Miss Sophia's Spirited Spinster's Society Read online

  Table of Contents

  Copyright

  Find Out More

  Personal word from Charlotte Stone

  Dedication

  About The Author

  Prologue

  .

  Chapter One

  A Murky Past

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  An Intriguing Present

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-one

  Chapter Twenty-two

  Chapter Twenty-three

  Chapter Twenty-four

  Chapter Twenty-five

  Chapter Twenty-six

  Chapter Twenty-seven

  Chapter Twenty-eight

  Chapter Twenty-nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-one

  Chapter Thirty-two

  Chapter Thirty-three

  Epilogue

  Preview of Next Book

  READING LIST . Also By

  Publishers Notes

  Sophia’s Spirited Spinster’s Society

  The Spinster’s Society

  Charlotte Stone

  A Regency Romance Book

  Contents

  Copyright

  Find Out More

  Personal word from Charlotte Stone

  Dedication

  About The Author

  Prologue

  .

  Chapter One

  A Murky Past

  .

  Chapter Two

  .

  Chapter Three

  .

  Chapter Four

  .

  Chapter Five

  .

  Chapter Six

  .

  Chapter Seven

  .

  Chapter Eight

  An Intriguing Present

  .

  Chapter Nine

  .

  Chapter Ten

  .

  Chapter Eleven

  .

  Chapter Twelve

  .

  Chapter Thirteen

  .

  Chapter Fourteen

  .

  Chapter Fifteen

  .

  Chapter Sixteen

  .

  Chapter Seventeen

  .

  Chapter Eighteen

  .

  Chapter Nineteen

  .

  Chapter Twenty

  .

  Chapter Twenty-one

  .

  Chapter Twenty-two

  .

  Chapter Twenty-three

  .

  Chapter Twenty-four

  .

  Chapter Twenty-five

  .

  Chapter Twenty-six

  .

  Chapter Twenty-seven

  .

  Chapter Twenty-eight

  .

  Chapter Twenty-nine

  .

  Chapter Thirty

  .

  Chapter Thirty-one

  .

  Chapter Thirty-two

  .

  Chapter Thirty-three

  .

  Epilogue

  .

  Preview of Next Book

  READING LIST . Also By

  Find Out More

  Publishers Notes

  Copyright © 2017 by

  Charlotte Stone

  All Rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  * * * * *

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  Click the yellow Find Out More link button below to get started

  * * *

  PERSONAL WORD

  FROM CHARLOTTE STONE

  * * *

  Dear lovely readers,

  The characters of my writings are women who have a strong mind of their own, women who know what they want to pursue in life. It is their tenacity to finding true love that drives them to overcome the challenges which they may face while waiting for the man of their dreams.

  Will such tenacity of their believing bring them true love in spite of the societal-standing challenges one will face in an era such as that of Regency.

  Read on to find out the answers!

  Thank you once again for your strong support in my writing journey!

  Much Love,

  * * *

  DEDICATION

  * * *

  “A lady's imagination is very rapid; it jumps from admiration to love, from love to matrimony in a moment.”

  Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice

  Specially Dedicated to you, my Dear Reader!

  It is with a heart of gratitude that I wrote this message of dedication to you.

  Thank you for giving me the opportunity to share with you my writings.

  I hope you have enjoyed reading it as much as I have enjoyed writing it!

  It is support like yours that keep authors like us going and striving to write even better novels for you!

  Have you checked out my other historical romance book series?

  Click the link below to get started

  *** Amazon US ***

  * * *

  Got something to share?

  I would want to hear from you!

  So please do get in touch with me:

  https://www.facebook.com/charlottestonebooks

  [email protected]

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  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  * * *

  In a near cynical world which we are currently living in, Charlotte finds comfort in the readings of Regency Romance writings, one of her favourite would be Laura Kinsale’s Flowers from the storm where the female character loves and saves the male lead character who is a stroke victim. It was such writings which inspired her to be an author herself.

  In Charlotte’s writings, the characters are able to see beyond the imperfections of each other and to accept and love one another, just the way one is.

  Isn’t this true of our inner self? To be able to find someone who is able to see the beauty in us, in spite of all imperfections we might have.

  Isn’t this true of what love really should be? Ever accepting, ever loving, ever seeking.

  May you find love and acceptance in Charlotte’s writings.

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  PROLOGUE

  .

  Miss Sophia Taylor blamed Lady Lorena Cullip for all the new emotions that had been awakened in her over the last year, for there was something about the woman that had forced down Sophia’s guard and taught her to open her heart. She’d not had very many female friends growing up. Her life had been different from anyone else’s she knew. As the daughter of a second son of a viscount, she’d not truly engaged in the life of the ton, never quite fitting in until Lorena and her Spinsters’ Society found her.

  Sop
hia’s mother had died when she was a child, and it wasn’t long after that her father had come to retrieve her. She’d been so young that she hardly remembered those years, though she recalled the sadness in his eyes whenever he looked at her. Everyone said they looked alike, since they shared the same coloring—vivid green eyes and hair as black as the wings of a raven—but Mr. Taylor had told his daughter that she looked very much like her mother. His words, combined with his sadness, always made Sophia believe that he’d loved her mother, a woman who’d run off to do whatever it was that made her happy—a calling that she hadn’t been able to deny.

  Over the years, that belief had been further proven with her father’s need to always have women about. She’d learned early on what happened between a man and a woman. Nothing was forbidden her. Her father didn’t send her off to school. Instead, he’d hired tutors and kept her home.

  They were close and, through it all, Sophia counted her father as her best friend, something Society thought unnatural and unhealthy, which was yet another reason she’d never belonged in the beau monde.

  Until she found her place with the Spinsters.

  Under Lorena’s giving heart and surrounded by the warmth of the other women, Sophia found a place that felt like home and her new friends adored her father… though he flirted shamelessly with them. Still, the things that made her feel odd somehow made her feel appreciated amongst her sisterhood.

  So, she’d let down her guards and opened her heart to new possibilities.

  And then he came, invading her soul with a single look, branding her his for all time. If she’d not had her guards down, it would have never happened, yet it was far too late to go back.

  She was his, and she could never have him. She wasn’t entirely sure that any woman could, yet while she owned her soul, she fought to keep her heart and would die before she allowed him to break it.

  Or rather break it again

  Since the truth was that he’d broken her heart at their very first meeting.

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  CHAPTER ONE

  A Murky Past

  .

  May 1813

  London, England

  Five Months Earlier

  Sophia walked into her bedchamber and couldn’t pull her eyes from Lorena. The other women who’d come with her paused as well to take their friend in. It was the first time Sophia had seen Lorena out of her mourning attire and though the color was still dark, the style did not make one think of mourning. Sophia thought no man would stand a chance at refusing Lorena anything she wished for. Sophia’s father, Mr. Taylor, who was London’s best tailor, had ensured the midnight-blue dress dipped dangerously low in the front.

  Lorena turned to them. “It is too much.” Her bright blue eyes met Sophia’s as if waiting for her to agree but Sophia would do no such thing. Sophia had been wearing daring clothes since she was sixteen. She decided to skip having a debut and asked her father to change her closet. She’d had no hope of marrying a gentleman, or any man for that matter, so didn’t bother with parading herself in front of them. Instead, she’d decided to live a life that shocked everyone who saw her or read her column in the paper.

  “It’s gorgeous.” Genie moved further into the room.

  Sophia couldn’t wait to see the reaction of the ten men who waited downstairs. She thought about this as the conversation continued around them.

  Lorena was the daughter of a duke and was engaged to an earl named Ashwick— if one asked him. Lorena had yet to give him a true answer, though she was desperately in love with him. He happened to be a member of a brotherhood called the Men of Nashwood. Sophia had only met Ashwick and another of the men named Calvin. She’d found them both to be handsome and had been told that the other eight men were just as beautiful.

  Her father walked into the room to view his work and there was more commotion about the dress. Lorena was slightly uncomfortable with it, so everyone worked to encourage her until she gave in.

  Sophia followed the group downstairs and smiled to herself, envisioning Ashwick’s face.

  “Ashwick is going to swoon,” Genie whispered to her, a small devious smile on her lips, her pale green eyes glittering. She was petite and, from what Sophia had gathered, was Lorena’s best friend. Genie and Lorena had known most of the Men of Nashwood all their lives, causing trouble for him, trouble that had included burning down Lord Ashwick’s London mansion a few days earlier, though Lorena swore it was someone else.

  They arrived in the drawing room and Ashwick did not disappoint. He’d had his back to her but, at one of the men’s exclamation, he turned and his expression was an explosion of love and lust.

  Sophia laughed as she watched the men crowd around her friend but then she stopped as something brushed her neck, the feeling that someone was watching her. She touched the spot and turned to glance around the room but saw nothing.

  A deep voice filled the room and Sophia felt it like a hand caressing her spine, sending a shiver through her. “Don’t settle for anything else than a dukedom, Lorena.”

  She turned and watched the most beautiful man she’d ever seen smile down at Lorena. He was in profile and Sophia took him in from head to toe. He was tall and something about his posture was so compelling, it demanded her to take note of him. She held her breath as she studied his dark locks and the arrogant grin. She wondered silently if God had known what sort of creature he’d created when he formed him. He was so gorgeous it was tragic that only one woman could have him at the end of the day.

  Though more than one woman could have his child.

  She blinked as she realized where her mind had gone. Was she truly willing to take a man’s seed after one look and the sound of his voice?

  Dear God, she was.

  She wanted him.

  Desperately.

  “That’s Morris Kidd, the Duke of Cort.”

  Sophia swung to look at Maura and found her friend smiling at her. She was Lorena’s cousin and they shared many of the same looks, the blue eyes and soft golden hair but Maura was slimmer and quieter than all the other women. Aunt Tilda, as she wished all the girls to call her, was Maura’s mother.

  Sophia had known Aunt Tilda for years since she’d been her father’s only female model besides herself but Sophia had only met Maura a week ago.

  She wondered what the other woman had seen on her face, yet not one to be shy with her words, she spoke honestly. “I think I want to have his children.” And Sophia had never wanted children before.

  Maura grinned, laughing quietly, the sound nearly drowned by the conversation at the door.

  Sophia refused to look in the duke’s direction again. “Don’t tell him.”

  “I won’t say a word to anyone.” Maura took her hand. “Come, you must be introduced.”

  Sophia moved further into the drawing room with a nervousness she’d never felt before and in her own home no less.

  “I think I’m falling in love,” her father said as he stared at Lorena in the dress he’d created.

  “You’re always falling in love,” Sophia told him because the words were true. It was not Lorena as much as it was about what he’d done to her. He thought himself a god with needle and thread.

  Her words prompted everyone to look at her and the feeling at the back of her neck returned.

  Her father stood and did the introductions and Sophia forced herself to meet the eyes of every man who took her hand. After the first flirtatious wink, meeting one right after the other began easily. The men were all charming and teased in a way that left Sophia feeling like her confident self.

  She knew it would take her a few days to remember who was who but when Morris appeared before her, she knew she’d be whispering his name in her dreams for weeks.

  Morris gave her the full pressure of his blue-green eyes as her father said his name
. She curtsied quickly on unsteady legs and held her breath as he took her gloved fingers into his own. His hand lock around hers, further grabbing her attention, and his mouth lowered toward her hand. When it was just a mere half inch away, he grinned and lowered her hand without letting it go.

  Sophia was confused. Conversations began to bloom again around them and her father began to speak to Aunt Tilda, all but abandoning her. Morris’ eyes continued to hold hers, and her slippers remained rooted on the ground. Her senses were heightened by his nearness. She was aware of the smell of his cologne, the pressure of his hand on hers, the light that his body blocked, the laughter or their friends. His tanned face, the widow’s peak that set off his black hair, his straight nose, strong jaw, and hooded eyes that would have made her think he couldn’t care less about the world except for the life that flowed in his irises.