“She’ll Be Gone by Christmas,” the Duke Told His Father — By Spring She Had Saved His Estate

📚 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 Catherine Marsham had kept the Wheatsheaf alone since her father died, and he had taught her to read a traveller by his boots before his face. So when the old duke's son walked into her taproom one foggy night, home from India alive after all of Kent had mourned him, she saw what nobody else did. The new boots that pinched him. The coat cut for a broader man. The best bed in the house, left untouched. If Lord Francis lived, then Alexander, the young Duke of Burnlow, was nobody's duke at all, and he meant to give it all up with honour. So when his father sent Catherine down the hill to keep the cold, silent house at Wrenmoor for the winter, the duke did not want her there. "She'll be gone by Christmas," he told his father. Catherine heard every word. She took off her bonnet, knelt on the kitchen stones, and lit a fire. Through a winter of frozen orchards and a Yule log in the great hall, the innkeeper and the duke who would not let himself doubt began to find each other by the fire. But a little boat drawn in ink and a shawl sent home from India would turn the whole house against her. And by spring, the truth would be waiting on the road outside her own door. A tender regency tale of a woman who sees what others miss, a duke afraid of his own wanting, and the fires she kept burning until the truth came home. 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 Catherine's story make you feel? #regencyromance #historicalromance #perioddrama #dukeromance #slowburnromance #cleanromance #regencyera #innkeeper #impostor #christmasromance #countryhouse #kent #hiddentruth #historicalfiction #lovestory #romancestory #narratedstory #bedtimestory #truelove #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.