Secrets of My Beloved: Linked Across Time, #12

By Dawn Brower

Lord Nicholas Kendall is tired of living in his twin's shadow. His brother is the first-born and will inherit the dukedom one day. Nicholas isn't not jealous, just bored. He has no desire to have that particular responsibility. He has more adventurous aspirations. He wants to travel, and not to another country, he wants to go to the future. He intends to uncover how his family has moved through time in the past, and in turn, explore it all.

 

Peyton Drake is recovering from a long illness that she thought she'd eventually die from. Thanks to her long lost sister, and the miracle of modern medicine she is in remission. She is enjoying her new lease on life and intends to enjoy every second of it. Anything is possible now that she has a future she can plan for. The question is: What should she do with her life? 

 

Neither Nicholas nor Peyton expected they'd find each other. They each have secrets that they don't want to share with the world. Love blooms in the most unlikely places and sometimes it takes traveling a couple centuries into the future to find it.
 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Monarchal Glenn Press
• Release date: May 19, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393133599

Book preview

Secrets of My Beloved

Secrets of My Beloved

Linked Across Time Book Twelve

Dawn Brower

Contents

Acknowledgments

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Epilogue

Also by Dawn Brower

About The Author

Also by Dawn Brower

Afterword

Excerpt: Spying on My Scoundrel

Dawn Brower

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Excerpt: The Vixen in Red

Dawn Brower

Chapter 1

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

Secrets of My Beloved Copyright © 2020 Dawn Brower

Cover art and edits by Victoria Miller

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.

Acknowledgments

This is where I thank my editor and cover artist, Victoria Miller profusely. She helps me more than I can ever say. I appreciate everything she does and that she pushes me to be better…do better. Thank you a thousand times over.

Also to Elizabeth Evans. Thank you for always being there for me and being my friend. You mean so much to me. Thanks isn’t nearly enough, but it’s all I have, so thank you my friend for being you. Also, thank you Aletha Boyd for helping with the proofreading. I appreciate it

For all my readers that love the Linked Across Time series. The last three books mean even more than I can say. I hope you enjoy them.

Chapter 1

Sunlight streamed through the window and filled the library in its golden rays. It was a beautiful day, and utterly dreary. A conundrum Lord Nicholas Kendall couldn’t shake. He should be happy. His life was an endless loop of revelry. At least that is what everyone seemed to imagine. He didn’t actually partake in all things roguish as his family was warranted to believe. Nicholas made a good show of it and went through the motions, but he hated every second of it. Nothing filled him with joy. Nothing gave him even a moment of peace. Nothing and no one inspired him. He needed…something. He didn’t know what, but he prayed, one day, it would present itself to him.

Nicholas rubbed his hands over his face and sighed. He had to quit being so damned melancholy. This darkness inside of him…it wasn’t pretty. He walked away from the window and went over to the bar. Once there, he poured a glass of brandy and drained the contents, then refilled his glass. He was about to drink it when his older twin brother, Christian, the Marquess of Blackthorn, strolled into the library.

What has you drinking so early, brother, Christian asked. He joined Nicholas at the bar and poured himself some of the brandy. I suppose I’ll join you then.

Nicholas’s lips twitched upward. Is this your way of making me seem a little less…scandalous?

Not at all, Christian said lightly. It’s been a rather tedious day. I’ve had my head buried in books for most of the morning. I have numbers blurring before my eyes, torturing me. I cannot take any more. This business of running a dukedom is more than one man can handle.

Christian was identical in almost every way to Nicholas. His mirror twin…he had the same light brown hair and blue eyes, the same roguish smile, and a dimple in one cheek. Though their dimples were in the opposite cheek most people didn’t remember that. They had been able to pretend to be each other frequently over the years. Having a twin had its benefits.

Nicholas tipped his glass toward Christian. That’s the benefits of being the heir. He lifted the glass upward and took a sip. I’ve never been more glad you inherited that mantle. It’s a responsibility that would drive me mad. That didn’t mean being the spare didn’t come with certain responsibilities either… His family still had expectations of him. All Nicholas wanted was to escape. The problem was he had nowhere to go.

He walked over to one of the shelves and stopped. One of the tomes caught his attention, and he pulled it out. He flipped it open and scanned the pages. It was written in his mother’s handwriting. Have you ever seen this? He held it up so Christian could see it.

Mother’s little project? He lifted a brow. I admit I haven’t read any of it, but I know what it is. She writes things down she thinks will be important to future generations. Most of it is medical knowledge she learned from her time.

It was no secret to the family that their mother, the current Duchess of Weston, was from the future. She had studied to be a doctor in the twenty-first century. Through some quirk of fate that Nicholas didn’t quite understand she had fallen through time to be saved by their father. It was a little nauseating and stupidly romantic. And he envied it. What must that have been like? To travel two hundred years into the past to find love… Nicholas often had trouble comprehending it. You’ve never been curious? It’s sitting here for anyone to read. Why have we always ignored it? He flipped open to the center of the book. There was an entry in it his mother hadn’t made. This one was from his sister, Elizabeth. Something about the library mirror. He whipped around and glanced at the floor length mirror and considered what he’d read. When will Elizabeth and her wayward husband arrive? He had a few questions for his dear sister.

Christian walked over and plucked the book from Nicholas’s hands. What do you find so interesting in there?

All of it, he admitted. Though I haven’t exactly read more than a paragraph or two. I think I’ll give it more attention. It might be the answer to his ennui. It might be time to discern the workings of time travel. Maybe, if he could unravel the details, he could do a little bit of traveling of his own. He had the urge to discover the unknown. Now, about our sister…

Mother said she’d arrive today. She might already be here. Christian finished his brandy and set his glass on a nearby table. I didn’t realize you were so interested in speaking to her. What, pray tell, do you have to discuss with her? He lifted a questioning brow. I doubt Elizabeth has anything titillating to entertain you with. She’s living a dullard life with her ex-pirate husband.

Nicholas laughed. I doubt Jack considers himself in quite those terms. Not the pirate part, of course. He is quite the rapscallion, but the dullard part he’ll definitely object to.

Christian waved his hand flippantly. Jack won’t bother either way. He’s too in love with Elizabeth to maim any of her family.

It didn’t matter to Nicholas if Jack hated all of them. As long as he loved Elizabeth, he’d respect him. Some things were more important, and his sister’s happiness was one of the biggest. I’m sure you’re correct in your assessment. He snatched the book back from Christian. If you’ll pardon me, I’m going to see if they have arrived. It’s nice of you to keep me company, but I have other things to occupy my time with. He walked out of the room, leaving Christian alone before his brother started asking questions he didn’t wish to answer. He’d already side stepped his inquisitive nature regarding why he’d wanted to speak with Elizabeth. If Christian realized why he wanted to, he wouldn’t like it. He would probably do his best to convince him to alter his plans, but Nicholas wouldn’t. He’d rather avoid that particular argument. It was far better to ask for forgiveness than permission…

Nicholas roamed down the hallway until he entered the foyer. So far, there was no sign of his sister. He was growing restless. Besides his parents, his sister was the only other person he could ask about time travel. Her entry in mother’s journal suggested she had experienced it on some level.

Surely Elizabeth would arrive soon... Perhaps he should go for a ride or walk down the cliff path to stroll along the beach. He didn’t think either of those would help though. Still, he went out the door to do one of them. He had to do something to pass the time until Elizabeth arrived.

Nicholas sauntered out and let out a sigh of relief. A carriage was coming down the long drive. His sister would be at the front entrance soon, and he could finally ask her all of his questions. He could sit on the steps and wait for the curricle, or he could go inside and wait for her. He wasn’t certain what the best option would be. Instead of doing either, he walked down the stairs and headed toward the cliffs. Elizabeth would want to greet the whole family, and she probably wouldn’t be able to sit still long enough for him to interrogate her.

He fairly itched with frustration. Nicholas’s pace quickened as he closed the distance between the house and the cliffs. He stopped when he reached the edge and stared at the waves as they crashed to the shore. It was a beautiful and majestic view. He’d never tire of it. This was his home and always would be, but did it matter