The Countess Bride

The Countess Bride
Terri Brisbin

Indulge your fantasies of delicious Regency Rakes, fierce Viking warriors and rugged Highlanders. Be swept away into a world of intense passion, lavish settings and romance that burns brightly through the centuriesAS A BRIDE, SHE WAS WORTHLESS Indeed, Catherine de Severin could offer nothing in the way of power and land. A penniless orphan with a shadowed past, she was not a suitable match for a comte destined to control vast holdings. But Geoffrey Dumont cared not, and would defy anyone—even royalty—who kept his fair Cate from him!A loving marriage denied her, her memory a blur, Catherine de Severin had accepted her cloistered fate. But when Geoffrey Dumont, her soul-friend and truest love, abducted her from the nunnery, afire with reckless plans for a future together, her heart embraced him with a passion too strong to be denied!

“Would you give me your counsel about the potential brides?”

Would she help him to choose his wife? Pain, like a dagger thrust, pierced her heart, leaving her breathless. Could she help him choose the woman who would bear his name and his children and possibly his love?

“You ask much of me, Geoff.”

“I can only ask it of a friend, Cate. Someone whom I trust with my life.” He lifted her chin so she could not escape his dark gaze. “I know it is unfair to ask you, but I ask it all the same.”

“I will,” she said, knowing the impossible task she set for herself. She wanted to untangle their fingers and leave quickly, but still he did not release her. As his head tilted down, she feared and prayed for the same thing. His lips touched hers with a gentleness that broke her heart again….

The Countess Bride

Harlequin Historical #707

Praise for TERRI BRISBIN

“A lavish historical romance in the grand tradition from a wonderful talent.”

—New York Times bestselling author Bertrice Small on Once Forbidden

“Excitement, adventure, royal intrigue and a ‘what-if’ scenario that could change the world. Terri Brisbin weaves them together with the masterful touch that has become her trademark. Sheer Elizabethan delight.”

—USA TODAY bestselling author Maggie Shayne on The Queen’s Man

The Dumont Bride

“Rich in its Medieval setting… Terri Brisbin has written an excellent tale that will keep you warm on a winter’s night.”

—Affaire de Coeur

“Beautifully written and well researched, this book is a perfect ten in many ways.”

—Romance Reviews Today

Terri Brisbin

The Countess Bride

www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)

Available from Harlequin Historicals and TERRI BRISBIN

The Dumont Bride #634

The Norman’s Bride #696

The Countess Bride #707

To my husband, Chris (because he asked me to).

Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two