Lord of Fortune Read online

  Father shook his head with a grim expression. “I’m afraid not.”

  Nearly a week ago, this would have sent Penn into a dark mood of despair, but instead of pretending to be optimistic about things, he actually was. He still didn’t particularly want to be an earl—he didn’t know the first thing about it—but with Amelia at his side, he was ready and willing to face anything. Plus, he had a brother-in-law who’d unexpectedly inherited an earldom and seemed to be coping just fine, as well as a half brother who’d been raised to be an earl who could certainly show him the way. Once Gideon finished whatever quest he’d decided he needed to pursue.

  “What sort of advice do you need?” Elijah asked, falling into step beside Penn and his father as they trailed the women to the house.

  “How to be an earl. Turns out I’m the firstborn son of the Earl of Stratton. I’m hoping I don’t have to actually fulfill that title, but it all depends on finding a vicar who has proof of my birth.”

  They paused outside the house, and Elijah looked from Penn to his father and back again. “This sounds complicated. Does Cate know about this?”

  “Not yet.”

  Elijah’s gaze lit with mirth. “I know something she doesn’t? Oh, this will be fun.”

  They went inside to Father’s study, where they ate and drank while Penn and Amelia related the tale of how they’d found the heart.

  Mother had paled during certain parts, and both Penn and Amelia took great care to leave out the intimate details. They sat together on the settee, their thighs touching as they relived their adventure, and he marveled that he didn’t think he could love her more, and yet each moment he was with her proved that thought wrong.

  When he’d finished, Father stood and went to his desk, where he picked up a piece of parchment. “This arrived yesterday from Gideon.” He handed Penn the letter to read, but shared the basic contents. “He’s committed to destroying Camelot for good.”

  “I’m not surprised,” Amelia said. “Something happened when he obtained the dagger.”

  Father’s mouth dipped into a pensive frown. “Yes, I should like to know precisely what happened there.”

  Penn exchanged a look with Amelia. “As would we, but he didn’t have time to tell us.”

  Their gathering was interrupted by the arrival of Egg. Penn leapt up from the settee upon seeing his assistant. “Egg! Tell us your news.” His heart thumped in his chest as he waited anxiously for Egg to speak.

  But Egg didn’t reflect Penn’s excitement. In fact, he looked rather disappointed.

  “It isn’t good. News that is,” Egg clarified. “The vicar’s gone missing. I tracked him to Gloucester and into the Cotswolds. But then he seemed to vanish. I stopped in every inn in every village all the way to Oxford. Then I employed Charlie to go to London and see if the vicar showed up to petition the Lord Chancellor. He’s keeping a watchful eye.”

  Charlie lived in Oxford and helped Penn with translations and copying documents from time to time.

  Penn sagged back down onto the settee, where Amelia immediately took his hand and murmured, “I’m sorry.”

  “Didn’t you say you could come to terms with being the earl?” Cate asked. They’d discussed Penn’s surprise inheritance before sharing the tale of the heart—Elijah had been far too eager to tell his wife that he knew something she didn’t. Having grown up with Cate and her insistence to know everything, Penn had appreciated the man’s glee.

  “Yes, I can. I will.” If he had no choice, and right now it certainly seemed that way. But what the bloody devil had happened to the vicar? “I’d like to remain who I am. Not just for me, but for Gideon too.”

  Elijah let out a distasteful snort. He’d not entirely forgiven Gideon for endangering Cate. And yet, he’d gone to great peril to save Gideon’s life. Gideon may have had a terrible father, but in this room was a group of people who supported and loved him.

  “We’ll find him yet,” Egg said. “Can’t see myself working for an earl.” He wrinkled his nose as if he smelled something horrid, prompting everyone to laugh.

  “Any earl would be lucky to have you,” Penn said. He reached over to the table in front of him and picked up the Heart of Llanllwch, then tossed it to Egg. “Catch. We found it. The real one.”

  Egg’s jaw dropped as he held it up to the light streaming through the window behind Penn. “You were right all along. The one in the Ashmolean was a fake.”

  “Yes, but a valuable artifact all the same. Without it, we couldn’t have found the real treasure,” Amelia said.

  Penn turned his head toward her. “Well, that is certainly true. But I daresay the dagger was the most important piece.”

  Amelia looked at him in confusion. “The dagger, why?”

  “Because it’s what brought me to you, and you’re the real treasure.”

  “I think we should all toast to that,” Penn’s father said.

  When everyone had a drink, Father lifted his glass. “To my son and his bride. May your life together be the most exciting adventure you’ll ever take.” He looked over at Penn’s mother with a broad smile. “Just like ours.”

  Penn drank to his future wife while she smiled at him and whispered, “It already is.”

  * * *

  The end

  Thank You!

  Thank you so much for reading Lord of Fortune. I hope you enjoyed it!

  Would you like to know when my next book is available? Sign up for my reader club at http://www.darcyburke.com/readerclub, follow me on social media:

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  I hope you’ll consider leaving a review at your favorite online vendor or networking site!

  Lord of Fortune is the third book in the Legendary Rogues Series. The fourth and final book, Captivating the Scoundrel (featuring Gideon) is coming in late 2018/early 2019. Thank you for your patience with this series—these treasure hunts take some planning! In the meantime, check out my other historical series, The Untouchables and Secrets and Scandals.

  * * *

  If you like contemporary romance, I hope you’ll check out my Ribbon Ridge series available from Avon Impulse, and the continuation of Ribbon Ridge in So Hot.

  I appreciate my readers so much. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

  Books by Darcy Burke

  Historical Romance

  The Untouchables

  * * *

  The Forbidden Duke

  The Duke of Daring

  The Duke of Deception

  The Duke of Desire

  The Duke of Defiance

  The Duke of Danger

  The Duke of Ice

  The Duke of Ruin

  The Duke of Lies

  The Duke of Seduction

  The Duke of Wishes

  The Duke of Mischief

  * * *

  Secrets and Scandals

  * * *

  Her Wicked Ways

  His Wicked Heart

  To Seduce a Scoundrel

  To Love a Thief (a novella)

  Never Love a Scoundrel

  Scoundrel Ever After

  * * *

  Legendary Rogues

  * * *

  Lady of Desire

  Romancing the Earl

  Lord of Fortune

  Captivating the Scoundrel

  * * *

  Contemporary Romance

  * * *

  Ribbon Ridge

  * * *

  Where the Heart Is (a prequel novella)

  Only in My Dreams

  Yours to Hold

  When Love Happens

  The Idea of You

  When We Kiss

  You’re Still the One
<
br />   * * *

  Ribbon Ridge: So Hot

  * * *

  So Good

  So Right

  So Wrong

  Author’s Note

  I chose to set this story in and near Wales both because of the subject matter and because my grandmother, Selma Rita King Finney was born in Cardiff in 1916. I still have family there and was fortunate enough to visit several years ago. It’s a beautiful land with charming people, and while the Welsh language is difficult to pronounce, I find it lovely—probably because I can still hear my great-uncle Alec singing it.

  The thirteen treasures of Britain are mythical objects that appear in various legends. They have been used in countless stories and in many ways (Harry Potter’s Deathly Hallows are somewhat based on them). I adapted them for this series and added the Heart of Llanllwch as well as the dagger for purely narrative purposes. The White Book of Hergest did go missing at a bookbinder in London and was possibly lost in the fire depicted in this book. The problem with the water pipes and not being able to put out the fire quickly was also real. The Tale of Ranulf and Hilaria is not.

  The Order of the Round Table and the subgroup of Camelis a completely fictional group, but is based on the myriad secret societies that have existed for centuries. Edmund de Valery and Anarawd are fictional characters as are the documents they produced.

  Of course there is no proof that King Arthur, his knights, the Round Table or any of Arthurian legend is real. I’d like to think it’s a little bit history with a dash of embellishment and a lot of great storytelling.

  About the Author

  Darcy Burke is the USA Today Bestselling Author of sexy, emotional historical and contemporary romance. Darcy wrote her first book at age 11, a happily ever after about a swan addicted to magic and the female swan who loved him, with exceedingly poor illustrations. Join her Reader Club at http://www.darcyburke.com/readerclub.

  * * *

  A native Oregonian, Darcy lives on the edge of wine country with her guitar-strumming husband, their two hilarious kids who seem to have inherited the writing gene, two Bengal cats and a third cat named after a fruit. In her “spare” time Darcy is a serial volunteer enrolled in a 12-step program where one learns to say “no,” but she keeps having to start over. Her happy places are Disneyland and Labor Day weekend at the Gorge. Visit Darcy online at http://www.darcyburke.com and follow her social media: Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/darcyburkefans, Twitter @darcyburke at http://www.twitter.com/darcyburke, Instagram at http://www.instagram/darcyburkeauthor, and Pinterest at http://www.pinterest.com/darcyburkewrite.