Gentleman's Guide 02 - His Contrary Bride)

A Gentleman’s Guide to Once Upon a Time
Series

His Impetuous Debutante His Contrary Bride

His Not So Sensible Miss

The Wiggons’ School for Elegant Young
Ladies

To Walk in the Sun

To Love a Governess Novellas Sacked

Handfasted

Ruined

A Summons From His Grace Regency Christmas Summons Collection 4

Compromised for Christmas

His Contrary Bride

By: Jane Charles

Copyright © 2011 by Jane Charles

Smashwords Edition

Cover Design by Jerrica Knight-Catania

This book is a work of fiction. Names,
characters, locations and events are either a product of the
author’s imagination, fictitious or used fictitiously. Any
resemblance to any event, locale or person, living or dead, is
purely coincidental.

Dedicated to

Deb Krause – for being a good friend, always
offering encouragement

and saving my flower gardens on more than one
occasion.

Her daughters, Lauren and Nicole, for their
enthusiasm over my stories.

And her husband, Steve, for an endless supply
of tomato plants each summer.

County Surrey, England

Fall, 1811

Sabrina Chester grimaced and closed the door
on the voices. “Cinderella, indeed,” she muttered to herself. It
wasn’t particularly humorous four years ago and it was even less so
today. It was a cruel lesson for the young and privileged Sabrina
to learn that friendship extended so long as the wealth and
connections endured. Sabrina’s change in status quickly reduced her
from a pampered young lady attending Davies’ Academy for Young
Women to a servant in that same school.

She glanced in the mirror as the giggles
faded down the hall. She looked no different than she had that day.
Dark smudges brushed her cheeks and nose, and cobwebs bedecked her
hair. The only real difference? She was four years older, four
years wiser and, four years stronger, and determined not to let the
other girls bother her.

“Well if I am Cinderella, where is my
prince?” She reached for the wash cloth and soap.

Before the damage could be repaired however,
Lady Millicent, with her golden curls and clear blue eyes,
returned. “Cinderella, the prince is here and Lady Davies requests
your presence at once.”

Sabrina rolled her eyes, ignored the girl
and turned back to the mirror. She dipped the cloth into the cool
water.

“I am serious. Mrs. Davies insisted you
attend her at once.”

Sighing and setting the cloth aside, Sabrina
wondered what her employer could possibly want now.

A number of gentlemen stood in the foyer
thanking Lady Davies for her hospitality. Sabrina brought herself
up short and stepped into the shadows. In the middle of the group
stood none other than Prince George himself. She pasted a smile on
her lips and glided down the hall. Sabrina refused to behave any
less the lady she had been raised, despite her reduced
circumstances. This aggravated Lady Davies and the young women of
privilege to no end, which gave Sabrina no small amount of
pleasure.

Though she would have liked to forget her
current appearance, Sabrina could not and held back, waiting until
Lady Davies summoned her forward. From her spot by the stairs,
Sabrina studied the group of gentlemen. The Prince Regent was the
oldest. Had he not been married, and so old, she would have
wondered if after being given the ridiculous nickname, her own
happy ending hadn’t been assured. She bit her lip to keep from
laughing at the bizarre thought.

A few of the gentlemen were of a similar age
to the prince. The rest were younger, close to her cousin, Ramsey’s
age of twenty-eight. It was obvious they had been out riding, given
their clothing, windblown hair, and ruddy cheeks. Sabrina couldn’t
imagine what brought about their visit to the academy, let alone
the parish they resided in. They were almost a full day’s ride from
London.

Goodness, she hoped they weren’t staying.
The household was understaffed as it was. She could just image how
demanding the prince would be, let alone the accompanying
gentlemen. She wouldn’t get a wink of rest.

There were ten gentlemen in all, but one
caught and held her attention, though she couldn’t imagine why. He
stood to the side, talking with three others of similar age. He was
taller than the older men in the foyer and his brown eyes held a
warm humor, full lips quirked in an easy smile at something one of
his companions said. His forehead was high and his brown hair had
been clipped neatly, barely touching the collar of his jacket. His
nose was similar to those she had seen on Greek statues in her
youth, though his had a slight bump on the top center and she idly
wondered how it had been broken. The gentleman’s cheekbones were
just as strong and high.

Clearly an aristocrat.

Though there were flaws, such as the small
scar underneath his left ear, the previously broken nose, and the
receding hairline, Sabrina found him to be the most intriguing man
she had ever seen.

It wasn’t so much his face, though that was
pleasant in itself. It was the warmth in his eyes, the free
affection of slapping his friend on the shoulder, easy laughter
that revealed straight white teeth, and something else, she
couldn’t name, that held her mesmerized.

She shook the silly thoughts from her head,
forced her eyes away from the gentlemen and searched for Lady
Davies. It would serve no purpose to wish for the impossible. At
one time, the idea of attracting a lord was a probability, if not
expected. Another expectation brought to an end by her reduced
circumstances.

Millicent approached Lady Davies, curtsying
to those surrounding her and sank deeply before the prince before
she addressed the Head Mistress. Sabrina noticed the mischievous
twinkle in Millicent’s eyes, gritted her teeth and waited.

“I have summoned Cinderella, Lady
Davies.”

Sabrina watched as Millicent slowly walked
past the gentlemen who had held her own attention earlier, smiling
sweetly at them. Within a month Millicent would be leaving the
academy, returning to her own home in preparations for her first
Season the following spring. The gentlemen in the corner, and
others like them, would soon be paying court to the young woman and
Sabrina had to fight the anger and jealousy that welled up within.
In the past years a number of young ladies had left the household
for the same purpose and most had married. It had never bothered
Sabrina before, so why did it bother her today?

Lady Davies nodded her head and Sabrina
approached her employer. Sabrina, too, gracefully sunk into a deep
curtsey before Prince George, then a less dramatic curtsey to those
standing with him, before she turned her attention to her
mistress.

Lady Davies looked down her nose, clearly
displeased with Sabrina’s appearance and sniffed. “His Regent’s
horse has suffered a minor injury. The horse will stay here while
Thompson sees to the poor thing.”

Sabrina nodded politely and wondered what a
lame horse had to do with her, unless the prince had decided to
stay with the animal.

Lady Davies continued. “Mr. Marius Parker
has agreed to remain behind and return the horse when he has
healed.”

Good, Sabrina thought. Only one of them
would stay.

“I need you to prepare the cottage. See to
it immediately.”

She dismissed Sabrina and turned her
attention to the prince and continued, “I would offer a room within
this academy, but we have a number of young ladies from good
families, and I feel it best for all if a bachelor is not sleeping
under the same roof.”

The prince laughed. “After Lady Millicent’s
appraisal of Parker, I can well understand your concern.”

So, one of the four was Mr. Parker. She
couldn’t decide if she wanted him to be the brown eyed one or not.
She curtseyed, left the hall and made her way to the cottage and
wondered if Lady Davies had suggested this place as another form of
punishment. The cottage hadn’t been cleaned since spring and
Sabrina couldn’t imagine why the woman wished him to stay here when
there were vacant rooms in the guest wing. It wasn’t as if other
gentlemen hadn’t stayed before. Then again, they had been fathers
or brothers visiting. Perhaps Lady Davies was concerned the
stranger would take advantage of one of the young ladies, or vice
versa, if she had paid any attention to the appraising look
Millicent had given the younger men.

She unlocked the door, stepped inside and
couldn’t help but groan. Thank goodness it was small, with only
three rooms. Otherwise, it would take a week to remove the dust and
bring the place up to living standards. As it was, she wasn’t sure
the task could be accomplished before it was time for Mr. Parker to
retire.

*

At first Marius Parker was not at all
pleased when Prince George asked him to remain behind. He agreed,
only because it was Prinny who asked. The last place he wanted to
spend the next few evenings was in an Academy for Young Ladies. How
many were in residence? One would be too many.

The task Marius had been assigned would
normally have been given to a servant. Unfortunately, none had
accompanied them on this particular trip and the prince would not
allow even one of his guards to remain. Thus, the pleasure of
staying with the royal horse fell to him.

Relief flooded through him when he heard he
would be staying in a cottage. At least he would be allowed some
privacy and solitude. Perhaps he would be left completely alone.
Unfortunately, he knew all too well that wasn’t likely to happen.
Besides meals, he was sure the young ladies would offer
entertainment that evening. Probably of a musical variety. He was a
captured male guest and would have to endure politely until he
could make his escape.

While the prince and the older gentlemen
relaxed over tea with Lady Davies, Marius, and his friends, Dillon
Chamber and Lord Felding, were accompanied by six young ladies on a
stroll in the garden. While the girls smiled and blushed, Noah and
Dillon continued to charm them. Only Lady Millicent remained at
Marius’ side, attempting to draw him into conversation. Due to his
years of practice, Marius responded politely but refrained from
being too attentive.

“Oh, look,” Lady Millicent stated, with a
laugh while pointing beyond the garden. “Cinderella is on the roof.
Whatever is she doing?”

He shielded his eyes against the sun and
looked to where she pointed, as did his companions. It was as she
had said. The servant who had been told to see to the cottage was
indeed on its roof and apparently reaching into the chimney.
Surely her name wasn’t really Cinderella
.

What had possessed her to climb onto the
roof? Wasn’t there a male servant around to see to the task? It was
dangerous enough to climb in pants and boots, let alone a skirt. He
wondered if he should assist somehow when she withdrew something
from the chimney. He couldn’t see very well from this distance, but
guessed it was a bird’s nest. He hoped so, recalling the time he
had dislodged a similar nest from his hunting lodge. Except in his
case, the chimney had become a home to a family of badgers and the
mother had not been happy with his disruption.

The group watched Cinderella cross the roof
to a nearby tree. Steadying herself, she reached and placed the
nest on a limb. Marius held his breath, afraid she would fall. When
he started forward, Lady Millicent held tight to his arm. “Don’t
concern yourself, Mr. Parker. Cinderella is used to this type of
chore. After all, she is a servant.”

Marius was reminded once again how lowly
servants were sometimes viewed by his class. They didn’t matter and
were easily replaced. “Surely there is a man about who could have
seen to the task?”

The ladies laughed in unison. “She is
perfectly capable of the chores assigned and our male servants
certainly have more important duties at the moment,” Lady Millicent
insisted.

Was the young lady so ignorant that she
didn’t realize the need for what Cinderella was doing and not
simply rescuing birds. It would be pointless to explain he
supposed.

Once the chimney was finally unblocked,
Cinderella carefully descended the ladder to return inside.

“See, she has survived,” Millicent added.
“Of course, no real lady would have undertaken such a task.” Her
female companions shared a look and laughed. Their humor was lost
on Marius.

“I could think of one,” Noah offered in a
dry tone.

Lady Millicent smiled up at Noah, a dimple
at the corner of her mouth. She must have thought Noah to be
jesting. “Who would that be, Lord Felding?”