One Night for Love: A Novel

by Mary Balogh

Overview

One reckless man . . . One passionate woman.

Enter the world of Mary Balogh—the glittering ballrooms and vast country estates of Regency-era England, where romance, with all its mystery, magic, and surprises, comes vibrantly alive.

It was a perfect morning in May . . .

Neville Wyatt, Earl of Kilbourne, awaited his bride at the altar—when a ragged beggar woman raced down the aisle instead. The cream of the ton saw him stare, shocked, then declare that this was his wife! One night of passion was all he remembered as he beheld Lily, the woman he'd wed, loved, and lost on the battlefield in Portugal. Now he said he'd honor his commitment to her—regardless of the gulf that lay between them.

Then Lily spoke her mind . . .

She said she wanted only to start a new life—wanted only a husband who truly loved her. She had to leave him to learn how to meet his world on her terms. So Lily agreed to earn her keep as his aunt's companion and study the genteel arts. Soon she was the toast of the ton, every inch a countess fit for the earl, who vowed to prove to his remarkable wife that what he felt for her was far more than desire, that what he wanted from her was much more than . . . One Night for Love.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780440226000
Publisher:	Random House Publishing Group
Publication date:	07/13/1999
Series:	Bedwyn Family Series
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	384
Sales rank:	51,566
Product dimensions:	4.18(w) x 6.90(h) x 1.04(d)

About the Author

New York Times bestselling, multi-award-winning author Mary Balogh grew up in Wales, land of sea and mountains, song and legend. She brought music and a vivid imagination with her when she came to Canada to teach. There she began a second career as a writer of books that always end happily and always celebrate the power of love. There are over four million copies of her Regency romances and historical romances in print.

Read an Excerpt

Despite the early hour and the chilly weather, the yard of the White Horse Inn in Fetter Lane, London, was crowded and noisy. The stagecoach for the West Country was preparing to make its daily run. Few passengers had yet boarded; most were milling about anxiously to see that their luggage had been properly stowed. Hawkers attempted to sell their wares to passengers for whom the day would be long and tedious. Grooms bustled about their business. Ragged children, when they were not being shooed back into the street, darted about, feeding on the excitement.

The guard blew his horn, a deafening warning that the coach would be departing within a few minutes and anyone with a ticket would be well advised to climb aboard.

Captain Gordon Harris, looking smart in the green regimentals of the Ninety-fifth Rifles, and his young wife, who was warmly and modishly dressed, looked somewhat out of place in such inelegant surroundings. But they were not themselves passengers. They had accompanied a woman to the White Horse in order to see her on her way.

Her appearance was in marked contrast to theirs. While she was clean and tidy, she was undeniably shabby. She wore a simple high-waisted cotton dress with a shawl for warmth. Both garments looked well worn and well washed. Her bonnet, which had perhaps once been pretty even if never quite modish, had clearly shielded its wearer from one too many rainstorms. Its wide brim was limp and misshapen. She was a young woman--indeed, she was so small and so slight of frame that she might at first glance have been mistaken for a mere girl. But there was something about her that drew second, more lingering glances from several of the men who were busy about their various tasks. There were beauty and grace and some indefinable air of femininity about her to proclaim that she was indeed a woman.

"I must be getting into the coach," she said with a smile for the captain and his wife. "You need not stay here any longer. It is too cold to be standing about." She held out both her slim hands to Mrs. Harris, though she looked alternately at both of them. "How will I ever be able to thank you sufficiently for all you have done for me?"

Tears sprang to Mrs. Harris's eyes, and she enfolded the young woman tightly in her arms. "We have done nothing of any great significance," she said. "And now we are abandoning you to travel on the stage, the very cheapest form of transportation, when you might have gone more respectably by post chaise or at the very worst by the mailcoach."

"I have borrowed enough from you," the young woman said, "without indulging in needless extravagances."

"Borrowed." Mrs. Harris removed a lace-edged handkerchief from her reticule and dabbed at her eyes with it.

"It is still not too late to alter your plans, you know." Captain Harris took one of the young woman's hands in both of his own. "Come back to our hotel with us for breakfast and I shall write that letter even before I eat, and send it on its way. I daresay there will be an answer within the week."

"No, sir," she told him quite firmly, though she smiled. "I cannot wait. I must go."

He did not argue further but sighed, patted her hand, and then impulsively pulled her into a hug as his wife had done. By that time she was in danger of losing the inside seat he had quite adamantly insisted upon. He had even slipped the coachman a tip to ensure her a window seat for the long journey to the village of Upper Newbury in Dorsetshire. But a large woman, who looked as if she might be ready to take on any coachman or any army captain who dared cross her, or indeed both at once, was already settling herself into the only window seat still available.

The young woman had to squeeze herself into a middle seat. But she did not appear to share the captain's wrath. She smiled and lifted a hand in farewell. As she did so, the guard's horn blew again as a warning to everyone nearby that the stage was about to begin its journey.

Mrs. Harris's gloved hand was still raised in an answering farewell wave after the stagecoach had rumbled out of the yard, turned onto the street, and disappeared from sight.

"I have never in my life known anyone so stubborn," she said, using her handkerchief again. "Or anyone so dear. What will become of her, Gordon?"

The captain sighed once more. "I fear she is doing the wrong thing," he said. "Almost a year and a half has passed, and what seemed like madness even at the time will doubtless be a total impossibility now. But she does not understand."

"Her sudden appearance is going to come as a dreadful shock," Mrs. Harris said. "Oh, foolish girl to have refused to delay even a few days while you wrote a letter. How will she manage, Gordon? She is so small and so frail and so--so innocent. I fear for her."

"For as long as I have known Lily," Captain Harris replied, "she has looked much the same, though admittedly she is thinner than she used to be. The appearance of fragility and innocence are largely illusory, though. We know that she has been through a great deal that would severely test the roughest and toughest of my men. But she must have experienced worse things that we can only imagine."

"I prefer not even to try," his wife said fervently.

"She has survived, Maisie," he reminded her, "with her pride and her courage intact. And her sweetness too--she seems not to have been embittered. Despite everything there still appears to be more than a touch of innocence about her."

"What will he do when she arrives?" she asked as they began to walk back to their hotel for breakfast. "Oh dear, he really ought to have been warned."

Editorial Reviews

"Mary Balogh is the writer I read for pleasure."—Susan Elizabeth Phillips

"Ms. Balogh is a veritable treasure, a matchless storyteller who makes our hearts melt with delight."—Romantic Times

"Balogh is truly a find." —Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher

Unlikely loversa tightly woven plota wonderful portrait of the era and a story that engages all your emotions is what you’ll get when you settle in to read One Night for Love. Mary Balogh’s unique ability to bring a bygone world and unforgettable characters to full-blooded life makes this a real treat. Sensual. —Romantic Times

Kathe Robin

Bestselling author Balogh (The Last Waltz) bursts the bounds of genre in this emotionally complex Regency. Enchanting and lovely Lily Doyle, a sergeant's daughter, is hurriedly married to Neville Wyatt, Major Lord Newbury, in Portugal, after her father is killed in a military skirmish: if she's captured by the French, her status as an officer's wife will protect her. Another battle ensues, and Neville, who's wounded, wakes up believing that Lily has been killed. More than a year later, back in England, a very much alive Lily interrupts Neville's second wedding. Aside from one jilted bride, all's as it's meant to be. But whatever seemed right and good in Portugal is suddenly terribly wrong in England. Lily's no lady: illiterate and rough around the edges, she's hardly the proper material for an earl's wife. Love may not conquer all. A passionate novel with mature, compelling characters who struggle for self-knowledge and for the survival of their loves, this is one of Balogh's best. (July) Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Stunned to see his "late" wife, Lily, standing at the back of the church, Neville Wyatt, Earl of Kilbourne, abruptly calls off his wedding to his cousin and sets about dealing with the resulting chaos--and there is plenty. Family dissension, conflicting emotions, and the feeling that her common, now somewhat tarnished background makes it impossible for her to fit into Neville's aristocratic lifestyle eventually combine to send Lily off to London in the company of Neville's understanding aunt, Elizabeth, in the hopes of beginning a new life. But a murderer must be dealt with and a long-kept secret revealed before all the pieces fall into place in this compelling romance. Noted for her unconventional heroines, uncommon situations, and willingness to push the envelope of the genre, Balogh (Irresistible) is a popular, highly respected writer of both Regencies and Regency-set historicals and lives in Saskatchewan, Canada. Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

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