Free Shipmate: A Royal Regard Prequel Novella by Mariana Gabrielle Page A

sotted, an admiral was
more qualified than she to offer up suggestions.
    “In that case, please do pass on
my—our—thanks to His Highness as well.” She turned to the princess,
at last beginning to warm to the conversation. “I wish you to know,
Ma’am, my uncle has been quite thorough in representing my
interests. Of course, there will be dangers, but I will never be
stranded, and will always be under guard. Lord Holsworthy has been
quite clear. Should he have his way, I will never be left
alone.”
    The princess nodded, her furrowed brow and
the tense lines at the corners of her mouth beginning to relax.
    “Your uncle?” Prinny asked. “I know you are
Effingale’s niece, but I admit to some confusion. Do you not have a
father to advise you? I thought I had heard…”
    Bella’s breathing sped up.
    “Yes, I recall now. Sir Jasper Smithson, 2nd
Baronet. Does he not have a tin mine? I had thought to invest on
the advice of several gentlemen.”
    “No!” she yelped. At the shock on their
faces, she stopped and cleared her throat, modulating her tone. “I
mean, Your Royal Highness, Sir, with all due respect to your own
acumen, my father and brothers are… not very… propitious… at
business. I do not wish to defame my family, but I should not like
to see you drawn into their… ill luck.”
    Her face heated, but she charged forward,
unwilling to continue any further conversation about her father and
brothers if it could possibly be avoided, but equally unwilling to
see the consequence to the Smithson men if they were caught trying
to fleece the prince.
    “I am hopeful my situation will soon require
a return to England for the purpose of providing an heir for
Myr—for Lord Holsworthy. I know I shall never again be welcomed in
the ton , once joined in wedlock with a merchant, but
Myr—Lord Holsworthy’s barony and his parents’ home are open to me
should I be… should I find myself…”
    “Yes, dear, we understand,” Princess Amelia
said, turning her face away.
    Prinny, on the other hand, inclined his head
and smiled in a way Bella found almost friendly, saying, “Should
you show the type of courage such an endeavor will require, you
shall be welcome in my drawing room to the end of your life, my
dear, and I will make certain Holsworthy’s manor house is entirely
up to the mark, should you require respite from your travels.”
    Bella’s eyes widened, and her ability to
speak fell away at the thought the Prince of Wales would see to her
new household in her absence. “But—Sir—you needn’t—”
    He held up one finger. “You must never
naysay royalty, my dear, though in years to come, I expect you will
wish to many, many times.”
    She swallowed her intended objections and
took only a moment to consider before she said, “I am sure Lord
Holsworthy will be as grateful as I for your attention to our
concerns.”
    “Well done. You will make an excellent
diplomat’s wife. Now, I must return to my party, and I daresay
Holsworthy is close to apoplexy wondering if I have made off with
his bride.” He winked at Bella as they all rose, and he offered an
arm to each girl. “There is only one other thing I believe you
should know.”
    “Yes, Sir?”
    “Holsworthy himself tells me you have grit
you’ve yet to use, and he never buys bad merchandise.”
     



Chapter Ten
    May 26, 1805
    The Egret Feather Inn
    Saltash, England
     
    The night before her wedding, Bella paced
before the fire in her room at the Saltash village inn. Charlotte
slept soundly, snoring in the big bed, but there had been no gentle
slumber for Bella.
    This had been the fastest six weeks of her
life and, by any measure, a success. Betrothed to a peer not a few
days after her first assembly, she would be married before the last
party of the Season. In the meantime, she had traveled from Bath to
London, back to Brittlestep Manor for her belongings, and was now
in Saltash, about to leave for parts unknown; Bella hardly knew
where she