Showing results by author "M. C. Beaton" in All Categories

For lovely young Miss Patricia Patterson, life seemed a delightful dream - until the specter of her guardian, Lord Charles Gaunt, cast a shadow over her carefree days of idleness and enchanting evenings of dazzling balls and delicious flirtations. Lord Charles demanded she act the part of a proper and perfectly boring young miss. Even worse, he insisted she devote her waking hours to cultivating her mind rather than captivating her swarm of admirers.

She was a lady's maid who longed to be a lady. How else could Lucy Balfour hope to win the favor of Andrew, Viscount Harvey, the toast of the town, who seemed ready to take a bride at last? There was only one way to do it, and that was to command his attention. It seemed an impossible dream; first she had to become the peer of her own mistress, the coldly beautiful Lady Angela, who was determined to claim Andrew as her own.

Miss Honaria Honeyford was sent to London to save the family fortune by hunting a wealthy husband, and, being a loving if not entirely dutiful daughter, she obeyed. But if she was reluctantly willing to surrender her hand, this beautiful young lady - who could ride, shoot, and argue with any man - was not about to lose her head or heart to the dismal dandies of the marriage mart.

Even the inhabitants of secluded Nethercote looked pityingly upon young Henrietta, the vicar's sister; her plain features seemed to almost guarantee her a solitary future. And yet she has a determined spirit and magnificent hazel eyes. So when her great-aunt Hester left her unexpected wealth, Henrietta set out to conquer London's glittering high society and confound them all.

Fanny and her groom had been tricked! Parents on both sides, all impoverished, had decided to recoup their families' losses by marrying their children to the progeny of a wealthier neighbor. The joke was on them, however, when it was outed that neither family had a penny to its name. Charles was not the dark rogue of Fanny's girlish fantasies, but he was chivalrously determined that she should meet someone more appropriate for her than he.

Love and jealousy abound in this playful romance, set during the British Regency. Everyone in the bon ton knew that Lord Hubert Challenge had married country mouse Mary Tyre for her dowry, but no one had yet guessed that Mary had actually fallen in love with her husband! And she was willing to try anything - sumptuous clothes, a saucy manner, even flirting with another man - to get her handsome husband's attention...until she learned that two could play at that particular game.

Penelope - golden haired, azure eyed, fresh from the country - has stolen the heart of the most-desirable Eerl of Hestleton. Rich and startlingly handsome, he is the most eligible lord in the realm. He had planned to toy with her affections and then toss her aside, but when the earl discovers that he is a pawn in her aunt's social-climbing scheme, he begins to doubt Penelope's true love. Can the belle keep her beau, or will Aunt Augusta's ambitious plans force Penelope to flee?

"I am Miss Lamberton. Miss Constance Lamberton. I hoped that you would employ me as your companion." So it was that quiet, reserved Constance came to the household of the haughty but beautiful Lady Amelia. She would serve as the lady's chaperone throughout the season's many festivities, finding herself an unwitting accomplice in Lady Amelia's scheme to trap the very eligible Lord Philip into marriage. But it was not Lady Amelia who won Lord Philip's heart.

"I do not think I want to be married at all. I want to be rich. Very rich...." When Henrietta Bascombe opens a confectionary shop in order to turn her pittance of an inheritance into a fortune, her friends are shocked to hear of such a well-bred lady going into trade. The earl of Carrisdown is both drawn to and repelled by her shopgirl status.

It's a maiden's miracle! Annabelle Quennell, daughter of a poor country parson, gets a chance at a London season to snare a wealthy husband. But before she sets off, Mad Meg the gypsy predicts trouble ahead, and it is nothing but woe that Annabelle finds. Godmother Lady Emmeline sponsors Annabelle's spree - and demands she wed the oafish Captain MacDonald.

The Davenport sisters were alone, without even a dour-faced maid to supervise their strict puritanical devotions, until the elder, flame-haired Gillian boldly decided it was high time they let their hair down. Now, with the help of a kindly relation, the two daring misses exchange their somber attire for modish gowns and hairstyles that would surely give their parents apoplexy. But the best is yet to come: plum pudding, eggnog, carols, and a most breathtaking tree.

The Misses Penelope Yarwood, Euphemia Perkins, and Letitia Helmsdale all smugly informed Fiona that the Marquess of Cleveden was at once the most eligible and the most elusive catch in the London marriage mart. Society's most dazzling beauties had failed to win him over yet, and a newcomer like Fiona didn't stand a ghost of a chance of having him look at her twice.

With little to live on but her romantic daydreams - which frequently starred the dashing Marquess of Fleetwater - Jean Lindsay lived a rather dismal life with her nasty, drunken uncle. Jean was always the object of ridicule, that is, until news of her unexpected inheritance spread. Suddenly, her worn dresses became "quaint" and her forthright manner turned magically to "charming", but to Jean's horror, someone wanted her dead!

It was true. The lovely young widow Lady Charteris - Delphine to her friends - had agreed to abide by her parents' wishes and marry the comte Saint-Pierre. Delphine's parents had long since died in the Terror, but when she learned of their wishes for her, she believed it her duty to respect their wishes. Delphine would marry, but it would be a marriage in name only.

Lady Lucinda Esmond's swine of a father, the earl of Sotheran, was forever fleecing young bucks in London's gaming halls with impunity - until he cheats Captain Mark Chamfrey, who kidnaps 10-year-old Lucinda for ransom. But when Chamfrey has a change of heart and returns the girl, Earl Esmond nonetheless exacts his own price: Chamfrey can redeem himself and save his skin only by marrying his little victim nine years hence.

Lord Percy Hunterdon despaired: He had inherited a Gothic horror of an estate along with a pair of 15-year-old brats to marry off. It was no secret to him that finding husbands for these two vile young ladies would require the utmost expertise: the care of a governess of superior caliber. When Jean Morrison spied Lord Hunterdon's advertisement, dreams of an unmarried viscount and a magnificent castle danced in her head.

Must one sister suffer in poverty while the other lives in the lap of luxury? This question plagued Harriet Clifton incessantly. Inviting herself to her widowed sister Cordelia's posh London townhouse for the season was surely the only way to meet a suitable partner as well as escape drafty old Pringle House forever.

At first, Emily Goodenough and her uncle are exactly what the servants at No. 67 Clarges Street are hoping for: respectable tenants to usher in an uneventful Season.

Als die Lokalzeitung über ein Geisterhaus im Nachbardorf berichtet, ist Agathas Neugier geweckt. Während sie dort herumschnüffelt, stellt sich allerdings heraus, dass keineswegs ein Geist sein Unwesen treibt. Stattdessen spielt jemand der alten und allseits unbeliebten Hausbesitzerin Mrs. Witherspoon Streiche. Und dann ist die alte Dame plötzlich tot. Das ist für Agatha natürlich ein noch größerer Ansporn: Schließlich macht es viel mehr Spaß, ein Verbrechen aufzuklären, als einen Geist zu jagen!

Als der schottische Dorfpolizist Hamish Macbeth die Nachricht erhält, dass im Gutshaus des schonungslosen Witzbolds Arthur Trent ein Mord geschehen ist, hält er das zunächst für einen schlechten Scherz. Umso überraschter ist er, dass Trent tatsächlich erstochen und anschließend erbarmungslos in einen Schrank gestopft wurde. An Verdächtigen ist auch kein Mangel: Das Haus ist voller habgieriger Verwandter, die alle mehr am Inhalt des Testaments als an der Aufklärung des Verbrechens interessiert sind.