The Viscount’s Hidden Treasure


 
 
 
 
 Shirley Karr
 
 The Viscount’s Hidden Treasure
 
 A Lighthearted Regency Historical Romance
 
 
 Copyright © 2022 by Shirley Karr
 
 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise without written permission from the publisher. It is illegal to copy this book, post it to a website, or distribute it by any other means without permission.
 
 This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
 
 First edition
 
 ISBN: 978-1-955613-04-0
 
 Cover art by Daniela Colleo, StunningBookCovers.com
 
 This book was professionally typeset on Reedsy
 Find out more at reedsy.com
 
 
 Dedicated to my readers who became fans who became friends, who patiently (and sometimes impatiently) kept asking, and waited all these years for me to finally finish Nick’s book. Thank you for your support!
 
 
 
 Contents
 
 
 Preface
 
 
 
 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
 
 
 
 Author’s Note
 
 
 
 About the Author
 
 
 
 Also by Shirley Karr
 
 
 Preface
 
 Can She Trust a Privateer?
 Miss Harriet Chase has been in desperate financial straits since the closing of the Ladies’ Academy where she taught. Marriage to Sir Percival will give her the safe, stable life she craves. But Percy won’t propose unless she has a dowry. The treasure left by her father might provide it, but it’s in Spain. A thief just stole Harriet’s copy of the map. She has to go find the treasure now.
 
 Half the treasure belongs to the heir of her father’s friend, Viscount Sheffield. Rumors swirl around Sheffield, that he’s a privateer who’s killed a dozen men and bedded a hundred women. He has a ship and can take her to Spain, but can she trust him … with her life, her virtue, her half of the treasure?
 
 Nicholas, Viscount Sheffield, inherited nothing but the title and entailed estates. Nick is eager to claim the treasure his father didn’t want him to have, even if he has to bring this timid but tenacious woman with him. She has memorized what she thinks is the only copy of the treasure map.
 
 As they follow clues, sailing from London to Spain to Portugal, they discover other hunters, not just the thief, are also racing to find the treasure. Amidst their adventures, Nick discovers the most important treasure is the woman at his side. But this journey has opened Harriet’s eyes to a world of possibilities. Will she still want a staid life with Percy, or can Nick persuade her that he’s the prize she wants?
 
 Chapter 1
 
 
 
 
 
 Brixham, Devonshire, England
 October 1816
 
 “I can’t do it.” Harriet Chase stared at the dark brown woolen breeches spread out on her bed, starkly contrasting with the colorful patchwork coverlet.
 “Yes, you can.” Her younger brother Gabriel perched on the edge of the bed and leaned back on one elbow, patting the coarse fabric. “You just slip one leg in, then the other, and pull them up. I do it every day.”
 Harriet bit her bottom lip. How had it come to this, things sunk so low? Bad enough the economies they’d already made. Madame Zavrina, owner and headmistress of Torquay Academy for Ladies, couldn’t have picked a worse time to pass on. How could someone so fastidious about proper behavior have been so foolish as to not have a will and make provisions for the continuation of her school, not to mention continued employment of all her teachers? Without Harriet’s income as a teacher, modest as it was, her family had already been forced to dismiss all their staff except two maids.
 But wearing men’s breeches? Even if they did belong to her adolescent brother.
 Madame Zavrina would roll over in her grave. At some point in almost every class, every day, every one of the teachers—including Harriet—had pontificated on proper behavior for ladies of quality. Wearing breeches most certainly did not qualify as proper.
 “Want me to step out? I can pop into the hall, make certain Mama’s still in the parlour.”
 “No, I don’t think that would help.” Harriet lifted the fall of the breeches and fingered one of the horn buttons. The garment wasn’t entirely foreign to her—she had sewn them for Gabriel last year, after all. But the thought of pulling them on, between her legs, wearing a masculine garment… She let go of the button.
 Gabriel smoothed the fabric. “They’re not that different from the drawers Amber Barrow-Smith wore under her gown to the assembly last week.”
 “Yes, and did you see that no one would dance with her? No wonder she was expelled from the Academy last year.”
 “There was Reggie Dwight, and Sir Stanley Danielson, and Lord Walcott.” Gabriel counted them off on his fingers. “They each claimed two dances with her.”
 “Rakes and rogues, all of them.” Harriet waved her hand and began pacing. “Not a marriage-minded man among them.