Famous historical romance books by judith mcnaught

During the last year he'd been giving a good deal of thought to his rather stringent requirements for the lucky young lady he would eventually choose. Now, however, he needed a legitimate heir, and for that he needed a wife.

He enjoyed women immensely - their bodies, their faces, their bodies. 'If you cared about me,' he countered smoothly, 'You'd be more careful with my coin.'ДЄt five and forty Francis Belhaven had never been married, but he'd never lacked for feminine companionship. 'If you cared about me,' she countered, careful not to sound as if she was whining, 'you wouldn't give a thought to the cost.' Francis Belhaven was so tightfisted that there were times Eloise wondered if marrying him would gain her more than a gown or two a year. 'Don't scratch the sheets, love,' he said. He looked up and frowned at the sound her nails were making. 'Francis, darling,' she purred, raking her long fingernails down the satin sheets, 'what's important enough about that message to keep you over there instead of here?' Sir Francis Belhaven, the fourteenth recipient of Julius Cameron's message, read it while sitting in his bedchamber wrapped in a satin dressing gown, his mistress naked and waiting for him in his bed across the room. He would compliment Elizabeth's hair in exactly those words, he decided, when he accepted her uncle's offer and she came to his home next month. The analogy seemed so perfect and so poetic that Lord Marchman stopped, spellbound by his own phrasing, and put the fishing pole down. Her hair had glistened in the sunlight, reminding him of the shimmering scales of a beautiful trout as it breaks the water. The trout would be biting this afternoon, he decided as he remembered Elizabeth's magnificent honey-colored hair. Getting up, John wandered over to the third wall, which held a variety of fishing poles, and thoughtfully selected one. Perhaps the lovely Lady Elizabeth herself had been behind this decision perhaps their two meetings in the park had meant as much to her as they had to him. After meeting her only twice he'd been so taken with the charming, unaffected seventeen-year-old girl that he'd dashed off to her brother and offered for her, only to be coldly rejected.Д®vidently Elizabeth's uncle, who was now her guardian, judged John by different standards. A year and a half ago, when he'd met her, he'd thought her the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen. Reaching up, he scratched the moose behind its antlers in an affectionate, if ludicrous, gesture that expressed his gratitude for the splendid day of hunting that particular prize had afforded him.ДЄ vision of Elizabeth Cameron danced enchantingly before his eyes - an incredibly lovely face with green eyes, cameo skin, and soft, smiling lips. A moose stared back at him through glazed eyes beside it a wild boar snarled. Raking a hand through his sandy hair, he glanced distractedly at the wall beside him, which was completely covered with his most prized possessions - the heads of the animals he'd hunted in Europe and abroad. Unable to believe what he was reading, Lord Marchman paced the floor and read the entire message twice more. Cognizant of the year and a half that had passed since they had been in each other's company, Julius Cameron volunteered to send his niece, properly chaperoned, to spend a night with John so that they might 'renew their acquaintance.'

Cameron said he would now be willing to reconsider John's previously rejected offer for Lady Elizabeth's hand. Julius Cameron was desirous of seeing his niece, Lady Elizabeth Cameron, suitably and immediately wed. 'I'll be damned,' he breathed as he read.

Lord John Marchman had just returned from his favorite daily pastime of hunting when the Havenhurst servant arrived at his home, and a footman brought him the message. Three of the recipients reacted differently. Twelve of them promptly wrote out replies declining Julius Cameron's outrageous suggestion, then they hurried off in search of friends with whom they could sham this unsurpassed, delicious piece of incredible gossip. Some of them were incredulous, others derisive, and still others cruelly satisfied. The recipients of these messages all had only one thing in common: They had once offered for Lady Elizabeth's hand in marriage.ДЄll fifteen of these gentlemen, upon reading the message, exhibited shock at its contents. Julius Cameron, had directed them to deliver at fifteen homes throughout England. All of them carried identical, urgent messages that Lady Elizabeth's uncle, Mr. Fifteen servants wearing the traditional blue and silver livery of the Earl of Cameron left Havenhurst at dawn on the same day.

Famous historical romance books by judith mcnaught