The Countess Refuses
Katy Walter
Genres: Adult, Historical, Romance
With the deaths of both her parents, Miss Cassandra Whitney is left to care for her sisters and young brother. Now, unless her younger sister Isabella, gives in to the odious attentions of their landlord, Baron Nash Scudder of Urswick the family face eviction. She is both shocked and relieved to receive news of an inheritance from her estranged great grandfather the illustrious Earl of Elsborough. Her solicitor explains her grandpapa changed the entailment of his will to include the female line as he was loathe to allow the title to pass to a distant relative, a wastrel who had already frittered away a fortune. To Cassie’s relief and delight, not only does she inherit a title, but a substantial estate on the outskirts of Bath, which includes a ruin of a castle, farms and three villages albeit derelict.
News of the inheritance travelled fast throughout the south of England drawing in the avaricious designs of the ton. A certain dowager duchess sees the castle as a perfect ploy to raise her son’s and therefore her own status in the top ten. Such is her greed that she will stop at nothing to gain control of the castle. Her son, Maximillian, the illustrious sixth Duke of Taunton with a penchant for well-endowed mistresses has other plans. Can Cassie fight off these two predators, can she save the castle and her family?
The Countess Refuses is now up for nomination to publish on Amazon!
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EXCERPT:
Jack sat down on the rickety settle whilst Belle, the love of his heart busied herself making tea.Cassie sat across from him, perching on a three-legged stool; furniture was sparse in the little cottage. ‘Jack dearest, this morning, we had a visitor by the name of Mr. Arkwright, who informed me my great grandpapa entailed part of his fortune to the female line. It is my good fortune to inherit one of his estates near Bath, and … the title of Countess.’
‘Good Lord Cassie, an estate you say?’
‘Yes, a ruined castle, messuages, villages, farms, meadows, pastures and livestock.’
‘You never mentioned you be rich Cass.’
‘I was not Jack; it was a delicate matter; my mother refused to speak of her parents. However, Mr. Arkwright informs us our grandmother was cast out by her family, because she eloped with a commoner.’
‘So you are—?’
‘Commoners too, and proud of it, but now that has all changed.’
Jack grinned. ‘Then I must doff my cap to you all.’
‘Oh no Jack,’ Belle murmured, stroking the rugged jaw.
‘I have the deeds here.’ Cassie said, walking to the dresser. Reaching up for the key, she unlocked a drawer, taking out the roll of parchments and handing them to him.
Jack saw the coat of arms and insignia. ‘I can’t read Cassie, but it looks grand. So I am sitting here in this kitchen with gentry.’
Belle laughed, taking his hand. ‘Cassie has inherited—’
‘Belle,’ Cassie interrupted. ‘I intend to share this good fortune with you, Rosamond, Amelia and Teddy.’ She smiled at the bright faces of her family. ‘Tis a dream come true.’
Author Bio:
USA Today Best-Selling author, Katy Walters's e.books and paperbacks are read in their thousands, and her pages equally so, in Kindle Unlimited. Katy lives in the midst of Regency towns on the South Coast of England. Being of Welsh and Irish parentage, her novels tend towards Celtic themes. Her main interests are historical and regency romance with an underlying theme of time travel. She is equally drawn to the paranormal myths of the Dark Ages, the pre-medieval era, where the ancient Britons were known as the People of the Trees. It was an era of travelling knights and their ladies, of ancient shamans and shapeshifting wolves and dragons.
Katy’s enjoyed an eclectic career, delighting in every one of her occupations. Although her childhood dream was to be a writer, Katy endured some dark times in her young life that made it impossible for her to reach her goals. On leaving school, the office beckoned and became her prison, one she managed to escape taking up operatic singing. Katy was spotted in London by an agent who managed Tommy Steel and Cliff Richards to name a few. Becoming the lead singer in a girl trio, she toured England and abroad, meeting with some famous names of the day in the music world. On marrying the love of her life, she chose to raise a family, enjoying every moment with her spouse and children. Later on returning to university, Katy went on to enjoy a long and rich career as a research psychologist, psychotherapist and hypnotherapist.
Katy then took up painting and was thrilled with this new world. Her husband and family encouraged her all the way. Pop Art was her main love and to her delight, her paintings were used as the theme for a new restaurant built on Miami Beach. But then her first love, writing, beckoned, and she was in a position to write to her heart’s content. It was a dream come true when Amazon opened up the doors to publishing.
Even now Katy has times where she has to fight to banish those early memories in her life, memories she said, are like scars, they fade, but never go away. But in those times, she boots up the PC and turns to the next chapter in her life, embracing each new interest as a support that becomes a delight.
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