Her Gypsy Lord: Magic and Mayhem, #1

By Jane Charles

 A delightful adventure, that is really all that Lady Charlotte Beck craved, but it was never to be. Not with two older brothers being the most diligent of chaperones. However, when her family is summoned to Castle Keyvnor for the reading of a will, Charlotte can hardly contain her excitement. Not that she believes in any of that nonsense about ghosts or magic.

 

Lord Adam Vail has spent the last two years at his grandfather's estate taking care of his older brother. The only thing that has made being at Hollybrook Park bearable is that he is close to his mother's Romani family. He knows magic, ghosts and evil are very real and when Lady Charlotte dismisses his grandmother's concerns, Adam finds himself protecting her from a murderous ghost. Only one thing can safe her from a deadly fate.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jane Charles
• Release date: Aug 20, 2017
• ISBN: 9781386794240

Jane Charles

Jane Charles has lived in the Midwest her entire life. As a child she would more likely be found outside with a baseball than a book in her hand. In fact, Jane hated reading until she was sixteen. Out of boredom on a long road trip she borrowed her older sister’s historical romance and fell in love with reading. She long ago lost count of how many fiction novels she has read over the years and her love for them never died.  Along with romance she has a passion for history and the two soon combined when she penned her first historical romance.  What turned into a hobby became a passion, which has been fully supported by her husband, three children and three cats. JaneCharlesAuthor.com Jane can be contacted at: [e-mail] Twitter and FB: JaneACharle  

Book preview

Her Gypsy Lord

(Magic & Mystery #1)

Jane Charles

The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.

Her Gypsy Lord

Copyright © 2017 by Jane Charles

Cover Design by Lily Smith

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by any electronic or mechanical means—except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews—without written permission.

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of the author.

Contents

Vail Family Tree

Dedication

One

Two

Three

Four

Five

Six

Seven

Eight

Nine

Ten

Eleven

Twelve

Thirteen

Fourteen

Fifteen

Sixteen

Seventeen

Eighteen

Nineteen

Twenty

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For my sister, Trudy Jennings, who would love to stay in a place like Castle Keyvnor. She’d also be very disappointed if she did not encounter a ghost.

One

Castle Keyvnor, Cornwall ~ October, 1811

Lady Charlotte Beck took a step back and glanced at the door. She could make her escape, and nobody would notice. Certainly not her father, who often forgot he even had a daughter when her older brothers were in the room.

The oldest, Anthony, Viscount Redgrave, lounged against a settee, a smirk upon his lips. Anthony enjoyed whenever Michael, the third born, was called on the carpet by their father.

The two brothers were as different as night and day and had been since the moment of birth. Or so she suspected since she was seven years younger than her eldest brother. Anthony had always been the perfect son. He probably hadn’t ever cried as an infant and, more than likely, slept through the night from the start. Michael, on the other hand, probably started flirting with the nursery maid when he was only an hour old. And then there was Harry, the second born, who had recently returned from the Navy. He sat upright in his chair, watching the scene with great curiosity.

Or perhaps it was boredom. Harry left when Charlotte was only seven years old, and she didn’t really know him. She still was not certain if he was friend or foe.

Anthony and Michael were certainly foes. But for all their differences, there was one topic in which they were in full agreement—any gentleman who might even glance in Charlotte’s direction was to be discouraged, then investigated. With those two always near, and glaring, it was a wonder any gentleman even bothered to sign her dance cards last season.

Explain to me why St. Giles, Blackwater, and Ashbrook are at Castle Keyvnor, her father, Marquess of Halesworth, demanded of Michael. The gentlemen were some of Michael’s closest friends, and it really hadn’t surprised Charlotte that the trio had traveled to Cornwall with her brother.

They were with me in Newmarket when you ordered me here.

So you invited them? His irate tone prompted Charlotte to edge closer to the exit. She caught Harry’s eye, and if she wasn’t mistaken, his lips quirked ever so slightly.

Not so much invited, Michael hedged. Devon Lancaster is here too, and he wasn’t invited either.

You do realize this gathering is for the reading of a will. Not a house party! their father roared.

I don’t even understand why it’s necessary for all of us to be present, Michael complained. Banfield was Mother’s uncle, surely whatever was left to her is but a token and does not require the entire family to be present.

If Father could breathe fire, it would surely be coming from his mouth and nose this very instant. At the very least, as red as his face had suddenly become, smoke should be coming from his ears.

Anthony’s smile broadened, Harry came to his feet and reached for his cane, and Charlotte slipped out of the room. Father’s temper was only going to get hotter, and she preferred to be far away.

A sigh escaped as she exited into the corridor, glad to be rid of her family and excited to be at Castle Keyvnor for the next sennight. Here she wouldn’t be watched nearly as closely as she had been anywhere else. Other than the four uninvited gentlemen, everyone else in attendance was some form of relation, no matter how distant. Not that she had cause to be worried about Lords St. Giles, Blackwater, Ashbrook, or Mr. Lancaster. Other than standing up with her on occasion at balls, none had ever showed her any interest, and she certainly had none in them.

One would think those two would have grown up, at least somewhat, during my absence.

A smile blossomed as Charlotte turned to find Harry behind her. Finally, someone who found Anthony and Michael as irritating and obnoxious as she did.

Tell me, do either of them ever approach anything with any respect or seriousness?

He planted his feet and put his hands behind his back--the stance of an officer used to being on the deck of a ship and ordering others about. Oh, she hoped he’d share stories of daring and danger with her one day, but they’d barely spoken since his return.

Anthony can be very serious, downright stuffy even. However, when Michael is in trouble, he quickly reverts to a child.

Harry’s frown deepened. I’d heard Michael had a certain reputation. I’d hoped I had heard wrong.

Oh, he does. She laughed. A rake of the first order. Or, at least when I’m not around. If he’s tasked with escorting me, then he becomes the most protective chaperone to ever grace London.

Harry gestured ahead and they moved further down the corridor, away from the parlor where the argument between Michael and their father was getting louder by the moment. There were times Harry leaned heavily on his cane, and at other times, like now, it was nothing more than an accessory, yet it was always with him.

Charlotte hated that he was in pain but was so grateful he was home with said leg intact. From what she understood, it had been a close as to whether the surgeon would allow him to keep it.

A shiver ran down her spine at the danger her brother put himself in for King and Country. She’d been too young to really understand where he went, but after Father showed her his name in the newssheets, Charlotte had saved every article where he’d been mentioned and wasn’t above bragging about him when she could.

Oh, if only she could experience just an ounce of the adventure Harry had.

Charlotte nearly sighed. Adventure was well and good and something she craved, though she didn’t exactly wish to put herself in danger either. Unlike Harry, who faced it head on even when the odds were against him.

You are one and twenty, correct?

Yes, and directly on a path to spinsterhood if those two have their way.

You know, my first night back the three of us spoke—actually they spoke, and I listened—about all the things they felt I needed to understand. One of those ‘things’ was you.

Oh dear. Maybe Harry was a foe after all.

They warned me that you are much too curious for your own good, that you need to be watched, and that left to your own devices, you might go off somewhere and find yourself in all kinds of trouble.

She was going to kill them both the first chance that she had.

I feared that perhaps you were the one who hadn’t grown up and were still very much the seven-year-old that I left behind.

Please, Harry, she begged. I’ve enough of our family treating me as a child.

As well you should. He stood back and took a good look at Charlotte. Admiration shone in his deep brown eyes. What I see is a woman who knows her own mind, intelligent, and sensible.

Relief flowed through her. Finally, a family member who wouldn’t hover. Why can’t you stay here and send Anthony and Michael off to the Navy?

He chuckled and shook his head. "My dear Charlotte. They’d not last a fortnight, which would result in me becoming the heir and that would never do."

Charlotte reached out and took his hands in hers. I hope you’re home for a while and that we can spend more time together.

His smile softened. Perhaps. We shall have to see how this leg of mine progresses.

Michael stormed out of the parlor and headed towards them.

Harry pulled away from Charlotte. Well, I’m off to explore the grounds of this supposedly haunted castle.