The Captain and the Wallflower

Lyn Stone

A PROPOSAL OF NECESSITYBadly scarred Captain Caine Morleigh must marry to inherit. Who better than the homeliest young woman left over at the end of the London season? After all, she will require little attention to keep her happy… Lady Grace Renfair leaps at the only chance to escape her emotionally abusive uncle and accepts Caine’s proposal.Soon she blooms with confidence and beauty, causing her husband’s forbidding exterior to crumble. If she could only reach beyond his scars to the gentleman beneath…

“Not for all the gold in England would I dance with you, sir.”

His eye twinkled and he smiled more sincerely, with a crooked expression that warmed something inside her. “I’m not offering all the gold,” he said, “but a significant portion could be yours if you’re amenable.”

“A proposition, sir?” She raised an eyebrow with the question. “Am I to run weeping at the insult or deal you a resounding slap? How do the bets go that I will respond?”

“No bets and no proposition. I have a very decent proposal in mind.”

“I am already the object of ridicule,” she told him frankly, withdrawing her hand from his. “Go find another to tease, who will at least award you points for originality.”

He inclined his head. “Will you not grant me a small favor, at least, and take a turn about the floor?”

Perhaps this was an arranged jibe, compliments of her uncle. “Do you know Wardfelton?”

“I have not met him yet, but I shall seek him out immediately if you will give me leave to ask him for you.”

“For my person? Not only a dance? How droll.”

“For your hand in marriage,” he said without equivocation.

AUTHOR NOTE

All too often we judge on appearance alone. There might be a really wonderful person concealed beneath a less than perfect fa?ade. As the hero and heroine of THE CAPTAIN AND THE WALLFLOWER discover, perceptions can change radically when one delves a bit more deeply and discovers true character and personality.

I write romance to entertain, but also to illustrate my heartfelt belief that selfless love does exist and ought to be celebrated! It is possible to find someone who would jump between you and a bullet, who would put your happiness before their own, and who would love you unconditionally. Some of us have found that person, and to those who haven’t as yet I say, ‘Keep an open mind, keep up the search, and don’t forget to note what’s beyond the surface!’

I hope you enjoy the journey as Grace and Caine discover the sort of love neither dared hope to find when they first stumbled into a marriage of mutual convenience. If you enjoyed The Ugly Duckling, Cinderella and Beauty and the Beast as a child, I think you will appreciate my grown-up story THE CAPTAIN AND THE WALLFLOWER.

About the Author

A painter of historical events, LYN STONE decided to write about them. A canvas, however detailed, limits characters to only one moment in time: ‘If a picture’s worth a thousand words, the other ninety thousand have to show up somewhere!’ An avid reader, she admits, ‘At thirteen, I fell in love with Emily Bront?’s Heathcliff and became Catherine. Next year I fell for Rhett and became Scarlett. Then I fell for the hero I’d known most of my life and finally became myself.’

After living for four years in Europe, Lyn and her husband Allen settled into a log house in north Alabama that is crammed to the rafters with antiques, artefacts and the stuff of future tales.

The Captain and

The Wallflower

Lyn Stone

www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)

This book is for my wonderful and courageous friend,

Garland Whiddon Rowland. This is for all those

discussions about what love is when we were teens

still anticipating it. Oh, and for being my maid

of honor once I found it! So happy that you found it, too!

Prologue

London

July 25, 1815

Caine Morleigh studiously avoided touching the cloth bandages covering his eyes as he waited for the physician to arrive. For five long weeks, his injuries had remained under wraps, the bandages changed by feel in pitch-dark to avoid further dam