The Duke Fell for a Circus Girl Who Was Leaving on Sunday — He Asked Her to Stay for Life Instead

📚 My three novels + audiobooks — the longest story I've ever written: https://timelesslovebooks.com 🎧 Listen to every story on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2AdKU4bOYk72dNKYlmZp0L Martha Fieldthorpe had never stayed anywhere longer than a fortnight in her life. A clockmender with a traveling circus of seven painted wagons, the daughter of a clockmaker and a girl who rode bareback through a hoop of ribbons, she came to a windswept Northumberland town that March with leave to play six nights and not one more — and a strongbox that would not carry her people to the summer fairs. Up in the castle on the black rock, every clock had stopped. The Duke of Brightholme had stopped them himself, the night he came home from Waterloo, and he would let no one touch the great clock in the long gallery. Then, on a night of storm, it began to strike, and Martha found the most feared man on the coast folded against the wall in the dark — and kept the secret he begged her to keep. But a beautiful painted fan has vanished from the duke's house, the old soldier who raised her has been locked up for it, and the whole company has been ordered out of the county by Sunday. Somewhere in that silent house, a clock is keeping a secret of its own. And with the wagons ready to roll at first light, the woman who has spent her whole life leaving must decide what, at last, she would keep. A tender regency tale of a wandering woman who mends what is broken, and the silent duke who asked her to stay. Sit back, relax, and let this story carry you to the candlelit ballrooms and great houses of old England. ▶ If you love slow-burn regency and historical romance and dramatic period stories, subscribe and turn on the bell so you never miss a new tale. 💬 Tell us in the comments: which city are you watching from, and how did Martha's story make you feel? #regencyromance #historicalromance #perioddrama #dukeromance #broodinghero #slowburnromance #cleanromance #regencyera #circusromance #woundedhero #clockmaker #historicalfiction #lovestory #romancestory #narratedstory #bedtimestory #truelove #regencyhistorical #seasideromance #oldengland Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. All characters, names, places, and events are entirely fictional and the product of creative storytelling. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, or to actual events is purely coincidental. This story and its narration are produced with the assistance of AI tools for entertainment purposes only.