دانلود رمان انگلیسی “گرفتن خوش شانس” – یک رمان عاشقانه تاریخی سلطنتی

BLOOD. SO MUCH blood. Lady Maggie swayed on her feet, a flash of heat spiking up her neck. She zeroed in on the pathetic, damaged creature as he hung limp and beaten in Samuel Everett’s fierce hold. “Don’t look, Maggie,” her aunt ordered her sharply, waving a wide fan furiously at her pale neck. “This brutish behavior is not fit for a young woman’s eyes… not even yours.” Too entranced by the dramatic scene that had just played out, Maggie let the barb slide. She couldn’t respond anyway. Her throat felt dry and permanently locked as she followed the dastardly man—Vine, she’d heard somebody scream—gain consciousness and struggle in her cricket coach’s arms. Samuel, who was never one to temper his colorful words even in the presence of ladies, launched a tirade of curses and dragged Vine out of the chapel, with the remainder of the wedding guests following close behind. Maggie began to follow, but Aunt Alice stopped her, placing a strict hand on her arm, forcing her to stay in her pew. “Oh, no you don’t. Stay and catch your breath,” Alice barked. “Your parents asked me to watch over you and that’s exactly what I’m going to do. What will they think when they hear that you’ve been at the scene of murder… at a wedding ceremony, no less?” Maggie spun to the altar. Her friend, Ruthie Waitrose, stood strong with her husband, Mr. Harry Holmes, leaning heavily against her side. Ruthie was remarkably composed despite the gory situation. Hers and Harry’s heads were together as they whispered back and forth. Blood stained Harry’s jacket, though he appeared in much better shape than Vine. As the couple limped down the aisle toward the exit, Maggie’s great sigh of relief bounced off the stone ceiling. Ruthie met her eyes as she passed and nodded to Maggie, seemingly telling her she was fine. Or as fine as someone could be after having their husband shot at and almost killed during their wedding vows. Maggie turned to her friend. “This wasn’t the scene of a murder,” she replied off-hand. “No one died.” Alice humphed. “Well, no one yet. Things don’t look good for the assassin. Did you see the look on Mr. Everett’s face when he knocked the gun out of that horrible man’s hand?” The billowing wind from her fan caused Maggie to shiver. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen him that angry before.” Maggie stifled a smirk. Clearly, Alice did not play for their cricket club. Samuel, the club’s coach, was usually that angry whenever Maggie dropped a ball in the field. She scanned the chapel. Poor Ruthie. It wasn’t the wedding Maggie had wished for her friend. Granted, Ruthie had already married Harry weeks before, but he’d planned to give her another, more special memory. Last week, after the London Ladies Cricket Club had played in their exhibition game against the local team in Bath, Harry had gathered his wife’s teammates and invited them to the ceremony, saying that he’d wanted it to be a surprise. Rather bashfully, he’d explained that the first time they exchanged vows hadn’t been terribly romantic. He’d hoped to rectify the situation and give Ruthie the wedding she deserved. Maggie wondered if Harry would try again. Or maybe he’d just cut his losses. It was true, having a man try to shoot you dead in the middle of the ceremony wasn’t the stuff of dreams; however, it was memorable. Frankly, it would be hard to top. Footsteps faded into the cobblestone floor as the final guests left. “We should go,” Maggie said absent-mindedly, realizing that everyone had exited their pews. For some reason, she didn’t want to be the last person in the chapel; something felt oddly morbid about it.