Always a Lady

244 Pages·2016·1.16 MB·English

by  Lee Rebecca Hagan

Always a Lady
Rebecca Hagan Lee
Contents
Dedication
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Epilogue
Excerpt: Barely a Bride
Copyright
This book is dedicated to my sister, Lisa Teal, who has
been a bright and shining light for me
from the day she was born and the best sister
anyone could ever have.

Thank you for being you
and for allowing me to share your shining lights:

My niece and nephew,
Jessica and Jacob Teal.

With love,
Sister
Codicil to the Last Will and Testament
of George Ramsey,
fifteenth Marquess of Templeston
My fondest wish is that I shall die a very old man beloved of my family and
surrounded by children and grandchildren, but because one cannot always
choose the time of one’s Departure from the Living, I charge my legitimate son
and heir, Andrew Ramsey, twenty-eighth earl of Ramsey, Viscount Birmingham,
and Baron Selby on this the 3rd day of August in the Year of Our Lord 1818 with
the support and responsibility for my beloved mistresses and any living children
born of their bodies in the nine months immediately following my death.
As discretion is the mark of a true gentleman, I shall not give name to the
extraordinary ladies who have provided me with abiding care and comfort since
the death of my beloved wife, but shall charge my legitimate son and heir with
the duty of awarding to any lady who should present to him, his legitimate heir,
or representative, a gold and diamond locket engraved with my seal, containing
my likeness, stamped by my jeweler, and matching in every way the locket
enclosed with this document, an annual sum not to exceed twenty thousand
pounds to ensure the bed and board of the lady and any living children born of
her body in the nine months immediately following my Departure from the
Living.
The ladies who present such a locket have received it as a promise from me
that they shall not suffer ill for having offered me abiding care and comfort. Any
offspring who presents such a locket shall have done so at their mother’s
bequest and shall be recognized as children of the fifteenth Marquess of
Templeston and shall be entitled to his or her mother’s portion of my estate for
themselves and their legitimate heirs in perpetuity according to my wishes as set
forth in this, my Last Will and Testament.

George Ramsey,
Fifteenth Marquess of Templeston
Prologue
Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the Milky Way.
—WILLIAM WORDSWORTH, 1770–1850
INISMORN, IRELAND
Summer 1824
The stars sparkled like finely cut diamonds spread out on a background of
black velvet. A solitary figure huddled against the wall of the crumbling tower of
Telamor Castle. She sat with her back pressed to the rough, moss-covered stone
and her neck tilted at the optimum angle for stargazing through the battered
crenellations. Below the tower lay the beach. She could hear the low roar of the
ocean and the occasional sounds of voices, but she ignored them. Her attention
was focused on the heavens as she studied the array of constellations visible in
the northern sky, reciting the fanciful names her mother had taught her. She
stared at the brightest star, then breathed a reverent sigh as one of its lesser
companions streaked across the heavens.
“I wish that when I grow up I can marry a rich, handsome prince and live in
this fine castle,” Mariah Shaughnessy prayed with all the fire and fervor a six-
year-old could muster. “That I can have dogs and cats to love and ponies to ride,
and that I can sit in the tower and eat cakes and biscuits and look up at the stars
every night until I die.” She took a deep breath before continuing her litany of
wishes. Falling stars were rare. They didn’t happen every night, and Mariah had
learned to make the most of their magical powers. “And …”
“You’ll get fat if you eat cake every night.”
Mariah sat up straight and stared into the night. A boy stood holding a lantern
on the top step of the spiral stairs that led to the tower.
“No, I won’t.” Mariah stuck out her bottom lip and dared the intruder to
contradict her.
“Of course you will.” He left the top step and walked over to her. He leaned
his back against the stone wall and slowly slid down it until he was sitting beside
her. He trimmed the wick on the lantern so the light wouldn’t interfere with her
stargazing, but he kept the light burning low. “And if you get fat eating cake, no
prince will marry you.”
Tears welled up in her eyes. “But I like cake,” she replied.
He gave her a disgusted look. “Everyone likes cake.”
She sighed again. “It was good.”
“That’s why they call it cake,” he told her. “If it tasted awful, they would
have called it turnips.”
“Will I get fat if I just wish for cake and biscuits every night?”
He shook his head. “No,” he promised. “Wishing for cake won’t make you
fat. Only eating it.”
She shrugged her shoulders. “Can you get fat from eating it once?”
“No.”
“Then I guess I’ll never get fat.”
“You’ve only had cake one time?” He was genuinely surprised. “In your
whole life?”
“I think I had it when I was little,” she said. “But only once since I came
here.”
“How come?” he asked.
“The sisters don’t believe in spoiling us.”
“How many sisters have you?” he asked.
She giggled. “I don’t have any sisters.”
“But you said—”
“The sisters in Christ. The ones at St. Agnes’s Sacred Heart Convent where I
live.”
The boy shuddered, recalling the rambling old stone building a mile or so
down the cart path from the castle. He didn’t have to be Catholic to know what
convents were. But he had always thought they were reserved for nuns and older
ladies. He had never heard of little girls living in them. “You live in a convent?”
“Yes,” she answered. “Down the hill and beyond the wall. I come here after
evening vespers so I can look at the stars. See there!” She pointed through the
hole in the ancient stonework. “That’s Draco, the Dragon.”
He looked to the heavens as she pointed out the cluster of stars that formed
the shape of a dragon. “You come all the way up here just to look at the stars?
Why don’t you just look out your window?”
She shook her head. “My room doesn’t have windows.”