Lord of the Storm: The Common Elements Romance Project (Regency Gothic Book 1) Read online

  REGENCY ROMANCE

  Lord of the Storm

  Regency Gothic Book 1

  Arietta Richmond

  Dreamstone Publishing © 2019

  www.dreamstonepublishing.com

  Copyright © 2019 Dreamstone Publishing and Arietta Richmond,

  All rights reserved.

  No parts of this work may be copied without the author’s permission.

  ISBN-13: 978-1-925915-41-9

  Disclaimer

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, organisations, events, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously.

  Dedication

  For everyone who had the grace to be patient while this book, and every other book that I have written, was coming into existence, who provided cups of tea, and food, when the writing would not let me go, and endured countless times being asked for opinions.

  For the readers who inspire me to continue writing, by buying my books! Especially for those of you who have taken the time to email me, or to leave reviews, and tell me what you love about these books, and what you’d like to see more of – thank you – I’m listening, I promise to write more about your favourite characters.

  For my growing team of beta readers and advance reviewers – it’s thanks to you that others can enjoy these books in the best presentation possible!

  And for all the writers of Regency Historical Romance, whose books I read, who inspired me to write in this fascinating period.

  Table of Contents

  Lord of the Storm

  Disclaimer

  Dedication

  Introduction

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Epilogue

  About the Author

  Here is your preview of The Duke and the Spinster

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Books in the His Majesty’s Hounds Series

  Books in The Derbyshire Set

  Regency Collections with Other Authors

  Books in the A Duke’s Daughters – the Elbury Bouquet Series

  Books in the Regency Scandals Series

  Books in the Nettlefold Chronicles

  Other Books from Arietta

  Other Books from Dreamstone Publishing

  Introduction

  This book, whilst it is the first of my ‘Regency Gothic’ collection – a series of regency love stories with some gothic elements – is also part of the Common Elements Romance Project. And just what is that, you ask? Read on.

  We’re over seventy romance authors who have come together to write stories that have just five things in common:

  a lightning storm

  lost keys

  a haunted house (really haunted or rumoured to be)

  a stack of thick books

  a person named Max

  Everything else is up to the individual authors, even how much each of those elements features in the story. ??

  Our stories are not connected to each other or in the same ‘world’, so they can be read in any order. Some are shorter, some are epic, and some are in between. They run the gamut of romance sub-genres and heat levels, too, so there’s something for everyone. See more about the Project at

  https://commonelementsromanceproject.wordpress.com/

  You’ll find a list of all of the books there. Books are releasing all the time, between September and Christmas 2019, approximately.

  Books by Arietta Richmond

  His Majesty’s Hounds

  Claiming the Heart of a Duke

  Intriguing the Viscount

  Giving a Heart of Lace

  Being Lady Harriet’s Hero

  Enchanting the Duke

  Redeeming the Marquess

  Finding the Duke’s Heir

  Winning the Merchant Earl

  Healing Lord Barton

  Kissing the Duke of Hearts

  Loving the Bitter Baron

  Falling for the Earl

  Rescuing the Countess

  Betting on a Lady’s Heart

  Attracting the Spymaster

  Courting a Spinster for Christmas

  Restoring the Earl’s Honour

  From Soldier Spy to Lord (contains the first three books in one volume)

  To Love a Determined Lady (Contains Books 4, 5 and 6 in one volume)

  Love Heals a Lord (Contains Books 7, 8 and 9 in one volume)

  A Duke’s Daughters – The Elbury Bouquet

  A Spinster for a Spy (Lily)

  A Vixen for a Viscount (Hyacinth)

  A Bluestocking for a Baron (Rose) (coming soon)

  A Diamond for a Duke (Camellia) (coming soon)

  A Minx for a Merchant (Primrose) (coming soon)

  An Enchantress for an Earl (Violet) (coming soon)

  A Maiden for a Marquess (Iris) (coming soon)

  A Heart for an Heir (Thorne) (coming soon)

  The Nettlefold Chronicles

  The Duke and the Spinster

  To Dance with the Dangerous Duke

  A Duke in Autumn

  A Christmas Bride for the Duke (coming soon)

  The Regency Gothic Series

  Lord of the Storm

  Lord of the Darkness (coming soon)

  Lord of the Lost (coming soon)

  Lord of the Shadows (coming soon)

  The Regency Scandals Series

  The Gift of a Christmas Scandal

  Lady Mariel’s Scandalous Love

  Christmas with That Duke (coming soon)

  The Derbyshire Set

  A Gift of Love (Prequel short story)

  A Devil’s Bargain (Prequel short story - coming soon)

  The Earl’s Unexpected Bride

  The Captain’s Compromised Heiress

  The Viscount’s Unsuitable Affair

  The Count’s Impetuous Seduction

  The Rake’s Unlikely Redemption

  The Marquess’ Scandalous Mistress

  A Remembered Face (Bonus short story – coming soon)

  The Marchioness’ Second Chance

  A Viscount’s Reluctant Passion

  Lady Theodora’s Christmas Wish

  The Duke’s Improper Love (coming soon)

  A Gentleman’s Unconventional Courtship (coming soon)

  The Derbyshire Set, Omnibus Edition, Volume 1 (the first three books in one volume.)

  The Derbyshire Set, Omnibus Edition, Volume 2 (the second three books in one volume.)

  Other Books

  The Scottish Governess

  Her Summer Duke

  The Earl’s Reluctant Fiancée (coming soon)

  The Crew of the Seadragon’s Soul Series, (coming soon - a set of 10 linked novels)

  Chapter One

  “These old shattered bones of the past do not seem as dismal under the bright sun as they do on an overcast day. I believe that you’ll find them to fall short of the description I previously gave you of them. On a bright day, they seem innocuous, and the tales of hauntings, simply tales.”

  Mr Theodore Gardner turned to Lady Grace Wellford, who, at his words, had only raised her eyes from the paper in order to further scrutinise the details of the bits of wall she was working on drawing. He knew that she had heard him, and
waited for her response as she sketched. It was a very common occurrence that noon would not catch Lady Grace, the daughter of Charles Wellford, the Earl of Bromley, anywhere near the confines of the house at Hesterton Park, which, with all its sumptuously decorated interiors and carefully laid out grounds, held no particular attraction for the young lady. Indeed, having grown up alone save for an elder brother, who had never interested himself in his sister’s affairs, she had always found the beauty of the countryside to be immensely more pleasurable than any comforts offered by spending her days inside.

  Outside, she would seek the company of Baron Bellchurch’s two children, Amelia and Theodore, with whom she would often ride out to seek new and exciting places to visit. She had set out on these adventurous expeditions as soon as she could sit a horse well enough – and according to her riding teacher, the stablemaster, this had been achieved faster than any of his former students.

  Grace had no particular regard for any of the occupations one might engage in at home, and would only take up reading if she could manage to bring the books with her on her daily outings – an activity which had more than once resulted in them being brought back severely soiled, torn, or dog-eared.

  Books designed for drawing in, however, did far better in her care, for she sketched and painted obsessively. In fact, there was a stack of books, all rather thick and solid, each a journal filled with her work, neatly aligned on a shelf in her bedroom. New ones were added to it regularly, as she filled each one with well rendered art.

  Her distinct manner of passing the time did much to instruct her conduct – she developed into a very bold, very outspoken young lady, who had none of the affected airs and proper notions of polite etiquette one would expect from a person of her rank and breeding.

  Much to her mother’s dismay, all of this did not seem to worry Lord Bromley, who quite enjoyed his daughter’s peculiar spirit and would even encourage her in its pursuit at times. To him, Grace was all he had desired to see in her older brother, Richard, who was now off on a tour of the continent, where he would hopefully shed some of his shy, bookish nature.

  On this particular day, Grace and her friends had gone out to visit the nearby ruins of a castle known as the Spectre’s Cloister. Whilst Theodore had been there many times, Grace had rarely visited it.

  They had found the refreshing shade of a line of trees on a hill which overlooked the great, gnarled stone walls, and had taken their sketchbooks to immortalise the view.

  After having taken the horses to a nearby creek to water them, Theodore now sat beside his sister, to keep the ladies company, leaving the horses to the groom who always accompanied them, for propriety’s sake.

  “Not at all, Mr. Gardner,” Grace replied, smiling, coming back to the paper to reproduce what she had observed, “I can understand how a dark and brooding day might turn these ruins into something taken directly out of a gothic novel. I can only imagine that if one walked amongst all the broken walls and windowless arches on such a day, one could fathom all sorts of fantastical things indeed. But I am of the opinion that this perfectly luminous day, with not a speck of cloud to be seen, is the proper lighting in which one might sketch the castle to preserve its realistic beauty.” She paused and turned to Amelia, who was having problems getting any proper work done, even with the ruins fully bathed in light. “Isn’t that right, Amelia?”

  “I can see it clearly enough, and yet I can’t seem to get the right representation of it. It would be far easier to do were it new and whole, without all the cracks and fallen pieces, and the vigorous undergrowth which has since overtaken every nook and cranny of it,” Amelia replied with a sigh, closing her sketchbook.

  “Well, were it not in this state of dishevelment, I would not have found it worthy of sketching at all! It is its wildness, its deviation from its original perfection, that makes it so interesting. I fear that if I were to come back here and discover it had been restored to its former glory, I would then regard it as tedious beyond compare.”

  “You have nothing to fear in that regard, Lady Grace.” Mr Gardner interjected. “The place has fallen out of grace and out of memory. I doubt any records have survived about the family who once inhabited these halls – just rumours of hauntings and the like, no doubt invented to scare the gullible. Everyone around here has called it the Spectre’s Cloister, for generations now, although I doubt that bears any resemblance to whatever was its actual name. The tales tell of ghostly figures seen in its halls and windows, especially when the sky darkens with storms, and it is true that this area is very prone to lightning storms. I’ve heard whispers that the lightning strikes the castle in punishment for some wrongs of the past. But I expect that tale is just the invention of some old woman who wanted to scare her children.”

  He gazed at the looming towers, half collapsed with age and wear.

  “It’s all for the better.” Grace declared with confidence.

  “I most adore how nature dresses the houses men once called their own. And it makes for a far prettier or more dramatic picture.”

  “I’ve no doubt that it shall, in the hands of an artist as talented as you.”

  Mr Gardner’s words prompted Grace to laugh, a little nervously.

  “Oh, don’t flatter her so, Theodore, or we shall still be here come nightfall and she will never come away any more satisfied by the result.”

  It was obvious that Amelia had already grown tired of her own sketching.

  Grace saw Amelia put down her pencil and stand up to walk around. Her friend’s impatience, thus professed, prompted her to abandon her drawing as well – she had the base of it, and could add more detail at her leisure later. She never felt that it was appropriate to do anything which might inconvenience those around her – well, perhaps except for her mother, at times.

  “Can one go inside any of the fallen towers?” she asked Mr Gardner, feeling that the entire party had grown tired of standing around. “I can’t tell from this distance.”

  Mr Gardner considered her question for a moment. She watched him, standing there looking down at the ruin, tall and strong, his skin lightly coloured by the sun, his profile handsome, clear cut where the sun lit it from the side, and a shiver ran through her. Of late, he seemed a different person somehow, from the boy she had run wild with all these years. She did not understand her own reaction, but it was there. He turned back to her.

  “There are some parts one may enter, although I would not advise it. Apart from the fact that I would not risk the safety of you or Amelia in encouraging the endeavour, there is not much to see inside. All decorations and furniture have long been stripped away, and only the roughhewn decaying floors and walls remain.”

  “Then, shall we venture out and walk about it? I would love to get a closer look!” Amelia said excitedly, and Grace smiled to see her happy at the prospect.

  Mr Gardner was then forced to oblige, guiding them down from their vantage point, and leaving the groom to follow with their horses.

  Walking about, close to it, Grace had to admit that it seemed almost ominous – she could well imagine it with storms overhead. A shiver passed through her, and she was suddenly glad of Mr Gardner’s presence by her side. It almost made her want to reach out and grasp his hand, just to touch something warm and real. She pushed the impulse away – what would he think if she did such a thing?

  They spent more time walking around the ruins than they properly should have, and barely made it back home in time for dinner. Amelia and Theodore did not seem to care about such things, for they were rarely reprimanded for staying away too long, but Grace knew that her mother would not be as lenient.

  ~~~~~

  Theodore Gardner felt more at home roaming the countryside than seated in formal parlours. He always had. But now that he had reached the age of twenty, his father, more and more, involved him in the business of the Barony, and expected him to take on an assortment of duties. Theodore did not object to those duties – what he regretted was the limit th
at they put upon him – the restriction on his wanderings around the countryside, alone, or with Lady Grace, and his sister.

  Now, as they stood above the ruined castle called the Spectre’s Cloister, he was acutely aware of what he was losing.

  Lady Grace looked more beautiful every day – at eighteen, she had filled out and had the shape of a woman, even if she was not consciously aware of that yet. Her hair was as wild as ever, her cheeks lightly sun-kissed, to her mother’s unending horror, and her green eyes sparkled in the sun.

  He was not going to tell her that he had been in amongst those ruins many a time, clambering about heedless of the danger, since he was a small boy. If he had told her, he knew that she would have, immediately, insisted that he take her in there. Which, in a lady’s riding habit, was not the least a practical option.

  Fortunately, she accepted his words about danger, and asked simply to walk about the outside of it, to study it at close proximity. He knew that the textures she saw when she examined it would end up being represented in her final drawings of it, with faithful attention to detail.

  If he could have frozen that afternoon in time, and stayed there forever, just to see her so happy, he would have.

  But time moved on, and he knew that, soon, he would lose her completely, for young women of the upper ton tended to be pushed into marriage at about the age she was now. The thought of her gone, married to some man he did not know, and moved away, tore at his heart.

  But he had no claim on her, no right to even hope for such a thing. As a Baron’s son, he was, at least in the opinion of her mother, far below an Earl’s daughter in status.

  Still, he would enjoy these last few months of living as they always had done, before the expectations of society changed things forever.

  As they walked about, he was acutely conscious of her warmth, so close beside him, and a rather intense desire to touch her possessed him. Of course, he did nothing of the sort – that would be highly improper! But he wondered what it would feel like, nonetheless.