next Duchess of Withingsby. But this idea of mine will be infinitel
y better. If his grace is not already ailing in all truth, he soon will be. If he has not yet got the point of the past eight years, he soon will. Yes, I shall choose my wife very carefully indeed. I daresay there will be a number of applicants.”

  Lord Rowling looked aghast, perhaps only now understanding that his friend was in deadly earnest. “But, Tony,” he said, “you cannot marry the dullest creature you can find merely to annoy your father.”

  “Why not?” Lord Staunton asked.

  “Why not?” His friend made circular motions in the air with his cane. “Marriage is a life sentence, old chap. You will be stuck with the woman for the rest of your life. You would find the situation intolerable.”

  “I do not intend to spend the rest of my life with her,” the marquess said. “Once she has served her purpose she will be pensioned off—a governess could hardly ask for a better fate, could she?”

  “And she might live to the age of ninety,” Lord Rowling pointed out. “Tony, you will want heirs. If you get them on her, she will wish—and quite reasonably so—to be a mother to them. She will wish to live in your home while they grow up.”

  “I have an heir,” the marquess said. “My brother William, Perry. And he has sons—or so Marianne informs me. One can only hope that they are sturdy.”

  “But a man craves heirs of his own body,” Lord Rowling said.

  “Does he, by Jove?” The Marquess of Staunton looked surprised. “This man certainly does not, Perry. Shall we change the subject? This particular one grows tedious. Do you go to Tattersall’s tomorrow? I have my eye on a promising-looking pair of grays.”

  Lord Rowling would have liked to continue the original conversation until he had talked some sense into his friend, but he was soon conversing about horses. After all, he had known the Marquess of Staunton long enough to understand that he had a will of iron, that he said and did exactly what he wished to say and do, without reference to other people’s preferences or to society’s dictates. If he had decided to choose a wife in such an unconventional manner and for such a cynical, cold-blooded reason, then choose her he would, and marry her too.