The Bluestocking's Fortune: A Regency Romance

Book 2: The Bluestocking Club

by Audrey Harrison

Genres: Clean & Wholesome Romance; Regency Romance

Synopsis

An unexpected fortune can transform a young woman’s prospects in society, whether she likes it or not.

Miss Lydia Hesketh is a confirmed bluestocking. As she is also tall, bespectacled and has no fortune to speak of, she does not have suitors beating down her door, which is absolutely fine.

Surrounded by good friends, she enjoys her studious life until an unexpected inheritance upends her world. Lydia finds herself with the twin challenge of rebuffing her suddenly attentive suitors and managing a large estate.

As she settles into her new role, she discovers a side to life she did not know existed. Soldiers who have fought bravely at Waterloo have no jobs to go to and are wandering the countryside in search of work and food. No one cares for the returning heroes.

Realising what she wants to do with her life and her fortune, and motivated by the wounded soldier who cannot remember his past, she is determined to create a better future for others.

While Lydia is set on rebuilding these heroes’ lives, it’s just possible she might transform her own!

The Bluestocking’s Fortune is a Regency Romance, topped with a generous amount of humour, action and tears. If you like simmering chemistry, compelling but complex characters and fast-paced action, then this is the perfect book for you.

 

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Release date: October 11, 2022

Sample

Chapter 1
London 1815

“You’ve inherited what?” Alice asked her friend and fellow member of the Bluestocking Club, Lydia, as they sat down to watch a presentation.
“A property in the country, from an uncle I have never heard of,” Lydia said. “It is all very mysterious. Or at least it was until my parents explained that he had married beneath his touch and had been disowned. He’s a great-uncle on my father’s side, or was, may he rest in peace.”
“This is very exciting,” Alice said. “What are you going to do with it? Sell it and accompany Serena on her Grand Tour?” she said of another club member. “I know you were longing to go with her.”
“I am not sure,” Lydia answered. “The letter from the solicitor seemed to suggest there was some sort of caveat to my having the property. I am travelling down to meet him and see the house. Apparently, all my travel costs will be reimbursed, so expect to hear that I stayed in only the finest of inns, and it has taken me six weeks to get there, though it can be done in a few hours!”
“You must take the longest route possible, especially if someone else is paying,” Alice laughed. “Where is this property?”
“It is actually fifty miles away,” Lydia explained. “There is no need to stay overnight on the way, a shame for I would have enjoyed entering an inn and demanding their best room! Strange that he was relatively close, and yet our paths have never crossed.”
“I suppose he was socialising within a different sphere if he married someone the family did not approve of. Are your parents accompanying you?” Alice asked.
“No. They think I should refuse the inheritance to avoid offending any of the wider family. You know how they are for not wishing to upset Grandfather,” Lydia said of the patriarch of the family. “My great-uncle was his brother.”
“Ahh, but surely your grandfather would not wish for the property to go to the Crown if you were to refuse it?”
“Who knows what he would wish with his eccentric ways and strong opinions.” Lydia shrugged. “I know Father is not relishing telling him about it. Thankfully, he has promised to remain silent on the subject until I have left. We all know it is not within the realms of possibility that Grandfather would find a way to stop me from travelling. I will be taking Molly as my companion,” she said of her maid.
“Should you not take one of the male servants?”
“Apparently, there are servants still in residence. I will be fine with Molly on the journey. We have travelled together before, and neither of us are wilting flowers, unable to speak up for what we need, especially when it comes to good food.”
“Going into the unknown with a maid at your side. Hmm, I hope you are not unprepared for whatever you are to face,” Alice said.
“Have faith! I will probably take one look at a run-down building and turn on my heel and return home.”
“I hope it has some value to you.” Alice knew her friend had a small legacy from her grandmother, but as fortune’s went, Lydia was not lucky enough to have what anyone would consider a comfortable amount.
“I do not need much money; I am content with what I have,” Lydia said honestly.
“You deserve more.”
“No one deserves more than others. You are a good friend and I love you for it, but we both know it was not my lack of fortune that put off potential suitors,” Lydia said with a wry smile.
“We live in a country full of coxcombs,” Alice responded.
“Perhaps, but even sensible men are not attracted to Long Megs who wear glasses,” Lydia said. “It is a truth that to secure a fine man, or even a not so fine one come to that, you have to have some redeeming features, especially if there is no large dowry to tempt them.”
“You are lovely. You might be tall, but I wish I had your luxurious chestnut hair and such fine grey eyes, which your glasses enhance. Plus, you are intelligent and funny,” Alice defended her friend.
“All fine characteristics. But without a fortune, they would not help to persuade some poor soul to take me on and spend the rest of his life looking up every time he wishes to speak to me. We would spend far too much on doctors’ bills for injuries to his neck. No. I am perfectly content with my lot, and especially so now that I have an adventure to go on,” Lydia said.
“I still hope it leads to you getting lots of money so you can turn down all the men who then ask you for your hand.”
“That is a great idea and one which I would thoroughly enjoy,” Lydia laughed. “Look, Caroline Herschel is here; I cannot wait to hear her speak. It is going to be a real treat. I wish I knew half of what she knows about the skies,” Lydia said of their guest speaker, turning their attention to the business of the night.
***
“And these are the stables,” the solicitor said, his arm sweeping in a grand gesture to encompass a large stable block. “The gardens are approximately twenty acres, and there are tenanted farms surrounding the gardens on all sides. The total acreage of the estate is substantial. Your uncle was a generous landlord, and the farms provide all the food for the estate free of charge as a recognition of the good relationship he had with his tenants. Shall we return to the house? I have the paperwork set out in the study.”
“I had no idea it was so big,” Lydia admitted, feeling a little overwhelmed by the building she had been shown. Twenty bedrooms, a dining room large enough to seat fifty, and all the subsequent rooms that made up the huge house had caused her mind to reel as they walked through it all. When adding the outside land to the equation, she was struggling to comprehend her change in circumstances. “The only information I have about my uncle is that he was cast off because he married someone who was beneath him and whom the family considered inappropriate.”
“Your uncle explained his background to me a long time ago. I had the good fortune to be his friend as well as his solicitor.” The man paused before continuing. “If I could be candid, Miss Hesketh?”
“Of course, I would appreciate it,” Lydia answered.
“Your family were quite short-sighted about the match. She might have been a woman descended from trade, but she came with a lot of wealth and a kind heart. I am honoured that I was considered a friend by your aunt as well as your uncle; she was greatly missed when she passed, as your uncle will be,” the solicitor explained as he led the way back into the house.
“It is sad that they did not have any children,” Lydia said.
“Your aunt was older than your uncle, so they were not blessed in that regard.”
“From the little I have heard, I wish I had known them, but I still do not understand why my uncle has left everything to me.”
Opening the door of the study, the solicitor waited until Lydia entered before closing the door behind them. “He took a long time in researching family members before he made a decision.”
“Researching us? How on earth could he do that if he was estranged?” For the first time since her arrival, Lydia felt a little uncomfortable about being here with only a maid for support. What was being suggested was not normal behaviour.
“Your family might have disowned him, but he had friends in the area who he kept in touch with and visited throughout the years. There was nothing sinister and underhand, I assure you. He simply wanted the best for the house and the servants within it.”
“How many servants are there?” Lydia asked, reassured by the solicitor’s response, although more wary than she had been. She had not seen anyone but a butler since her arrival some hours before.
“Since his wife died, there have only been a few staff here,” the solicitor explained. “Three gardeners, one stablehand who also acts as groom, the butler, cook, kitchen maid and four maids of all works. One of the stipulations is that they remain in service with the house.”
“That does not seem an unreasonable request. You mentioned that there were conditions to my inheriting all this,” Lydia said. “What are they?”
“Keeping on the servants was one; you living here for six months was another,” the solicitor said. “And if after that you decide to sell, the house has to go to someone who would put it to good use and treat the tenants well.”
“I have to live here? And what if I do not? And how can I guarantee that a buyer would stick to their word about the tenants?” Lydia asked, her mind reeling. The conditions were not overly restrictive, but being fifty miles away from home and friends for six months was something that had to be thought about carefully.
“Yes, your uncle was convinced that after spending some time here, you would take measures to bring the house to life once more. He said you were the only one in his entire family who had the gumption to create something useful and long-lasting. There had been talk of turning their home into an orphanage at one point. But when your aunt died, your uncle could not face children being here without his wife's input, as she was so good with them and had wanted many,” the solicitor explained.
“I have not a natural talent with children,” Lydia said quickly. “If it is to be turned into an orphanage, someone else will have to do it.”
“There is no stipulation about what you have to do with the place,” the solicitor assured her.
“And how the devil did my uncle know so much about me? I still find the idea that I was spied on in some way quite unnerving,” Lydia said. “I apologise for my use of language, but it has been a trying day.”
Instead of looking horrified at her cursing, the solicitor chuckled. “You would have got on with your aunt. She was the most generous, loving creature but could curse like a stable boy when the situation required it. It used to send your uncle into peals of laughter.”
Lydia smiled for the first time since she had arrived. “She sounds like someone I would have liked; they both do. Apart from the spying element, of course.”
“I am afraid that was done out of necessity. Your uncle said this house was bought with love and hope in mind; he needed to leave it to someone worthy.” It was clear the solicitor thought highly of her uncle and aunt, and Lydia could not help but be affected by his words.
“I am honoured that he would consider me so, but I have no experience of running a large house, any house, come to that. And as for what to do with the place, let alone how I find the income to pay for all this, I still say I am not the one for the job,” Lydia said.
For some reason, she was upset at needing to admit that she could not fund the upkeep of the house. Although she had been daunted by the size of the property, she had felt a sense of peace and welcome as she had walked around, but the care and upkeep of such a place was beyond what her small income could afford. Her funds would not even pay for the servants' wages, even though they got most of the food they needed for free.
“The place runs itself, day to day,” the solicitor started. “I have been over everything thoroughly, both before and after your uncle passed away. He left enough of an inheritance that you will have five thousand a year, which is far more than the house needs to function. Obviously, if and when you decide to do something with the property, that might take some of your funds, but there is a separate pot of money for alterations. That’s around ten thousand pounds. You will be a rich young woman should you decide to take on your uncle’s legacy.”
Lydia sat back. “This is ridiculous on so many levels; I feel as if I am in some sort of fairy tale. People like me do not inherit vast fortunes and houses the size of a palace.”
“Maybe a small palace,” the solicitor said with a smile.
“Should I register a complaint that the house is not as big as I expected?” Lydia teased.
“Complaint noted. Although I have to point out that you have the funds to increase the size of the house should you wish.”
“This is madness,” Lydia breathed out, becoming serious once more. “If I say no, what happens to everything?”
“I am under strict instructions that the property, the money, and all the contents of the house, which includes some valuable items, are given to the Crown. Your uncle was adamant that you are the only relative who could be a beneficiary. No one else is to inherit. He was a good man, but your family hurt him deeply when they cast him out. He had been very close to your father until then.”
“Father has always bowed to Grandfather’s wishes,” Lydia said truthfully. “Your letter to me caused no end of arguments between us because Father knew if Grandfather heard about it, he would be angry with him, even though he had no involvement with my uncle, his will, or the decisions he has made.”

“I am sorry about that, and so would your uncle be. I honestly think he would have left everything to the Crown if he had not heard some of the stories about you as you grew. You were not aware of it, but his good friend in the area told him that you could have been his own offspring; you were more like him than your own parents. I hope you forgive my openness. I am just trying to make you understand the motivation and events that brought us to this point,” the solicitor said.

“I prefer plain speaking,” Lydia said. “And you have said nothing that I can argue against. I am very much the outsider in my family.”

“This could be the perfect opportunity for you to have an independent lifestyle of your own. Surely six months here would give you time to consider this as a benefit, no matter what you do eventually. You can refuse all this, of course, but I would strongly advise you not to.” The solicitor’s tone had turned serious, and Lydia understood why. To let all of what she had seen go to the Crown and be sold off to line the pockets of the Regent seemed like a crime.

Lydia looked around the room, still trying to take everything in. This was one of the smaller rooms on the ground floor, and yet it had three floor-length French windows which led into a well-tended garden. Bookshelves lined the walls, and Lydia itched to explore them. A telescope was positioned in one of the windows, a fine piece of equipment that gleamed in the afternoon sun.

Could she really do this? Become mistress to this grand house and find a way of creating a legacy for her uncle and aunt? A smile began to form on her lips. This would change her life in ways she could not begin to imagine, but it was not about the money for her; there was something else. Something which tugged at her on a deeper level. Somehow, in some way, she could make a difference. Oh, not by turning it into an orphanage, but with thought, she surely could do something useful. The idea started to push aside any misgivings she still had, which were many, but the possibilities of a useful future made her feel more excited and alive than she had ever been before.

“I am willing to take over and do what I can to repay my uncle’s trust in me,” she said finally, sitting forward in her chair. “Can you go through everything I need to know in fine detail? I have a lot to learn.”