Lady Beauchamp's Proposal

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Copyright 2014 © Amy Rose Bennett

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A Secret Cravings Publishing Book

Erotic Romance

Lady Beauchamp’s Proposal

Copyright © 2014 Amy Rose Bennett

E-book ISBN: 978-1-63105-284-2

First E-book Publication: August 2014

Cover design by Dawné Dominique

Edited by Cassandra Pierce

Proofread by Rene Flowers

All cover art and logo copyright © 2014 by
Secret Cravings Publishing

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All characters and events in this book are
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strictly coincidental.

PUBLISHER

Secret Cravings Publishing

www.secretcravingspublishing.com

For Richard…I love you.

I have so many people to thank for helping
to make my dream of becoming a published historical romance author,
come true. This story is very close to my heart and to see it come
to life as a novel, it truly means the world to me.

To my wonderful husband—my very own
real-life hero—thank you for your endless love, encouragement and
support throughout my journey. I could never have achieved this
life-long goal without you.

A huge thank you to my beautiful daughters,
Caitlin and Claire, for their love and encouragement, and for
putting up with a mother who seemed to be glued to her laptop all
hours of the day and night!

A special thank you to the fabulous Anna
Campbell for renewing my love of Regency historical romance and for
the most amazing critique I’ve ever had! You and your novels are,
and will always be, an inspiration.

A big thank you goes to my critique
partners—Marie, Kaye, Julie-Anne and Heather—for all your support
and suggestions that helped me make my story the best it could
be.

Hugs for my wonderful beta readers—Cindy,
Rhonda, Michelle and Fleur—for carefully proofreading and loving my
story just as much as I do!

Thank you to Romance Writers of Australia
for all of the education, networking, contests, and friendships
that come with being a part of this organization! You are the most
amazing group of people and I wouldn’t be where I am now if it
wasn’t for all the support you provide.

And finally thank you to the wonderful
Secret Cravings Publishing team for taking a chance on this novel!
Beth Walker, Ariana Gaynor, Elise Hepner, Sue Toth, Rene Flowers
and Dawné Dominque, thank you for all that you have done. And last
but not least, I would also like to extend a special thanks to my
fabulous editor, Cassandra Pierce, for completely getting my
story!

Have you heard about the newest idea in
ebooks, the ebook club? Secret Cravings Publishing has two ebook
clubs, The Cravings Ebook Club or the Cravings Paranormal Ebook
Club, and we invite you to become a member.

As a new member, you will receive
Trouble
With a Cowboy*
by Sandy Sullivan and
Blood Kisses**
by
H.N. Sieverding FREE, just for joining!

You’ll also receive
4 BRAND-NEW
EBOOKS
, specially selected by our Editorial Director, every
month in a variety of genres for a total price of only $9.99 for
all 4. This comes out to barely $2.50 per book,
much less
than the retail price and you’ll be able to
enjoy your books
even before
they are uploaded to the
popular sales sites. One of several privileges of club
membership.

*
Trouble With a Cowboy
, a western,
erotic romance:

18 wheels had her heart
until one hard-up cowboy found her kickin' up her heels and
propositions her to take his bull to Vegas.

Jacie Hawkins drives big
wheelers for a livin'. Something not a lot of women do. Littleton
Oklahoma is just a dry stopover for a few hours of rest and
relaxation at the nearest bar. Jacie needs to find a hot cowboy to
release some of her pent up frustrations on for the night, but
wannabe's aren't her style.

Tucker Marshall needs a
big-rig driver to haul his prize bull to National Finals Rodeo and
he needs one fast. Who would have thought he'd find one shootin'
pool at the local bar dressed to kill and takin'
numbers?

Can some slashed tires and
an ornery bull bring two hard-headed people together for some fun
in the sun and a little more?

**
Blood Kisses (Nightwalkers
1)
, paranormal erotic
romance:

Ashleigh Brown, the author of the popular
Nightwalkers series, lives a quiet life free of the limelight. She
keeps her real identity secret by writing under the pen name,
Victoria Allure. She soon finds herself in a bind when she's
kidnapped by a group of handsome vampires seeking Victoria. She
then agrees to meet their Master, who's a huge fan of her books.
But instead of meeting him, she accidentally crosses paths with her
rock star crush. He is the sexy muse behind Nightwalkers and the
man she based the hero in the series upon. She would do anything to
meet him but little does she know her crush has a secret...

We will try to match your books to your
preferences, however, if you’re a major paranormal fan, we suggest
you join the Cravings Paranormal Club. Everything is the same
except that three of your four books will be paranormal. The
remaining book will be of a different genre.

As a club member, you will also receive:

• our monthly newsletter
  

• sneak previews of new books
  

• exclusive interviews with your favorite
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• special offers not available to the general
  public
  

To join, visit the Secret Cravings
Publishing website. At the bottom of the page you’ll see a button
for the club. You can sign up there and share your preferences for
genre, format and heat level with us. You will be charged,
automatically, through PayPal, only $9.99 every month. Your books
will be shipped within 1 day after PayPal payment has cleared. You
may cancel at any time by clicking on the “unsubscribe” button
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keep the FREE BOOKS as our gift.

We hope our Secret Cravings books will
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Best wishes,

Beth Walker

Harcourt House, London, September 1815

Elizabeth sat before her cherrywood dressing
table, determinedly brushing her hair with slow methodical strokes,
trying in vain to relax. The simple routine always used to be
soothing, a balm to her taut nerves.

But not anymore.

Especially not tonight.

The grandfather clock in the hall outside
suddenly heralded the hour. Midnight.

With a shaky sigh, she placed the brush upon
the silver tray and glanced at her candle-lit reflection. A grave
young woman stared back at her; shadows as dark as bruises marred
the usually pale skin beneath her grey eyes. She was so tired. And
so anxious, she felt as brittle as a dried-out birch twig that was
going to snap at any moment.

But she couldn’t break now. All going well,
in six hours she would be gone from here in a hired cab that was
scheduled to arrive in the mews behind the servants’ entrance where
her travelling trunk had been carefully stowed. Despite her
fatigue, she doubted that she would be able to sleep at all between
now and then.

There was too much at stake.

The unexpected sound of her bedroom door
opening made her start. In the dark shadows behind her, the
reflection of her husband’s tall, lean frame appeared. He paused on
the threshold and by the way he leaned against the door frame it
was obvious that he was drunk—not an unusual circumstance for this
time of night. Elizabeth knew that he’d probably spent the best
part of the evening at his club or some gaming hell. But what was
unusual, what caused her heart to hammer against her breast, was
the fact that he had come to her room at all.

Hugh hadn’t entered her bedchamber for more
than a year.

She tried to read his expression, judge his
mood. Desperately tried to fathom what could have prompted this
unexpected nocturnal visitation. But Hugh’s blue eyes, indeed the
sculpted planes of his entire face, were hidden in shadow.

“Elizabeth.” Pushing away from the door, he
prowled toward her bed, then sank onto the pale blue silk
counterpane with a heavy sigh. The lingering odor of port and stale
cigar smoke assailed her, but she forced herself to remain still,
as she watched—and waited, her stomach cramping with fear. It made
no sense at all that he had come to her, instead of seeking out the
more titillating company of his latest mistress or at the very
least a prostitute—his usual custom at this late hour.

Unless…Does he know what I have planned?

Despite her rising panic, Elizabeth was
suddenly struck by the realization that her husband was
uncharacteristically maudlin. Turning to face him, she was acutely
conscious of the fact that she only wore a thin, white cotton
nightrail. Although it buttoned all the way to her throat and had
long sleeves, she felt vulnerable. Exposed. It bothered her that
her feet were bare.

But she couldn’t afford to show any
weakness.

“Are you all right, my lord?” she asked
carefully, forcing the words past her tight, dry throat. It seemed
safer than asking—
what do you want?
—or—
are you here to
stop me leaving you?
She hoped to God he hadn’t uncovered her
secret. She must tread carefully. Her life depended upon it.

His gaze travelled over her, but quickly
returned to her face. Grimacing, he then ran a hand through his
golden blond hair, ruffling it into messy spikes. At the age of
twenty-eight, he still looked boyishly handsome she supposed,
although she had long since ceased to think of him in that way.

“To be honest, I don’t know,” he replied at
last.

Honest.
That was a word that
Elizabeth no longer associated with her husband, Hugh de Lancey
Harcourt, the Earl of Beauchamp. Strangely enough, she did believe
him tonight. He was in a peculiar mood indeed.

The silence between them stretched. Surely
he could hear her frantic heartbeat. She was unsure what to say or
do next. She just wanted him to leave.

Please, God, make him leave.

He started to speak again, his words
slightly slurred. “It has been a long time since I...since we...”
His gaze dropped to her chest, concealed beneath her chaste night
attire.

She noted he couldn’t bring himself to
complete the thought. Perhaps he was going to say—
since I fucked
you
—or—
since we made love
. The latter statement would
have been grossly inaccurate of course. In three years of marriage,
Elizabeth did not believe that they had ever truly made love.