The Beauty Bride, page 1
THE BEAUTY BRIDE
by
Claire Delacroix
More cherished than gold are the Jewels of Kinfairlie, and only the worthiest may fight for their love...The Laird of Kinfairlie has unmarried sisters, each a gem in her own right. And he has no choice but to see them all wed in haste.
Lady Madeline’s heart is not for sale...especially not to a notorious outlaw like Rhys FitzHenry. Yet Madeline’s hand has been sold, to none other than this battle-weary warrior with a price on his head. A more dutiful maiden might cede to the Laird’s command and meekly accept her fate, but Madeline has never been obedient. She decides to run away, though she never dreams that Rhys will pursue her. She does not expect this taciturn man to woo her with fanciful stories, much less that each of his enthralling tales will reveal a scar upon his shielded soul. She never imagines that a man like Rhys could imperil her own heart while revealing so little of his own feelings. When Rhys’ past threatens his future, Madeline takes a leap of faith. She dares to believe him innocent — and risks her own life to pursue a passion more priceless than the rarest gem.
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Praise for THE BEAUTY BRIDE
“A lyrical medieval-era romance!”
Publishers Weekly
“Claire Delacroix is always a winner for me with her tales of chivalry, passion and lush romance – I simply love her books. I found this one to be a great read, and recommend it highly to anyone liking a rousing, medieval-period romance.
Five angels!”
Fallen Angel Reviews
“Ms. Delacroix creates an atmosphere so real that you’ll feel the wind in your hair as you race across the land with the protagonists. This writer is a genius at stirring the emotions of her readers and letting them share the excitement of the characters.”
Rendezvous
“Once again, Claire Delacroix comes through with an historical romance that does not disappoint…There are few medieval writers who can sweep me away as Claire Delacroix can. I cannot wait for the following books of this trilogy.”
Romance Reader at Heart
“Ms. Delacroix has painted a tale of love and romance fit to be framed…I quite literally devoured this book in a single day of reading. It was so entertaining and well written that I could not bring myself to put it down. I even forgot to eat because I was so wrapped up in this wonderful tale and, gasp, there was chocolate in the house!”
Coffee Time Romance
“After reading this magnificent book, it’s easy to see why Ms. Delacroix is considered one of the best medieval romance authors around. With careful attention to detail and a beautiful writing style, she whisks you to the Middle Ages for a grand romantic adventure...The Beauty Bride is a fabulous read!”
The Romance Studio
“Ms. Delacroix has a wonderful way of pulling you into the story…you will not be able to put the book down until you are finished.”
The Romance Readers Connection
“The Beauty Bride is a book that captures you from the first page…a magical and inspiring story. Four hearts!”
Pink Heart Reviews
“An exciting action tale fully packed with an assortment of well-defined forceful characters, both old and new…This is a prime example of the highly imaginative and entertaining novels Delacroix is celebrated for, in a stellar start to what looks to be a sensation new medieval series that is heading straight for my ‘keeper shelf’!”
Historical Romance Writers
“The Beauty Bride is a gripping read – a passionate, compelling treasure of a book."
Julianne Maclean, USA Today bestselling author
* * *
Dear Reader;
Ideas come from many places, but I think the most satisfying story ideas are those that grow out of other stories. When I wrote The Rogue, I fully anticipated that Merlyn and Ysabella’s story would stand alone. In the course of writing that book, however, I became fascinated by Merlyn’s wicked brother, Gawain. I wondered whether the love of the right woman would reform him, and Eglantine volunteered for the job. Their story was told in The Scoundrel. Eglantine had such a passion for her family holding of Inverfyre that I was anxious to see how that story was resolved – my curiosity resulted in The Warrior, about the Hawk’s attempts to secure Inverfyre for the future. Of course, he could not have managed it without the aid of the woman he seized for his bride, Aileen, and her psychic powers.
At the end of The Warrior, there is a celebration, and the entire extended Lammergeier family gathers at Inverfyre. There is a single sentence about Roland of Kinfairlie, his wife and their eight children. Eight children! I started to think about the ruckus of a big family like that and the interplay between all those kids. Before I knew it, Roland and his wife had been tragically killed and their eldest son, Alexander, was left to deal with the legacy of Kinfairlie much earlier than he’d ever expected. For financial reasons, he needs to see his sisters married – although his sisters are used to speaking their mind around their brother and are less than willing to comply with his plans.
My Rogues of Ravensmuir trilogy and my Jewels of Kinfairlie trilogy are linked, but you don’t have to read The Rogues of Ravensmuir first to enjoy The Jewels of Kinfairlie.
The Beauty Bride is the first book in The Jewels of Kinfairlie trilogy. Here you’ll meet Alexander and his seven siblings, as well as follow Madeline’s adventures as the first to be wed. This book was originally titled The Bride Auction and there is an excerpt of it in the back of the original print edition of The Warrior with that title. The title was changed before the book was printed, but the story remains the same. All of the Jewels of Kinfairlie books are available once more in digital editions and new print editions.
Recently, I’ve returned to medieval Scotland, to Ravensmuir and Kinfairlie. The Renegade’s Heart, a new medieval romance from me and the first in a new series called The True Love Brides, will be published. This series picks up after The Jewels of Kinfairlie. The Renegade’s Heart is the story of Isabella’s romance. (Neither I nor Annelise are surprised that Isabella chased her HEA out of turn!)
As with all of my re-releases, I’ve chosen not to revise this book, but to republish it pretty much the way it was published in the first place. There may be a few typos missing in this version, but otherwise it is very similar to the original.
I’ve enjoyed revisiting The Beauty Bride, and hope you enjoy reading it, as well.
Until next time, I hope you are well and have plenty of good books to read.
All my best,
Claire
* * *
The Beauty Bride
Claire Delacroix
This re-release has had only minor corrections from the original text. It is essentially the same as the original print edition, although there are minor variations.
Copyright 2005, 2011 Claire Delacroix, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.
Digital Edition
Without limiting the rights under copyright preserved above, no part of this book may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means, (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright holder and the publisher of this book.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the Internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.
* * *
The Beauty Bride
Table of Contents
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Epilogue
An Excerpt from THE ROSE RED BRIDE
* * *
This trilogy is dedicated to my readers,
with heartfelt thanks for your loyalty and support.
May you enjoy reading about the Jewels of Kinfairlie
as much as I have enjoyed writing their tales.
* * *
The Beauty Bride
by
Claire Delacroix
* * *
Prologue
Kinfairlie, on the east coast of Scotland - April 1421
Alexander, newly made Laird of Kinfairlie, glowered at his sister.
There was no immediate effect. In fact, Madeline granted him a charming smile. She was a beautiful woman, dark of hair and blue of eye, her coloring and comeliness so striking that men oft stared at her in awe. She was fiercely clever and charming, as well. All of these traits, along with the score of men anxious to win her hand, only made Madeline’s refusal to wed more irksome.
“You need not look so annoyed, Alexander,” sh e said, her tone teasing. “My suggestion is wrought of good sense.”
“It is no good sense for a woman of three and twenty summers to remain unwed,” he grumbled. “I cannot imagine what Papa was thinking not to have seen you safely wed a decade ago.”
Madeline’s eyes flashed. “Papa was thinking that I loved James and that I would wed James in time.”
“James is dead,” Alexander retorted, speaking more harshly than was his wont. They had had this argument a dozen times and he tired of his sister’s stubborn refusal to accept the obvious truth. “And dead the better part of a year.”
A shadow touched Madeline’s features and she lifted her chin. “We have no certainty of that.”
“Every man was killed in that assault upon the English at Rougemont - that no man survived to tell the tale does not change the truth of it.” Alexander softened his tone when Madeline glanced away, blinking back her tears. “We both would have preferred that James’ fate had been otherwise, but you must accept that he will not return.”
He was pleased to note how Madeline straightened and how the fire returned to her eyes. If she was spirited enough to argue with him, that could only be a good sign. “Though I appreciate a wound to the heart takes long to heal, you grow no younger, Madeline.”
Madeline arched a brow. “Nor do any of us, brother mine. Why do you not wed first?”
“Because it is not necessary.” Alexander glared at her, again to no avail. He knew that he sounded like a man fifty years older than he was, but he could not help himself -- Madeline’s refusal to be biddable was annoying. “I ask only that you wed, that you do so out of regard for your four younger sisters, that they too might wed.”
“I do not halt their nuptials.”
“They will not wed before you and you know it well. So Vivienne and Annelise and Isabella and Elizabeth have all informed me. I try only to do what is best for you, but you are all in league against me!” Alexander flung out his hands then rose to his feet, pacing the chamber in his frustration.
Madeline - curse her! - regarded him with dawning amusement. Trust her to be consoled by teasing him!
“It is no small burden to become laird of the keep,” she noted, the expression in her eyes knowing when he spun to face her. “No less to be burdened with the lot of us. You were much more merry a year ago, Alexander.”
“And no wonder that! This is hell!” he shouted, feeling better for it. “Not a one of you makes this newfound duty any easier for me to bear! I am not mad to demand that you wed! I am trying to assure your future, yet you all defy me at every step!”
Madeline tilted her head, her eyes beginning to sparkle and a smile lifting the corner of her lips. “Can you not imagine that it is a sweet kind of vengeance for all the pranks you have played upon us over the years? How delicious it is to foil you, Alexander, now that you are suddenly stern and proper! Think of all the frogs in my linens and snakes in my slippers for which I can now have vengeance.”
“I will not be foiled!” he roared and thudded his fist upon the table between them.
Madeline clucked her tongue, chiding him for his show of temper. “And I will not be wed,” she said, her soft tone belying the determination in her gaze. “Not so readily as that. At any rate, you have not the coin in the treasury to offer a dowry, so there is no need to discuss the matter before the tithes are collected in the autumn.”
Alexander spun to look out the window, hoping to hide his expression from his confident sister. There might have been a steel band drawn tight around his chest, for he knew a detail that Madeline did not. The tithes would be low this year, so the castellan had confided in him. There had been torrential rains this spring and what seed had not been washed away had rotted in the ground. He marveled that he had never thought of such matters until this past year and marveled again at how much he had yet to learn.
How had Papa managed all these concerns? How had he laughed and been so merry with such a weight upon his shoulders? Alexander felt nearly crushed beneath this unfamiliar burden of responsibility.
His gaze trailed over the sea that lapped beneath Kinfairlie’s towers and he mourned the loss of their parents anew. He knew that his siblings defied him as a way of defying the cruel truth of their parents’ sudden death, but he also knew that he could not feed all those currently resident in this keep in the winter to come. The castellan had told him so, and in no uncertain terms.
His sisters had to be wed, and at least the two eldest had to be wed this summer. They were all of an age to be married, ranging as they did from twenty-three summers to twelve, but Madeline was the sole obstacle to his scheme.
He pivoted to regard her, noting the concern that she quickly hid. She must guess what it cost him to so change his own nature, to abandon his recklessness in favor of responsibility; she must know that he assumed this task for the sake of all of them.
Yet still she defied him.
“You could at least feign compliance,” he suggested, anger thrumming beneath his words. “You could try to make my task lighter, Madeline, instead of encouraging our sisters to defy me.”
She leaned closer. “You could at least ask,” she retorted, the sapphire flash of her eyes showing that this would be no easy victory. “In truth, Alexander, you are so demanding these days that a saint would defy you, and do so simply for the pleasure of thwarting your schemes. You have become a different man since you were made laird, and one who is difficult to like.”
“I am making choices for the best of all of us,” he insisted, “and you only vex me.”
Madeline smiled with cursed confidence. “You are not vexed. You are irked, perhaps.”
“Annoyed,” contributed another feminine voice. Vivienne tipped her head around the corner, revealing that she had been listening to the entire exchange. Vivienne’s hair was of a russet hue and her eyes were a dark green. Otherwise, she shared Madeline’s virtues and not a few of her faults, including the fact that she also must be wed before the harvest.
Alexander ground his teeth at the slender prospect of succeeding twice in this challenge.
Three shorter women peeked around the edge of the portal, their eyes bright with curiosity. Annelise was sixteen with auburn tresses and eyes as blue as cornflowers; Isabella was fourteen with eyes of vivid green, orange-red hair and freckles across her nose; Elizabeth was ebony-haired like himself and Madeline, her eyes an uncanny green. The sight of all those uncovered tresses - the mark of unmarried maidens - made Alexander’s innards clench.
They were no longer merely his sisters, his comrades, or even the victims of his jests - they and their futures were his responsibility.
“But you are certainly not vexed, Alexander,” Vivienne continued with a smile.
Madeline nodded agreement. “When Alexander is vexed in truth, he shouts. So know this, Annelise, Isabella and Elizabeth, you have not truly angered Alexander until he roars fit to lift the roof.” The five women giggled and that was enough.
“I am indeed vexed!” Alexander bellowed. The sole result of his outburst was that the three younger women nodded.
“Now he is vexed,” said Annelise.
“You can tell by the way he shouts,” Elizabeth agreed.
“Indeed,” said Madeline, that teasing smile curving her lips again. “But still he is a man of honor, upon that we can all rely.” She rose and gave a simmering Alexander a peck of a kiss upon each of his cheeks.
She smiled at him with a surety that made him long to throttle her, for she was right.
“Still he will not raise a hand against a woman.” Madeline patted his shoulder, as if he were no more threatening than a kitten. “I shall wed when I so choose, Alexander, and not one day before. Fear not - all will be resolved well enough in the end.”
