Mrs Sommersby’s Second Chance

Contents

Cover (#u4ae2cc96-8068-57e0-9c4e-53fff7246716)

Back Cover Text (#ua8a36543-9bed-545f-bd79-ec3093099c91)

About the Author (#ubbb3410d-2d5e-5dc1-b3fc-c7260e02df94)

Booklist (#u57e42daf-149a-5c39-8e1b-d308bea87451)

Title Page (#u592d8b26-6776-50e8-9d7b-ccb5d4e3f76c)

Copyright (#ucd47e3cd-3599-5926-b409-d52eeddd08df)

Note to Readers

Dedication (#uf307445c-65f0-5725-8a3e-2946c77afdb8)

Chapter One (#u260ba372-438c-56bf-8a35-a5c609b03d8b)

Chapter Two (#u04cd116e-b045-5a89-8d16-769d167675bc)

Chapter Three (#u5bc48e0f-92c7-5fd4-ac60-2f8a170e1160)

Chapter Four (#ud33a7fab-6da4-51c3-a1d6-d43f57a2e6b2)

Chapter Five (#u1d004131-9b2e-5eda-a5e0-6ef2d2a213df)

Chapter Six (#ue04a9d00-9c08-5893-977a-a6940dd48fd2)

Chapter Seven (#ub12bab25-aac0-55ea-a034-26216212d5aa)

Chapter Eight (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Nine (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Ten (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Eleven (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twelve (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Thirteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Fourteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Fifteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Sixteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Seventeen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Eighteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Nineteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twenty (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twenty-One (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twenty-Two (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twenty-Three (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twenty-Four (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twenty-Five (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twenty-Six (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twenty-Seven (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twenty-Eight (#litres_trial_promo)

Epilogue (#litres_trial_promo)

Historical Note (#litres_trial_promo)

Extract (#litres_trial_promo)

About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter One (#u75f4568f-8407-5714-a0b0-45f922e8c629)

Bath, England—1820

It wasn’t as if a small sip of water was capable of changing one’s life. In all the years Clara Sommersby had stood in the Pump Room to have her daily drink, she had never witnessed anyone perform such an intense inspection of a glass of the spa’s mineral water.

She had seen the tall blond-haired gentleman accept the empty glass from the attendant and approach the fountain out of the corner of her eye. Many people entered Bath each day to stay for an extended amount of time to take advantage of the waters in hopes of alleviating their ailments. There were also those who came to the fashionable town to experience the noted assemblies and various entertainments. She would firmly place this gentleman in the latter category.

While Clara normally took note of newly arrived visitors, this morning she awoke with a soreness in her lower back and had only been thinking of a long soak in the thermal baths to hopefully relieve her discomfort—until she saw this man swirl the water in his glass and sniff it as one would do while studying a glass of wine.

As he held the glass up and brought it to his eye, he caught her staring at him through the clear liquid. Too amused to look away, Clara tried to flatten out her smile. The gentleman across from her cleared his throat and went back to studying the contents of his glass.

‘The water is an exceptional ancient vintage,’ she offered, not even bothering to hide the amusement in her voice. ‘It might be a bit odd on the palate at first, but people have been praising its quality for ages.’

He lowered the glass and the faint spark in his blue eyes told her that he understood her jest. ‘I was simply trying to determine the mineral content.’

‘Are you a connoisseur of water, then, or perhaps a scientist of some sort?’