Page 1 of The Spring Promise (The Starlings of Starling Hall #1)

CHAPTER ONE

1838, Lacey Farm, Barton Lacey

M olly Lacey leaned over the gate as Will Starling rode past the lane that led to her family farm. It was a beautiful day, and she was wearing one of her better gowns—the green brought out the colour of her eyes—but although she hoped he might notice her, he didn’t so much as give her a glance.

Her spirits sank lower and lower as he rode out of sight. He was going to the Morton house; she knew it. Everybody knew he had been dangling after Celeste Morton since the moment she arrived, and it was only a matter of time before he popped the question. And Celeste would say yes, of course she would! How could she not?

Molly sighed. Will had been her best friend since they were children but as they had grown into adults, she had begun to hope they could be more. Why couldn’t they marry? Join their lives together? There was no one she wanted to spend the rest of her life with more than Will, and it seemed so obvious to her. Surely, he could see it too?

I love you, Will.

Sometimes it was on the tip of her tongue, but she had never spoken it out loud.

Then Celeste Morton had arrived to stay with her uncle and suddenly Will had forgotten all about Molly. He was in love, but it wasn’t with her.

Tall and handsome Will with his auburn hair, blue eyes, and shy smile. Molly’s heart ached at the thought of him sitting next to Celeste in her modish gowns, fashionable dark hair and teasing glances. She was a flirt, and Will didn’t seem to notice how wide she cast her net when it came to the gentlemen of Barton Lacey. He believed he was the one who would win her heart and hand and bring her home to Starling Hall.

Molly had to stop pining over him like—as her younger sister Grace put it—a moonstruck fool. There were plenty of other prospects in the district. The Lacey family might not be wealthy now, but they had been once. They had been the lords of the manor since the time of William the Conqueror, but as the centuries had passed, they had slipped lower on the social scale. Now they were farmers.

Although it was a very nice farm, and Molly reminded herself that they owned their land and did not pay rent. They may not have been county gentry, like the Mortons or the Starlings, or the Norris’s who spent most of their year in London. But the Laceys were well liked and invited to all the local dances and suppers.

Will Starling’s father was a baronet, and the title of ‘Sir’ would pass to his son, just as his wife would be known as ‘Lady’. If anyone could be considered the squires of Barton Lacey, then it was the Starlings of Starling Hall.

Molly might be na?ve—Grace often said that too—but she had always believed if you loved someone, then nothing else mattered. Lately she had begun to realise that for someone like Will, who would one day inherit Starling Hall and everything that went with it, he had to think carefully when it came to choosing a wife.

Wealth would be useful—there were a great many Starlings to feed and educate and launch into Barton Lacey society. It would also be useful to have a wife who would not pine for the excitement of the capital or want to gallivant about most of the time. The Starlings were the sort of family who believed in the importance of spending time together, and Will’s future wife would need to enjoy domestic life.

Molly believed she could do that, especially if she had Will to herself at night in their bedchamber. Just the two of them discussing the future and laughing about the past. She was willing to help out with all of those Starling children if it meant the eldest son was hers.

But it wasn’t up to her, and that was what had her in the doldrums.

She’d even turned down the rather handsome son of a local farmer because she had hoped that Will might still come to his senses. Well, it was too late and that farmer’s son had gone on to marry someone else.

And now Will was going to marry Celeste—at least, that was what everyone said—and it was time for Molly to face facts. Will was lost to her.

Somehow, she would have to put her love for him aside and get on with her life.