A Spinster for the Earl: A Steamy Historical Regency Romance Novel (The Hale Sisters Book 3)

Twenty Years Later

Lucy looked over Eliza’s shoulder in the mirror. It felt so odd for Lucy to see her daughter looking exactly like a younger version of herself while she could see just how many years had passed. Now, she had lines in her forehead and crow’s feet at the corner of her eyes. Perhaps she looked like a reminder for Eliza of what she could look like in the future, but she saw a woman who had lived a full life and still had much more to say for herself.

Eliza, on the other hand, had the same long, pin-straight hair as her mother and the piercing blue eyes of her father. She was a rare beauty. Lucy was struck by how funny it was that a woman never knew just how beautiful she was until she had a daughter of her own.

“You look perfect,” Lucy praised, squeezing her daughter’s arms reassuringly.

Eliza smiled widely, looking effortlessly certain of her own preparedness. “I cannot wait!”

Lucy laughed. “The difference between you in your first season and me in mine is stark and impossible to ignore.”

“I cannot imagine you were all that different,” Eliza said, turning to the side and checking her profile. She wore a long purple dress that was sure to make her stand out in the best way possible. “You must have been a little excited. There are so many possibilities.”

“Not really.” Lucy moved across the foyer to sit on the ottoman. She hooked a leg over her knee. “I was nervous. I didn’t think it was worth my time.” In her hands, she thumbed a book that she had been holding close to her since its contents had arrived that very morning. “I had some misguided views about love.”

Eliza pinched her lips to redden them. “Oh, that’s right. You wanted to be a spinster.” She stifled a laugh. To her, that had always been funny, perhaps just because it was so wildly different from anything she wanted.

It probably served Lucy right, in the grand scheme of the universe, that she would be gifted with a daughter so similar in countenance but so wildly different in every other way possible. Eliza had been social and excitable since she had been born. She had begun babbling as soon as she had been placed in Lucy’s arms. It had been then that Lucy had known that the two could not be any more different.

Growing up, Eliza had always had something to say. Luckily, her opinions had never been as intractable as Lucy’s had been. Rather, Eliza was methodical, logical, and still somehow hopeful and romantic. She’d been very clear since she had been a very young girl that she wanted a big family and a very big house in the country. She was more like the perfect mix between Harriet and Emma.

“Well, Mama, I hope to find my happily ever after tonight. I just have to stay vigilant. He has to be there tonight.”

Lucy smiled. “As happy as I would be to see you find your love match this very evening, I would hate to see you settle for less than you deserve.”

Her words seemed to have the opposite effect than she’d intended. She had meant to encourage her daughter to be confident, but now, Eliza’s head hung forward, and her arms were wrapped around her body.

“Have I said something?” Lucy asked.

“I just—” Eliza paused, tapping a foot against the marble floor. “I just do not know how I can be so certain.”

“Well,” Lucy began. “Who knows what kind of road your heart will take this season? Perhaps you will fall in love with a friend, maybe a perfect stranger. Maybe, like your aunt Emma, you will find love with someone whom you were once at odds with. There’s no right way to fall in love, but you’ll know. There is a point when you no longer can deny the way you feel. When you regard him more than you regard yourself, then that is your first hint that it’s happened to you.”

“I hope so,” Eliza said, sitting beside her mother. “I really hope it happens to me.”

“It will,” Lucy promised. She pressed a kiss on the top of Eliza’s head. “Never fret. Sometimes, it happens when you least expect it.”

“I wonder what might have happened if we met sooner.”

Eliza started at the sound of her husband’s voice. When she saw him straightening his cuffs, she smiled warmly. It had been twenty years, and they were still just as in love. It was certainly different, though. Now, Lucy had the extra pleasure of loving even more of him, like that annoying yet charming way that he mumbled in his sleep, or his willingness to pick up whatever unique bug he found on the sidewalk. Annoying? Sometimes. But these were the sacrifices one made for their husband once he transitioned into fatherhood.

“I am not sure if I would have been ready to contend with you any earlier in my life.”

“Of course,” Isaac drawled, stepping off the staircase, his hands on his hips confidently. “Meeting the most handsome man in the universe is intimidating enough as is, but on your first season?” He shook his head teasingly. “You weren’t ready.”

Lucy and Eliza rolled their eyes in tandem.

Eliza stood up and shook her hands out as if she was trying to get the feeling back in them. “Well? Are we ready to go?”

Isaac looked expectantly at Lucy. He was the only one who knew how nervous she really was for the evening. It was their little secret. His eyes focused on the book in her lap, but he didn’t say anything.

Eliza sighed exasperatedly. “Fine,” she huffed. “I will meet you outside. I cannot look in the mirror any longer.”

Isaac waited for the door to shut before he gestured toward the book. “What is that?”

Lucy shook her head. “What makes you think it’s important?”

“You are clutching it like it could save your life.” He shrugged. “I assume it must mean something.”

Lucy opened the book, revealing a folded news column. Tentatively, Isaac reached for it. He opened the folded paper and scanned it before he grabbed her by the hand and hugged her tightly.

“Is this it?” he shouted.

She nodded, beaming. “I did it!” she squealed.

For the past eighteen years, Lucy had dreamt of having her work published in the newspaper. This column had been two years in the making. Roughly fifteen years prior, she’d developed an interest in creative writing, specifically horror stories. This particular short story was a year in the making. She had redrafted it at least thirty times before submitting it, and a prayer to the local paper. After some edits to make it even more gripping, the newspaper accepted it for twenty-five pounds.

“I couldn’t have published it without your willingness to reread it every time I changed so much as a sentence.” She buried her face in his chest.

She was lucky to have a husband like him. He had been the first to suggest she published her work under a pen name so that it would never be overshadowed by his title. Maybe soon, all of London would know the name E. B. Hale.

“When do you start your next?” Isaac asked.

“Right away!” Lucy pulled back. She tucked the column back into the book to keep it flat and wrinkle-free. “They want me to contribute monthly!”

“Month—” Isaac’s eyes widened. She squealed as he wrapped his arms around her again and twirled her around the room “That’s incredible, Lucy!”

Lucy beamed. She was just about ready to pull her husband in for a kiss when the front door opened. “Mama! Papa! Let’s go!”

Isaac looked disappointed that he missed out on a kiss, but Lucy smiled. “Later,” she promised.

***

Lucy gripped the collar of Isaac’s shirt and kissed him. Now that Eliza was debuting and their son, Simon, was busy learning business from his father, there wasn’t always time for moments like these. So, when Lucy and Isaac found themselves with a rare moment of solitude, they were quick to make the most of it, no matter where they were.

She fell back onto the couch in the library, taking Isaac down with her.

Luckily, the fireplace was keeping the two warm while casting a romantic glow over the room. Being together was still as easy and exciting as it had always been. In fact, sometimes Lucy swore things kept getting better. An all-night affair was just as passionate and explosive as something quick and impromptu like the moment they were sharing now.

The two caught their breath and laughed. It was funny how they had been waiting for this the entire night. Social events were tiring, but at least Eliza had fun.

“I’d say it was a successful debut,” Lucy said, running the back of her hand gently across her husband’s cheek.

“She danced quite a bit.” Isaac sighed. “She may have no trouble finding a match of her own.”

Lucy hummed in thought.

“What?”

“No.” She shook her head. “It is nothing.”

“It doesn’t sound like nothing.”

She smiled sheepishly. “I got the sense that she was disappointed. It did not seem that she met anyone special tonight.”

“There is no rush,” he said. “Anything could happen. That was merely the first ball of the Season. There are still plenty of ways for her to meet someone special. I do not doubt that she will.”

“I know she will, I just know how much this means to her.”

Isaac sat up, realizing how important the matter was to his wife. He pursed his lips, pondering a solution. “I have a terrible idea,” he said.

“What?” Lucy was intrigued. It wasn’t very often that he mocked himself.

“What if we throw a charity event?”

“A charity—” Lucy’s eyes widened. “That will never work!”

“Maybe not, but we will still make a donation. Even if it doesn’t work out for Eliza, you and I can still relive the most important night of our lives.”

Lucy laughed. Truth was, she loved the idea. Moreover, women’s education could still use more donations.

“I would love that,” she said.

Isaac smiled and kissed her on the lips. “Good. But first, you have another story to write. I cannot be the only one waiting for the next!”

Lucy was lucky. Twenty years later and things had only gotten better. If she just had a family that loved her, that would have been more than enough, but she had finally made a name for herself.

She wondered if she might have ever had the courage to do that if not for Isaac.

The End