Cover art © Mark Owen/ArcAngel Book design © Shadow Mountain Art direction: Richard Erickson Design: Heather G. Ward © 2021 Becca Wilhite All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without permission in writing from the publisher, Shadow Mountain®, at [email protected]. The views expressed herein are the responsibility of the author and do not necessarily represent the position of Shadow Mountain. All characters in this book are fictitious, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. Proper Romance is a registered trademark. Visit us at ShadowMountain.com Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Anderson, Rebecca, 1973– author. Title: Isabelle and Alexander / Rebecca Anderson. Other titles: Proper romance. Description: Salt Lake City : Shadow Mountain, [2021] | Series: Proper romance | Summary: Isabelle Rackham enters into an arranged marriage in 1850 with the eligible Alexander Osgood, owner of a successful mill in Manchester, England, and who has close business relationships with Isabelle’s father. Although she enters the marriage with no illusions about love, but with a will to make it work, she finds her new home in cold, dreary, dark northern England difficult to bear until an accident occurs on a visit to Alexander’s country estate. Identifiers: LCCN 2020043855 | ISBN 9781629728476 (trade paperback) | eISBN 978-1-62973-995-3 (eBook) Subjects: LCSH: Newlyweds—Fiction. | Arranged marriage—Fiction. | Eighteen fifties, setting. | England, Northern, setting. | Manchester (England), setting. | LCGFT: Historical fiction. | Romance fiction. Classification: LCC PS3623.I545 I83 2021 | DDC 813/.6—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020043855 Printed in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Other Victorian Proper Romances Ashes on the Moor by Sarah M. Eden The Lady and the Highwayman by Sarah M. Eden The Gentleman and the Thief by Sarah M. Eden To Josi You always believe I can. Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Chapter 30 Chapter 31 Chapter 32 Chapter 33 Chapter 34 Chapter 35 Chapter 36 Chapter 37 Epilogue Acknowledgments Discussion Questions About the Author Isabelle Rackham stood in the morning parlor staring into the mirror, grateful to be alone for a moment and that nobody was fidgeting with buttons, bows, fasteners, or pins. She took as deep a breath as her corseting allowed and ran her hands down the waist of her bridal gown, allowing herself a little shiver of delight. Her wedding day. Every young woman surely dreamed of this day, and Isabelle was no different, having planned and schemed and imagined every possibility, but even in her fantasies, she hardly dared hope that the groom would look like Alexander Osgood. She had heard of him, of course, from her father. His successful mill in Manchester kept her father happily, profitably busy as Mr. Rackham supplied the mill’s coal. When her mother requested that Mr. Osgood send a miniature portrait, Isabelle felt sure that the artist had taken liberties with reality: no man was as handsome as that painting made him look. Isabelle begged her parents for a meeting wherein she could ascertain how closely the art reflected the man. Her request was refused. Mr. Alexander Osgood’s reputation had traveled far enough that young ladies from the Lakes had heard of his rise to success as well as his good looks. Isabelle ought to simply take rumor as fact. She did wonder, though, about his mind. His temperament. Without appearing overly eager to know more, Isabelle would ask subtle questions of her acquaintances. In return, they would repeat, again and again, that he was remarkably handsome. Perhaps that was all the man had to his claim. If that was the case, Isabelle had decided to overlook attendant deficiencies. A dashing countenance, she could admit, was sufficiently charming. When he finally made an appearance at the Lakes, the Rackham family was the envy of all—he spent most of his visit in a series of meetings with Mr. Rackham. Isabelle’s friends assumed that the two of them had formed an attachment, but in fact, she had met with him over meals and otherwise seen him very rarely. Rarely, but enough to know that the rumors were, indeed, accurate. Mr. Osgood, he of well-cut suit and strong jaw and golden hair, appeared, if possible, more handsome than the painting and the rumors that had preceded his arrival. And he’d certainly charmed Mr. and Mrs. Rackham. To Isabelle, he was polite but not forthcoming, proper but never particularly engaging . . . apart from his smile, which appeared seldom enough to be of ever so much interest. It was the smile of a young boy who holds a secret but is unsure he should tell it. A smile that spoke of timidity on a face that inspired swoons. Isabelle hoped to be the recipient of more such smiles. When her father had approached her and let her know Mr. Osgood had made an offer that would combine families and business interests, Isabelle felt herself soaked in a state of marvel for days. Her emotions, ranging from delight at being chosen to annoyance at the efficient, professional, and completely passionless nature of the offer, swirled through her head and heart. She had no delusions about romance. Well aware that she held a responsibility, as the Rackhams’ only child, to further her father’s business affairs, she had always been prepared to submit to a marriage connection that would strengthen the business that had allowed the Rackhams to rise up through the class of the working wealthy. Mr. Rackham’s business endeavors provided enough income that his wife and daughter lived in a style of comfort outmatched by few of the families in Cumbria. In return, Isabelle knew she would make a match that pleased him. But now, she thought perhaps it could please her as well. Mr. Osgood had been effectual rather than warm in his offer of marriage, but surely once she was his wife, she would uncover and encourage his depth of charm and affection. She glanced at her reflection in the glass from several angles. She saw nothing of which
