“Aye,” Malcolm sneered. “I saw the pair of you there, and it only made me more anxious in my quest to separate you again. Your memory loss was my good fortune, and I meant to make the most of it. Wingate had supposed you dead, and all I had to do was make him believe you were Lenore. I even had Samuel Evans change the name on the marriage document to read Lenore instead of Lierin Wingate.”

“But Ashton wasn’t so easily persuaded, was he?” Lierin derided. “From the very beginning he has thwarted your manuevers and turned your gambits to his favor….”

“The prize is within my hands now, my pet,” Malcolm responded with a caustic laugh. He was elated at the thought of the other man’s demise, but when he turned a superior smile to Ashton, he saw the mockery gleaming in those smoky depths. The glowing eyes rattled his confidence and made him wonder if there was anything that would move the Natchez man to fear. Once again he tried. “Weill will be left here for dead, and Horace will be blamed again. Poor Mr. Titch, he has been a valuable asset in my game. I’ll miss him.”

“The sheriff might not be so gullible,” Ashton replied. “I warned him last night that it seemed too easy and the thieves might be using Horace as a scapegoat.”

“You set a trap for my men,” Malcolm jeered. “And you caught a little rabbit in the snare, and once the foxes are released, he’ll be the only one who’s left.”

“You also took back the jewels you had given Lierin,” Ashton said.

Malcolm shrugged and smiled. “She kicked me out. Why not?”

A badly slurred voice came from the settee. “Marcus told me she was really Lenore….”

“’Twould seem you have played us all for fools,” Somerton accused. “Even your father. You have gone to great lengths to make my daughter your wife.”

“Lierin had something I wanted.” The full lips smiled slightly. “Wealth. She was my best hope to gain it. I courted her relentlessly and finally she agreed to marry me.” He frowned sharply. “But on our wedding night she left me…to seek out proof that I was already married. She couldn’t even allow a benefit of a doubt. She believed the man.”

“He showed me evidence!” Lierin exclaimed, striding forward. “Your marriage license, a small miniature of you and Sarah…and a letter sent to her brother from the attendant whom you hired to guard her…except he began to care about her…and didn’t like what you were doing to her. Her brother went searching for you…and found you making plans to wed me…and on the afternoon the ceremony was performed, he tried to warn me and even pressed a note into my hand, but I was busy and didn’t read it…until later….”

“And you left me on our wedding night!” Malcolm shouted.

“Aye!” Lierin cried. “And you don’t know how happy I am that I never went to bed with you!”

It was Ashton’s turn to gape in astonishment. He stared at the two who glared at each other and began to chuckle. The sound was infectious. Robert Somerton started to chortle and Lenore hid a giggle behind her hand. Lierin’s laughter tinkled brightly in the room, but it was Ashton’s amusement that sorely beset Malcolm.

Gnashing his teeth, he lunged toward the other man and seized him by the throat. His fingers sought to close, but suddenly, surprisingly he heard a familiar click and felt something hard prod him in the belly. Cautiously he lowered his gaze, and his breath halted as he saw the dull gleam of a large pistol. He lifted his gaze to Ashton, and felt his own vitals begin to roil with dread.

“Call off your villains, or you’re a dead man,” Ashton warned softly.

Malcolm made a futile attempt to shake his head, but the negative gesture would not come. He caught the sound of another hammer being drawn back and almost sighed in relief until Barnaby squealed, “How’d the bloke get that pistol? Someone! Get him!”

It seemed a miracle, but suddenly there were men with guns rushing through the french doors and Sheriff Coty was leading the pack. The miscreants bolted for the hall door in their attempt to escape, but other lawmen came through the front door while others ran in from the back.

“Meghan!” Lierin cried through a rush of joyful tears. “Bless her dear heart! She made it through and saved us!”

Sheriff Coty seized Malcolm’s arm. “You’ve been causing a lot of trouble, I hear. I’m sure Titch will be relieved to see you arrested for the crimes he has been accused of.”

Robert Somerton came forward as the lawman dragged Malcolm away and extended a hand in friendship to Ashton. “I don’t know who you are, young man, but my daughter says you’re a friend.”

Lierin laughed gayly and slipped her arm through Ashton’s. “Something more than a friend, Papa.” Her eyes danced as she won her father’s attention. “This is my husband…” She saw his eyebrows raise in surprise. “…Ashton Wingate…the man I love with all my heart.”

Robert Somerton stared at the couple for a long moment as tears gathered in his eyes, then he laid his other hand over the two that were already joined. “It’s good to meet you, son, and a very good pleasure to welcome you into the family.”

Lierin caressed her husband’s bare arm as she murmured, “I’m glad you approve, Papa. Now perhaps your grandchild will have a name and a father to be proud of…just as I am proud of you.”

About the Author

Kathleen E. Woodiwiss wrote the very first historical romance novel in 1972-The Flame and the Flower created a genre and made Ms. Woodiwiss one of the world’s most popular writers, with 36 million books in print. In celebration of Ms. Woodiwiss’s new novel, The Retuctant Suitor (2003), HarperCollins is publishing Ms. Woodiwiss’s classic backlist, including the complete Birmingham Family Saga: The Flame and the Flower, The Elusive Flame; A Season Beyond a Kiss. Also available are Ms. Woodiwiss’s Ashes in the Wind; Come Love a Stranger; Forever in Your Embrace; Petals on the River, A Rose in Winter; Shanna; So Worthy My Love; The Wolf and the Dove.


By Kathleen E. WoodiwissThe Birmingham Family Saga:

The Flame and the Flower

The Elusive Flame

A Season Beyond a Kiss


And also:

Ashes in the Wind

Come Love a Stranger

Forever in Your Embrace

Married at Midnight

Petals on the River

A Rose in Winter

Shanna

So Worthy My Love

The Wolf and the Dove

The Reluctant Suitor


Praise New York Times


Bestselling Author


Kathleen E. Woodiwiss

“A LEGEND…THE QUEEN OF


HISTORICAL ROMANCE.”

Atlanta Journal-Constitution

“A PHENOMENON”

The New York Times

“WOODIWISS REIGNS!”

Life

“THE FIRST LADY OF THE GENRE.”

Publishers Weekly

“LIVE AND BREATHE THE WORLD


KATHLEEN E. WOODIWISS CREATES.”

Houston Chronicle


This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.


COME LOVE A STRANGER. Copyright © 1984 by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.


Epub edition November 2003 eISBN 9780061762581


First Avon Books mass market printing: January 1986


First Avon Books trade printing: November 1984


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