Authors: Grace Burrowes

The Courtship (11 page)

He kissed her ear and nuzzled her temple. “I will take such good care of you, my dear, that short of the benevolent intercession of the Almighty Himself, nobody could take better care of you.”

“I know. I’ll take care of you too.”

“And of our children.”

Another sweet moment passed, and then Esther took her Percival by the hand—he seemed to have lost some of his customary boldness—and led him into the home wood. When they emerged in time for tea some hours later, not even Her Grace remarked the grass stains Percival had acquired on the knees of his breeches.

As Percy and Esther’s love grows, so does the Windham family

Read about the next generation of Windhams in:

The Heir

The Soldier

The Virtuoso

Lady Sophie’s Christmas Wish

Lady Maggie’s Secret Scandal

Lady Louisa’s Christmas Knight

Lady Eve’s Indiscretion

Acknowledgments

This story is my first published novella, and as always when an author takes a new direction, there are thanks due. Deb Werksman, my editor, first suggested I try a shorter format. Dominique Raccah, my publisher, gave the OK to acquire the work and has been enthusiastic about its positioning. The usual suspects at Sourcebooks—Skye, Susie, Cat, and Danielle—deserve much thanks for putting up with a dynamic schedule. My thanks also go to my dear readers, who have come to hold Percival and Esther in almost as much affection as I do. Their Graces didn’t encounter entirely smooth sailing once married, but that’s another story…

About the Author

New
York
Times
and
USA
Today
bestselling author Grace Burrowes hit the bestseller lists with both her debut,
The
Heir
, and her second book in The Duke’s Obsession trilogy,
The
Soldier.
Both books received extensive praise and starred reviews from
Publishers
Weekly
and
Booklist
.
The
Heir
was also named a
Publishers
Weekly
Best Book of the Year, and
The
Soldier
was named a
Publishers
Weekly
Best Spring Romance. Her first story in the Windham’s sisters’ series—
Lady
Sophie’s Christmas Wish
—received the
RT
Book
Reviews
Reviewers’ Choice award for historical romance and was nominated for a RITA in the Regency category. She is hard at work on more stories for the Windham sisters and has started a trilogy of Scottish Victorian romances, the first of which,
The
Bridegroom
Wore
Plaid
, will soon be on the shelves.

Grace lives in rural Maryland and is a practicing attorney. She loves to hear from her readers and can be reached through her website at
graceburrowes.com
.