The Countess Read online

  The Countess

  Matchmaker Series - Book One

  Lisa Doughty

  The Countess

  Matchmaker Series – Book One

  A historical romance

  in 1880s England

  by

  Lisa Doughty

  ©Copyright 2019 Lisa Doughty

  * * *

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

  With certain exceptions, no part of this book may be reproduced in any written, electronic, recording, or photocopying form without written permission of the publisher or author. The exceptions would be in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews and pages where permission is specifically granted in writing by the author or publisher and where authorship/source is acknowledged in the quoted materials.

  Although every precaution has been taken to verify the accuracy of the historical information contained herein, the publisher and author assume no responsibility for any errors or omissions. No liability is assumed for damages that may result from the use of information contained within.

  Books may be purchased by contacting the publisher or author at:

  www.Lisadoughty.com

  or

  www.Amazon.com

  Cover Art, Cover Layout and Interior Design: Nick Zelinger, NZ Graphics / Lisa Doughty

  Editor: Diane Fournival

  Publisher: Lisadoughty.com

  ISBN:9781796603460 (KPD)

  * * *

  1) Historical Fiction 2) Romance 3) 1880s England 4)Soft Erotica

  * * *

  First Edition: Printed in the USA

  Contents

  The Countess

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Also by Lisa Doughty

  The Countess

  By

  Lisa Doughty

  Chapter 1

  “Girls! Settle down and go to sleep!” A stern yet gentle voice drifted through the crack in the door as the candle she carried reflected off the white of her habit.

  “Yes, Sister Lynnette,” four young female voices answered in unison.

  “Shhh…” Cordelia pressed a finger to her lips to shush her three bunkmates and held up her hand. “Wait…” The girls froze and listened intently as the Sister’s footsteps faded down the hallway.

  “Go check,” said Hadley, the oldest of their room. Hadley waved for Martha to check the hall since her bed was closest to the door. Martha obediently tip-toed to the door, opened it a crack, peeked both ways, then shut it quietly before nodding to indicate the sister had gone. The four girls quickly formed a circle on the far side of the room. Lindy lit a candle and placed it in the middle of their gathering.

  “Let me see it,” Hadley said and held her hand out to Lindy expectantly.

  Lindy placed a small oval portrait in her hand while wearing a worried expression. Hadley examined it in the candlelight.

  “How old is he?” she asked, as the other girls crowded around her to look at the image.

  “Four and thirty my mother told me,” Lindy answered, embarrassed. Her chin quivered and Cordelia put her hand on her shoulder.

  “He is very handsome Lindy, very distinguished looking,” she reassured her.

  “But he’s twenty years older than you!” Martha exclaimed.

  “He looks like a stuffy stick in the mud to me,” Hadley observed snidely.

  “Oh, heavens above! I do not think I can do it!” Lindy cried, as tears started streaming down her face.

  “Now look what you’ve done Hadley! You are scaring her. As if it is not terrifying enough!” Cordelia chastised Hadley, and rubbed Lindy’s back. “I am sure your father would not have matched you with him unless he was the proper gentleman for you,” she told the weeping girl, trying to console her.

  “Or he had something her father wanted,” Hadley stated bitterly. “Like acres of prime grazing land.”

  “Hadley!”

  “Oh, Cordelia.” Hadley dismissed her. “You grew up in this convent and have no idea what it is like outside. You think everyone is nice and agreeable. That’s Sister Lynette’s doing, I dare say. But it just is not so!”

  “Just because your father sold you to the Viscount for land doesn’t mean Lindy’s father did the same!” Martha chastised.

  “Look at me, Lindy.” Cordelia cupped her hand under the weeping girl's chin. “Try not to imagine the worst, alright? Wait until you meet him before you pass judgment. You may like each other very much. He is an earl is he not?” Lindy nodded in her hand. “That is an elevated title to be sure. I am sure he has impeccable manners and knows how to treat a lady.”

  “Harrumph!” Hadley snickered. “We are but blue-blooded breeding mares.”

  “I will be no man’s brood mare, I tell you what! I insisted that my father give me a season. I will pick my own husband,” Martha insisted.

  “You are so lucky Martha,” Lindy said, between sobs.

  “And when you do not make a match to your father’s liking, you will be sent right back here to be kept chaste for the highest bidder. Just as I was,” Hadley said snidely.

  “Why are you so bitter, Hadley? Your intended is considered quite a match according to Sister Lynette. She said he is a powerful man,” Cordelia countered.

  “He’s older than Lindy’s intended by six years! I am to be his third wife, bought and paid for expressly to produce an heir. I hate my father for doing this to me!” she complained. “I will never forgive him, ever!”

  Cordelia heard the anguish in Hadley’s tone, and her heart went out to her. She couldn’t blame Hadley for feeling the way she did. When Hadley left Fountain Abbey the first time she had been excited about her future and upcoming season. They talked endlessly of the gowns her mother had bought for her and the parties and balls she would attend. Cordelia dreamt along with her, imagining herself there with Hadley, dancing and drinking champagne. She was sure that Hadley would find a handsome duke and live in a palace with dozens of servants. Now, Hadley’s dreams had been shattered and she was bitter for it.

  Cordelia, whose mother had died in childbirth, was envious of Hadley. She would have given anything to know her mother. Cordelia had no relationship with her father, who sent her to the Sisters of Fountain Abbey less than a month after her birth. In the fourteen years Cordelia had lived at the Abbey she had only seen her father twice. He was a stranger to her. A cold, pretentious stranger who had never given her the time of day. Despite her father’s indifference Cordelia was not upset about her circumstances. Since she had no other life to compare it to, she felt no great sense of loss. She often listened to the girls talk about their families and felt like an outsider with no similar life experiences to draw from. Nonetheless, Sister Lynette had been like
a mother to her and the other sisters were her extended family.

  The only Sister she could not seem to warm up to was the Mother Superior. Superior was the perfect word to describe her. She reigned above all at the Abbey and was quick with the switch if angered. Cordelia often felt the Mother Superior did not care for her. She made Cordelia feel as though she were a burden. As other girls came and went, she was forced to stay behind and befriend a never-ending new group of girls as they went through the school, just as she had done with this group.

  Hadley, who was back for the second time, was pretty, if not a tad plain. Her tongue could be like a hot knife through butter, slicing to the bone if she felt you deserved her wrath. Cordelia was convinced that her parents had sent her back for another dose of Mother Superior to tame that tongue of hers.

  Martha was quite portly and not in the right places, unfortunately. She was clumsy as well, often knocking things over with her inattention. Martha was the first to admit she needed to polish her social graces. She was also the first to champion someone cut down by Hadley’s sharp tongue. Her sweet demeanor was the most attractive thing about her and Cordelia cared for Martha very much because of it. Martha was the apple of her father’s eye and could make him do anything for her. So far, Cordelia had seen no evidence to the contrary.

  Lindy had only been at the Abbey for a few weeks. She was already engaged. She had been sent to the Abbey to learn to be more assertive. Lindy was a shy, skinny little thing who slumped her shoulders. Her mousy brown hair and big brown eyes didn’t do much to inspire confidence. She had several switch marks on her arms and back from Mother Superior’s corrections to her posture. Terrified about her upcoming nuptials, Cordelia often wondered if Lindy refused to learn her lessons in the hope that her intended would back out of the engagement.

  “How long until your wedding?” Cordelia asked her gently while rubbing her back. Every bone in her back protruded from beneath her skin. The poor girl was wasting away under the stress of it all.

  “Another month. Father is coming here next week to check on my improvement. Oh, heavens above, what am I to do?” she sobbed.

  “We must take the situation in hand. Being frightened and cowering is not going to solve a thing. You must find a way to take control,” Cordelia asserted.

  Hadley scoffed and let out an unladylike snort. “We are talking about Lindy, are we not?”

  “She can do anything she puts her mind to!” Martha stated, in her defense.

  “You would do well to do the same, Hadley,” Cordelia pointed out.

  “Oh, I intend to I assure you. I’m going to spit out the earl’s heir then I’m going to take oodles and oodles of lovers,” she stated brazenly, drawing a gasp from the group.

  “You would not!” Martha retorted.

  “Watch me!”

  “Well, you could learn something from her conviction, Lindy. Maybe it’s not necessarily the best plan, but at least she has one,” She gave Hadley a sideways glance and Hadley narrowed her eyes. “There must be something you can look forward to once you are in charge of your very own household!”

  “I…I…like to sew,” Lindy stuttered, meekly. “I make dresses for my dolls.”

  “Of course she does!” Hadley snorted snidely.

  “No, that is good!” Cordelia cut Hadley off before she could make another rude remark. “Now, you can have a whole room for your sewing! Maybe even two rooms.”

  “I could?” Lindy perked up and straightened a fraction.

  “Why of course! You will be the lady of the house, will you not?”

  “Yes, but…”

  “Then you shall order it, and it will be done,” Cordelia stated with confidence and a nod. “Is it not what we have been trained to do these past months? Run a household of servants?” Lindy perked up and looked less frightened.

  “Why yes, yes, it is!” she replied with new resolve.

  “And maybe someday you could make dresses for yourself and your children. That would be lovely, would it not?” Cordelia continued.

  “Lovely indeed!” Lindy agreed, with enthusiasm.

  “So you see, in the end, this is a good thing, I dare say.” Cordelia smiled at Lindy, who smiled back.

  “What about you Cordi? Surely, someone has offered for you by now,” Hadley said, snidely. “You’ve been here longer than all of us combined.”

  Cordelia didn’t take Hadley’s bait and respond to her insult. She was used to the girl’s curiosity about her circumstances. She used to make up fanciful stories to tell them until Mother Superior got wind of it. She had been forced to spend an entire afternoon kneeling on the stone floor praying for forgiveness for her sin. Now, she held her tongue. Truthfully, every explanation sounded sorrowful anyway and she didn’t want anyone to pity her, so she kept quiet.

  “I do not know. My father is not forthcoming with information.”

  “You are so beautiful, Cordelia. I am sure he is waiting for the perfect match for you,” Martha consoled. “You should ask him for a season. I am sure you will be snapped up by a Duke or something!” Martha exclaimed.

  “Oh, phish! She will fetch a good price, just like the rest of us,” Hadley retorted bitterly.

  “Then she will fetch the best price of us all!” Lindy retorted, defiantly.

  Cordelia blushed. She did not like when the girls commented on her appearance. Sister Lynette told her that her beauty was a gift from God, but Cordelia swore it was a curse. Her long black hair and light blue eyes inspired only jealousy and envy as far as she could see. She tried her best to blend in with rest of the girls and didn’t brush her hair or wash her dress as often as she should. The dirt smudges from working in the garden drew attention and gave them something to criticize other than her face. Besides, she dearly loved working in the garden and helping things grow. It had become a passion as of late, especially flowers. They flourished under her attention, so the sisters tasked her with their care, resulting in many convenient dirt smudges.

  “Maybe he will have news tomorrow,” Cordelia said quietly.

  “He’s coming to visit? How do you know? Did he write to you?” Martha asked.

  “Sister Lynette only brings me a new dress when they are expecting him. Look.” She pointed to a garment covered with a sheet hanging above her dresser. “He must have sent word that he is coming.”

  “When did you see him last?” Lindy asked curiously.

  “When I was five.”

  Chapter 2

  The next day her father did indeed come to see her for the first time she could remember. Sister Lynette told her he had been there once when she was two, but she had no recollection of the visit. Later, she learned that he turned up again when she was five to get an accounting of where they spent his money. Not out of concern for her welfare, but merely to inquire about where they could cut financial corners. He hadn’t asked to see her. It was at Mother Superior’s insistence that he visit her that he begrudgingly sat across from her for three minutes before he said goodbye. She had no recollection of that visit either.

  “Your father is here, Cordelia. We must get you dressed quickly.” Sister Lynette came rushing into her room and took the dress down from above her dresser. “Come, come, why are you just sitting there?”

  “It’s a mistake. It cannot be my father. He never visits.”

  “He is here, Cordelia. I would not tell you so if he were not. Mother Superior is meeting with him right now. He has asked to see you. Come now, we must change you into this dress!”

  Her father, the Earl of Swanstone, considered his daughter only as fodder. She was not the son and heir he had hoped for, and therefore was of no consequence. She had been sent here because she was a burden. In her borrowed dress, she entered the rectory and saw her father for the first time.

  The earl was tall and stout, his dark hair peppered with gray around the temples. His manner of dress made him more intimidating, with a long black jacket and starched white collar that reached to his ears. His entir
e appearance and countenance made him appear stiff. She could not see any of herself in this man.

  His eyes assessed her as she approached. When she curtsied in front of him, he circled her, inspecting her as one would a horse.

  “Her mother had a beautiful robust chest and curves, sister. Is she not getting proper nutrition?” he challenged Mother Superior, speaking as if Cordelia were not there.

  “Of course, my lord. She is but fourteen. She will develop her womanly curves over the next few years,” Mother Superior replied, defensively.

  “Then I will be back to see how she progresses. See to it the girl remains untouched and that she receives no scars of any kind. I do not need to tell you what will happen…”

  “There is no need to threaten the church, my lord, my reputation is impeccable. Your wishes will be carried out to the letter.”

  “I have brought her a mare. See that she learns to ride,” her father ordered.

  “As you wish, my lord.” Mother Superior hesitated for a moment before she continued. “Of course, there will be an additional cost to care for the beast and someone to teach her…”

  “Yes, yes, I am fully aware of that, Mother Superior. Send the bills to my stuart.”

  With her reassurances, he turned and left without another word. A nod from Mother Superior dismissed Cordelia into Sister Lynette’s hands to be brought back to her lessons.