Innocently embroiled in naval espionage Lucy Mainwaring sails on board RMS Titanic - will she and the man she loves survive?
Drawn into espionage by navy officer Edwin Hardie, Lucy Mainwaring is advised by her diplomat uncle, who is Hardie's superior, to accept Edwin's marriage proposal. Believing the offer, although honourable, is made without true affection, she refuses him but agrees to get to know him better during an Atlantic voyage to a peace conference in America. They embark on RMS Titanic but who will reach New York?
She rose from her chair. "We are hardly acquainted," she reminded him as she turned to face him. "You cannot profess to love me as a man should love his wife. I have no fortune to bring to our union. So, I must ask, is your proposal based solely on your sense of duty?"
He came a few steps closer and looked into her eyes. "If anything happened to you, Lucy, I would never forgive myself."
She ripped her gaze from his. It was the only way she could say the words truly on her mind. "Do you want to marry me to satisfy your own conscience?"
He didn't answer.
"Don't patronise me, Hardie. I may only be the daughter of a country parson, but I do have my self-respect."
"I never doubted it."
She didn't know where her strength came from but knew she had to speak the truth. She fixed her eyes on his. "I have emotions and feelings, but my good sense tells me not to be influenced by a few kisses occurring in circumstances neither of us should have allowed to pass. To marry out of obligation is not a good starting point for marriage. Think of the future. Circumstances such as ours could so easily be construed into a situation where I would be blamed for entrapping you. I respect your sense of duty, and for the present, your loyalty is unquestionable, but I must be rational. My answer must be no."
Not waiting for his reaction she made of the door, her legs barely able to support her.
- Word Count: 50,000
- Author: Lynda Dunwell
- Website: Lynda Dunwell
- Heat Level: 1
- ISBN: 978-1-61937-125-5
- Cover Artist: Kelly Shorten
- Editor: Melinda Stephans
Long and Short of It
Reviewer: Azalea
Rating: 4.0
Review: Being penniless and wanting to marry for love seem mutually exclusive, but for Lucy Mainwaring, the daughter of a country clergyman, her dreams might just…
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